TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey GOP Chairman Bob Hugin sent out a memo to the state’s 21 Republican County Chairmen. In that memo, Hugin said he wants to energize the Republican Party in New Jersey.
In that same memo, he also said he wanted to change the nomination process by eliminating a public election to choose which presidential candidate would be on the ballot in 2024 against Joe Biden in New Jersey.
Instead, he wants to host a state convention where only party insiders and delegates can vote. Essentially, New Jersey voters will never be allowed to cast a vote for Donald J. Trump, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, or whoever else might still be in the race come June of 2024.
That decision will be made in private at a state convention where only delegates chosen by the party would be able to cast a vote.
“We do not believe that it is financially feasible for us to conduct a statewide Republican-only Presidential Primary Election before May 31, 2024. Accordingly, we must find another solution for selecting our delegates that will energize our Republican Party here in New Jersey, raise the state party profile in the national arena, and maximize the fundraising opportunity,” Hugin wrote.
That memo was leaked today and caused a firestorm statewide.
At the same time far-left progressive Democrat Congressman Andy Kim proposed eliminating the party line in New Jersey, to give more opportunities for opposition candidates to defeat establishment candidates, the GOP is trying to figure out how to strip voting rights from roughly 600,000 registered Republican voters.
“We have also eliminated the option of opening the convention to all registered Republicans in the State of New Jersey due to the challenges that would present from an execution perspective,” Hugin said in the memo “We do not believe we could successfully manage an event without proper planning for potentially tens of thousands of participants.”
After receiving backlash, Hugin later said the recommendation to exclude Republican voters was simply an exercise “intended to provoke lively discussion”.
“The draft document sent to State Committee members was intended to provoke a lively discussion on this topic, which it certainly has,” Hugin said.
Former NJ GOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt didn’t think Hugin’s walking back statement was sincere.
“At the outset, I note that the NJGOP’s proposal to eliminate the June 4, 2024, presidential primary election delegate selection process is premised on Chairman Hugin’s representation that the RNC revised and eliminated the rule that allowed a waiver from the RNC imposed, May 31, 2024, deadline for states to submit presidential delegate names,” Steinhardt said. “This is a rule with which I am familiar, since it existed in 2020 when I served as NJGOP Chairman, and we availed ourselves of it so New Jersey’s delegates could be accepted and qualified by the RNC to participate in the July 2020 presidential convention.”