Dear Editor:
The Republican Party in Parsippany is notorious for inaction and the inability to deliver on promises to their committee chairs. For years, its members have reached out to the Morris County Republican Committee (MCRC) sounding the alarm. No help ever came, leaving its committee members stranded and without resources to push the ticket for the midterm.
Then came Tuesday, when it became all too obvious that our leaders were asleep at the wheel.
The GOP hit rock bottom shortly after it was all tallied up. Morris County saw Joe Hathaway fall to Analilia Mejia for the second time in a single year. Justin Murphy lost to Cory Booker. Tom Kean Jr. must surrender his seat to Rebecca Bennett. The new reality is that Morris County will not have a single Republican representing it in Congress.
To add insult to injury, Commissioner Tayfun Selen lost his seat, one that was held by the GOP for over 50 years. This position was a stronghold, one that the generations of Republicans were proud to protect and strengthen. For the first time since 1973, it has fallen without a fight. Possibly even passively surrendered.
The Morris County Republican Committee is very much responsible for what it is today. The voters trusted them to advance winnable candidates; they did not. They handed the Republican Party a slate of losses and wasted the time of every volunteer and committee member along the way. Those who showed up to do the work deserve more than weak excuses and deflections from MCRC.
Winning elections moving forward will require change, and waiting will not benefit the party or the voters who remain aligned. There is only one quick and attainable solution to move things in the right direction, and that is to get rid of the people who steered it off course. With that said, MCRC Chairwoman Laura Ali and Vice Chair Peter King need to go. Immediately. For their own dignity, they should step down together. For party dignity, they should be voted out. Whichever comes first.
Senator Anthony Bucco shares responsibility in the failure of Tuesday; he is the Senate Minority Leader. He needs to show that he can lead not only in Trenton, but also in Morris County, home to so many of his voters. He has had enough time to watch losses pile up, allow infighting to fracture committees, and let the local GOP grow barren of purpose and membership. He could have stepped in long ago, before it ever got so bad. He could have done something to ensure that all the committee members and volunteers who donated their time, effort, and reputation were not spent on hard-earned losses. He didn’t do that, and that’s one of the reasons he will face a tough fight for re-election next year. It is likely that he will need everyone behind him next round, and it’s reasonable to doubt that he deserves them at this point.
It’s time for accountability and leadership, and it’s time for Senator Bucco to step up for Morris County and put an end to this net loss for the Republican Party. Senator Bucco should finally put his weight behind his voters with a public call for new leadership at the MCRC.
If he doesn’t, and remains content with the way things are and went, voters will likely question what kind of backroom deals can keep someone like Bucco deaf to calls for help from Morris County, and quiet after such a devastating election. One could consider that the only solution to this will be a wave of primary challengers to Republican legislators who seem indifferent to poor leadership in their ranks.
The MCRC really smashed the GOP against the guardrail this time. Don’t let them drive it off a cliff next.
Erick Zimmermann
Parsippany
