As with every Election Day, when you spread the message across the state and focus on candidates based on principles instead of connections, you get some wins and some losses.
On Tuesday, the strategy paid off. State Sen. Ed Durr, facing stiff competition by the backroom dealers who never liked the idea of a working-class senator who wasn't a fit for the "in crowd," win BIG. His running mates, Assemblywoman Bethanne McCarthy Patrick and Tom Tedesco also won a huge victory.
My friend Mark Taylor also surged to a huge win in Florham Park along with his running mate Charlie Malone who won the council primary.
In Hopatcong, the incumbent mayor was toppled by Marie Galate who joined us on the show ahead of the election. Her running mates, Jennifer Johnson and Rachel Rodriguez topped the vote totals, winning two council seats as no Democrats filed to run.
Another huge win in Kinnelon as my friend Sean Mabey surged to re-nomination and his running mate Cyndi Clark won her council primary.
Dan Fransisco won a huge victory off the line in Englishtown in Monmouth County, toppling the incumbent mayor.
Although our legislative picks came up short in the 24th District , Jason Sarnoski remains a strong voice as a county commissioner in Warren County and Josh Aikens will continue to lead the effort to identify and support new school board members across north Jersey.
In the 4th District, we have a strong grassroots team to build on for the future as Nick DeSilvio will continue to serve as a choice of fiscal responsibility and common sense as a Gloucester County commissioner. And there is no doubt voters will have another chance to put Michael Clark into office.
In Morris County, the win for several great council candidates in Parsippany, Paul Carifi, Adam Kandil and Matt McGrath, strengthen the local government led by my friend, Mayor Jamie Barberio.
The insiders are nervously holding onto their diminishing power, as we trounce them on the fundraising and grassroots fronts. But instead of trying to unify the party and bring people together, they used their victory "celebration" to bash me. Even vowing to "stop" me from succeeding! (Although Bramnick did finally get a laugh out of me after all these years!) Kidding aside, they are looking over their shoulder as we are building a sustainable, positive, people-oriented movement from the ground up. There's still time to join us guys, we'll leave a seat at the table for ya ...
The local leaders in Morris and Monmouth who came up big on Tuesday are the foundation of our statewide effort to fix New Jersey. Morris County will be the focus of our next two big events. On Tuesday, June 10, at 12:30 p.m. we have an event at the Spring Brook Country Club to celebrate strong women who are taking a leading role in fixing our state. And on June 28 we're partnering with leaders in Morris County including Mayor Mark Taylor, Mayor Ace Gallagher, and Sheriff James Gannon along with Common Sense NJ and the Nicholas Hudanish Foundation for a Free Seminar on mental health. Young people battling addiction or struggling with suicidal thoughts, depression or anxiety are welcome. We're also asking teachers, coaches and parents to join us to learn some of the effective strategies to implement to identify, address and prevent these issues.
Our efforts are showing incredible hope for our state as we continue to grow rapidly and out-pace the back-room insiders by huge margins when it comes to fundraising and energizing new donors and voters.
We are showing that the true pathway to win back New Jersey for average working-and middle-class families starts at the local level. Join me on the trail...