U.S. SENATE: Rik Mehta Scores Convincing Victory At First Convention Of The Season

Rik Mehta

I’m sure I’m going to get some crap from some of the campaigns, but Rik Mehta has assumed frontrunner status in the Republican U.S. Senate primary election

New Jersey Globe broke the news last night that Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rik Mehta has won the first contest of the convention/screening season.

Mehta won convincingly! According to New Jersey Globe:

Mehta defeated Hirsh Singh by a vote of 138 to 82, with former Monmouth County freeholder Gary Rich finishing third with 11 votes and Stuart Meissner in fourth place with 8 votes.

Two other candidates, Tricia Flanagan and Natalie Rivera, received no votes in Union County.

It was assumed Hirsh Singh was the frontrunner in the race. He has the endorsement of Bill Palatucci, the Republican National Committeeman, and started the race with some name ID, more than the others in the race, from having run for Governor and losing, then dropping a bid for US Senate before switching to Congress in CD2 in 2018 and losing. Palatucci’s endorsement not helping in Union County has to have Singh worried and his social media posts about the convention appear to back that thought up:

Hint: It’s probably not a good idea to attack county committee members as “GOP establishment elite” when you have the endorsement of the state’s Republican National Committeeman. National Committeeman I believe most would argue is “establishment.” This, unlike times in the past, is not a shot at Palatucci. I am on county committee in Gloucester County and the municipal chairman in Greenwich Township – and I can’t believe I am typing these words – part of the same “GOP establishment” as Palatucci. Fortunately, I don’t think anyone will refer to me as part of the “elite.”

Gary Rich finishing third was kind of shocking. The guy has been in the race for about two weeks and he managed to squeak by Stuart Meissner who has been working hard for several months. It’s not shocking because of his length of time in the race, it’s shocking because Rich was an incumbent freeholder and told by his county party that they wanted to go in another direction. It’s not often an incumbent is asked not to run for re-election.

Tricia Flanagan, a past client of mine, and Natalie Rivera should be rethinking their campaigns after getting zero votes against Rich and Stuart Meissner. Rich has been running for about two weeks. And, less than a year ago on July 5th, Meissner was praising Democratic party candidate for Queens, NY District Attorney Melinda Katz on Twitter:

I’m not trying to be mean, but when you get zero votes against a guy who has been in the race for two weeks that means the voters had very little faith in you. Add to that getting zero votes at a Republican convention against a guy who was praising a Democrat on social media less than a year ago, it might be time to quit.

If I wanted to be mean I would call out Flanagan for her social media posts claiming to be the only pro-life candidate running for U.S. Senate when it is obviously not true:

Flanagan knows she is not the only pro-life candidate in the race. Natalie Rivera is pro-life, I’ve heard her say it with my own ears when Flanagan was in the room standing right next to me.

Singh has said he is pro-life.

I don’t know where Rich stands on the issue and I don’t care because to be an incumbent and asked not to run for re-election by your own party means you probably have some issues. And Meissner praising a Democrat running as a progressive for Queens District Attorney who also happened to be endorsed by radical extremist Philly DA Larry Krasner is way too big a RINO for me.

And, the new frontrunner in the race, Rik Mehta is pro-life. I know because I asked him directly and county committee people have been getting a mailer that clearly states he is pro-life (now I’m wishing I snapped a picture of mine).

To be fair, I don’t know if Flanagan researched Singh’s position on the issue and she is not a county committee member in her county so she wouldn’t have seen the Mehta mailer. With that said, I have no doubt she was well aware that Rivera is pro-life, because as I said, I have been in the room with Flanagan when Rivera has stated her position. My point is do not say you are the only pro-life candidate when you know at least one other candidate is pro-life – it’s dishonest.

And with that, I’m done being mean, if calling a candidate out for being dishonest is mean.

Thanks to Union County holding the first contest of the season and a convincing victory, over 50% in a 6-way contest, we have a new frontrunner in the race for U.S. Senate in Rik Mehta. That means Mehta now has a target on his back.

With that said, to all the candidates please stop with the “He/she was a Democrat” garbage. President Donald Trump was a Democrat. Vice President Mike Pence, as a teenager, was the youth coordinator for the Bartholomew County Democrats. Ronald Reagan was a Democrat. Rudy Giuliani was a Democrat committeeman on Long Island in the 1960s. And, let’s not forget that Frank Rizzo served two terms as Mayor of Philly as a Democrat and died while running for mayor as a Republican.

Switching from Democrat to Republican is a good thing. Our party and our President are celebrating Congressman Jeff Van Drew’s party switch. If you were in Wildwood, and I’m pretty sure all of the U.S. Senate candidates were, you were part of that celebration.

I’m not saying don’t attack each other, that would make me a hypocrite. Besides I love watching a good street fight. I am saying, if/when you launch an attack make it a legitimate attack. And, please, if you attack prove what you say.

There’s a candidate posting on social media: “I was the only NJ US Senate Candidate at Pres Trump’s NJ Rally Tuesday. That conveys everything necessary to know about the NJ GOP Primary!” The problem is every GOP U.S. Senate candidate was there and it was easy to check which means this particular attack is completely false and deserves to be called out.

Updated before posting: Because I do believe in being fair. I checked before posting. The above mentioned candidate updated the I was the only “Candidate at Pres Trump’s NJ Rally” post with the following: “Apparently there were other U.S. Senate Candidates attending the rally — I didn’t see a single one while I was out there meeting people! Please feel free to share pictures of the other Candidates who were also there shaking hands with our great NJ Constituents. I’ve looked & tried to do my due diligence, I don’t see any.”

The post was updated after users commented that the post was a lie. The candidate obviously didn’t look too hard, so much for due diligence. There are plenty of pictures of the candidates meeting voters, maybe not shaking hands, but definitely meeting voters and many posed pictures.

So, the only thing left to say is: Congratulations Rik Mehta on a convincing win in the first convention of the season and earning frontrunner status.

PRESS RELEASE: Gloucester County Republican Chairwoman Says NJDSC Are The Real Hypocrites

Gloucester County GOP Chairwoman Jacci Vigilante swung back at the New Jersey State Democratic Committee’s attack on former Assemblyman Jack Ciatterelli. The GCGOP press release follows:

Gloucester County Republican Chairwoman Jacci Vigilante said today, “If New Jersey Democrats weren’t such hypocrites the New Jersey State Democratic Committee’s unprovoked attack on former Assemblyman Jack Ciatterelli yesterday would be laughable.”

At issue is a statement released yesterday in which the NJDSC referred to former Assemblyman Jack Ciatterelli as, “Just another #MAGA Republican Hypocrite.”

“While it’s way too early to offer an endorsement in what will likely be a primary for governor next year I cannot allow a hypocritical, unprovoked attack go without a response,” Gloucester County GOP Chairwoman Jacci Vigilante said. “For any Democrat, the Governor, the State Party chair or the NJDSC to throw the word ‘hypocrite’ around is hypocritical.”

“The NJDSC, and every Democrat in the state, ignored it when the news broke that Governor Phil Murphy forced the women on the soccer team he owns to live in deplorable conditions, some with what the New York Post called ‘pervy landlords.’” Vigilante continued, “Incredibly, we still don’t know who hired Al Alvarez, and the NJDSC has ignored that. The NJDSC has chosen to ignore that we had to have a special election in LD5 after a Democrat Assemblyman resigned for ‘health reasons’ after admitting to punching his girlfriend in the face and yet ended up with a new government job that CCGOP Chairman Ambrosino has been asking about for nearly a year.”

Vigilante added, “As a woman I am offended at the lack of outrage from Democrats over Governor Murphy’s track record of poor treatment of women, but Democrat hypocrisy doesn’t end there. When Congressman Donald Norcross announced his first run for Congress he bragged about how he ‘led the charge on getting the Economic Opportunity Act passed into law’ and how it would create ‘thousands of jobs in our region.’ While the Governor has been happy to attack the elder Norcross, the NJDSC has remained silent about the Congressman’s role in the tax incentive scandals and has refused to ask where the thousands of promised jobs are.”

“The folks at the NJDSC have to learn, no one gets to throw the word hypocrite around when they are the true hypocrites,” Vigilante said, “I would strongly suggest they stop throwing stones from within in their glass house.”

PRESS RELEASE: Camden County GOP Chairman Says It Was Nice Of Nancy Pelosi To Provide Advance Notice Of Her Visit To Camden County

Camden County GOP Chairman Rich Ambrosino looks like he may be planning a special welcome to South Jersey for Nancy Pelosi. His organization’s press release regarding Pelosi coming to Camden County for Congressman Donald Norcross follows:

Upon learning Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is coming to Camden County to help Congressman Donald Norcross kick off his re-election campaign next month Camden County Republican Chairman Rich Ambrosino said, “It was nice of the Speaker to provide us with advance notice of her visit to Camden County. It gives us time to plan a warm welcome. I hope she likes it.”

“It is my sincere hope that while Congresswoman Pelosi is here she can help us clear some things up,” Rich Ambrosino said. “For example, we’ve been dealing with the situation around former Assemblyman Arthur Barclay since the summer of 2018. Last September, I recalled that Congressman Norcross said, ‘This type of behavior is unacceptable under any circumstances,’ and asked that the Congressman join me in calling for the Camden County machine Democrats to stop protecting Arthur Barclay and explain how Barclay was transferred to a new job after resigning from the Assembly for ‘health reasons.’ Norcross, like every other Democrat in the state, has remained silent on that issue.”

Ambrosino added, “I’m sure, Pelosi, such a huge #MeToo advocate, might want to know how a man who admitted to punching his girlfriend in the face still has a county job. She might also ask why Norcross, with the influence he has as a member of Congress, has done nothing to get answers as to how someone he said displayed unacceptable behavior ‘under any circumstances’ was transferred to a new job in County government.”

“After getting answers to the Barclay situation maybe Congresswoman Pelosi can find out where the ‘thousands of jobs’ are Norcross promised would be created when he bragged about leading ‘the charge on getting the Economic Opportunity Act passed into law.’” Ambrosino said, “The Congresswoman can simply write her answers on a note and drop it out the car window to me when she arrives for her event with Norcross. I’ll be out there with many other Republicans to welcome her to Camden County. I’ll be the guy holding a Trump sign!”