| Written and distributed since 2003 by Donald Katz, Esq., Republican State Committeeman for Middlesex County and Counsel, Middlesex County Republican OrganizationCANDIDATE REPLACEMENT CONVENTION TO BE HELD IN EDISON ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 28TH. IF YOU ARE A COUNTY COMMITTEE MEMBER, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU ATTEND The MCRO will be holding a Candidate Replacement Convention on July 28th, starting at 7:00 pm, (with registration starting at 6:30 pm), at the Grace Reformed Church Fellowship Hall, 2815 Woodbridge Avenue, (entrance to the parking lot is on Old Post Road), Edison. If you are a County Committee member, it is important that you attend. Other registered Republicans are invited to attend and observe. Due to a confluence of events, we will need to formally nominate replacements for our candidate for Surrogate, one of our candidates for County Commissioner (full term), our candidate for County Commissioner (unexpired term), and, in the 19th Legislative District, our candidate for State Senate. Our County Surrogate candidate, Lisa Goldhamer, just got a new job which does not allow her to run for office, former Edison Councilman Wayne Mascola, one of our candidates for County Commissioner (full term), is in the process of moving out of the county and Gerard Shine, our candidate for County Commissioner (unexpired term) is moving up to his slot, leaving, in turn, a vacancy to be filled for the County Commissioner (unexpired term) position. In addition, in the 19th Legislative District, (Woodbridge, Sayreville, Carteret, Perth Amboy, and South Amboy), our State Senate candidate, Christian Onuoha, is not able to run for the position. Candidates for each of these positions have stepped forward to run, but we need a good turnout of county committee members to turn out and formally nominate them for these positions. It is really important, so please come! Since there is no opportunity to have a formal screening committee meeting prior to the convention, the MCRO Executive Board has interviewed and will recommend a candidate for each position to be filled. Because there will not be a screening committee to vet potential candidates, the convention rules, to be adopted, provide that any candidate who wishes to run at the convention, other than those recommended by the MCRO Executive Board, will need to show at least a minimum level of committee support in order to run. For the county-wide offices, he or she will need to produce a petition supporting his or her candidacy, toward the beginning of the convention, signed by at least 25 county committee members from at least 5 different municipalities, and for the 19th LD Senate seat, signatures of at least 20 county committee members from at least 3 of the 5 municipalities in the district. Any such petition must include each committee person signer’s printed name, address, and the District, or Ward and District, they represent, in addition to their actual signature. POLITICAL TRIVIA: Here are some political trivia questions. I hope you enjoy them. The answers are below, immediately above the calendar: 1. Two Portuguese Water Dogs name Bo and Sunny were selected by which U.S. President because one of his children has allergies and this breed is considered hypoallergenic? 2. When was the first use of an automobile in an inaugural parade? 3. Who was the last U.S. President born before the United States became independent from Great Britain? 4. Who was the first son of a former U.S. President to become a U.S. President? 5. Which U.S. President said: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”? 6. Who delivered the “Cross of Gold” speech in 1896? 7. Which of the original 13 colonies was founded last? THE DEADLINE FOR FILING TO RUN FOR SCHOOL BOARD OR FIRE DISTRICT COMMISSIONER – TO THE EXTENT THEY ARE HELD DURING THE NOVEMBER ELECTION – IS JULY 26TH The School Board in every NJ municipality of which I am aware, collects more taxes and spends more money that your municipality. If you are concerned how much money is being spent or you are concerned about other school issues, you may want to consider running for school board in your local municipality. Relatively few signatures are required on a nominating petition, but the petition must be completed and filed by July 26th, to the extent your municipality’s school board election is in November, (which is almost all of them.) Also, for those municipalities that have fire districts and have moved their elections to November, the filing deadline to run for fire district commissioner is also July 26th. (I believe most of our municipalities with fire districts have kept their elections in February, where the petition filing deadline is, of course, different.) CONDOLENCES… * Deepest condolences to Audrey LaPenta, and the rest of the LaPenta family, on the death of her husband Frank LaPenta. Both Frank and Audrey are longtime Woodbridge GOP Committee people and Audrey is a former GOP council candidate. * Deepest condolences to Nancy Purcell-Holmes, longtime Middlesex Borough GOP committeewoman and former council candidate, on the death of her mother, Joyce A. Meyers. GOP DATA CENTER: VOTER DATABASE AVAILABLE TO HELP OUR REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES For those of you who may not be aware, there is a voter data base program called GOP Data Center, (the successor to what many years ago was called “Voter Vault”), which is available – free – at no charge – to help Republican organizations and Republicans running in general elections at all levels, from local council races on up. GOP Data Center is a voter database built and run by the Republican National Committee and administered in our state by the New Jersey Republican State Committee (“NJGOP”). GOP Data Center is a voter data base which contains information about all registered voters in your jurisdiction: their names, addresses, phone numbers (some good and some bad), the voters’ ages, party registration and voting history for at least the last ten years, along with their election district and other potentially relevant information. The program allows you to message the data to provide lists and information in almost any way you choose. For example, if you want to know which Republicans only vote occasionally (say, in 1 or 2 out of the last 4 general elections) so you can work on encouraging them to come out and vote in this coming election, or unaffiliated voters, (who are often called Independent), who vote all the time, (say in 4 of the last 4 general elections), so you can work on convincing them to vote for our Republican candidates. If you want to know all the Republican or unaffiliated voters in just one of your election districts, or you want an alphabetical or street address list of voters, all of this is available when working with GOP Data Center. Usually, we like to have one person from a municipality or a campaign obtain access to the database for their municipality or campaign and many of our municipalities already have someone locally who has access. However, there are any number of municipalities/campaigns who are not taking advantage of this information. If your municipality is not taking advantage of this resource, the organization/campaign should select a person to get access to and work with the database, and your local GOP municipal chair should send me an e-mail, (address below), requesting access for the individual and including all of that individual’s contact information, and I will authorize access as appropriate, (with consultation with the MCRO chair), and request NJGOP to grant and set up the person with access to the database. Note that this database is not intended to, and may not be used, in contested Republican primaries or in other Republican vs. Republican contests. If you or someone in your municipality already has access to GOP Data Center, NJGOP is hosting a Data, Digital and Voter Contact Training Seminar, via Zoom, this coming Monday, July 26th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm which includes GOP Data Center training, which requires pre-registration. Space is limited and if you are cleared for access or your municipality will or has cleared you to be the contact person in your municipality, send me an e-mail request immediately and, if there is still time, and possibly space still available, I will forward you the e-mail regarding the seminar and the link to pre-register. FREE NAMETAGS FOR REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES IN MIDDLESEX COUNTY AVAILABLE As previously reported, and as I have done for a number of years, I will be happy to make nametags for any Republican candidate running on the Republican line for public office in Middlesex County who wants one – for free. I have already made and distributed candidate nametags to most of the candidates who were on the ballot in the recent primary election, but there were also a number of candidates who were nominated by write-in vote who have not yet received a nametag. If there is interest, their GOP municipal chair should send me an e-mail with the candidates’ information – including exactly the way each candidate wants his or her name on the nametag, plus his or her e-mail address, (and address and phone number), so I can add them to my e-mail newsletter list, and I will prepare the nametags. ANSWERS TO POLITICAL TRIVIA: 1. Barack Obama 2. On March 4, 1909 during President William Howard Taft’s inauguration. Taft was not an occupant of the automobile. 3. William Henry Harrison, who was born on February 9, 1773 4. John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams 5. Franklin Roosevelt (He made this statement in his 1933 inaugural address.) 6. William Jennings Bryan 7. Georgia (in 1732) UPDATED CALENDAR What follows is an updated calendar. If you have any municipal or countywide fundraisers or functions you would like me to include in my e-mail calendar from time to time, please contact me at dkatzlaw@aol.com. Please note that organizations and campaigns sometimes provide added information, change dates, or cancel events, which information I include in this calendar if I receive the information in time. Therefore, if you plan to attend an event, please make sure you review the calendar listing in my latest e-mail and, to the extent you may not have pre-registered for the particular event so the sponsoring group will be able to contact you about any changes, you may want to check with the sponsoring group before you go, to make sure the information has not changed. Also, please be aware that these e-mails are not official MCRO notices or mailings; they are just something I do, voluntarily, to help our Republican Party. July 26 (Monday) – Nomination petition filing deadline for School and Fire District Election Candidates running in the General Election. July 27 (Tuesday 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm) – Dinner in support of LD !7 Senate & Assembly Candidates. The Clarion, 60 Cottontail Lane, Somerset. $100.00 per person, $175.00 per couple. Buffet Dinner, Beer & Wine and Dessert. For tickets and to RSVP: https://secure.winred.com/district-17-republicans-inc/make-nj-safe-again July 28 (Wednesday 6:30 Registration, 7:00 pm Start) – Candidate Replacement Convention. Grace Reformed Church Fellowship Hall, 2815 Woodbridge Avenue, (entrance to parking lot is on Old Post Road), Edison. August 2 (Monday) – August 8 (Sunday) – Middlesex County Fair at the Middlesex County Fair Grounds, Cranbury Road, East Brunswick. Volunteer at the Republican booth. All candidates running in Middlesex County are invited to campaign at the Republican booth. August 4 (Wednesday 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm) – Cocktail Reception for Old Bridge Ward 2 Councilman Erik DePalma and Ward 4 Councilman Mark Razzoli at Trump National Golf Club, 1 Trump National Blvd., Colts Neck. Special Guest, Gubernatorial Candidate Jack Ciattarelli. Tickets $500.00 but a special discounted rate of $125.00 for GOP county committee members. To reserve your tickets and pay, go to: https://secure.anedot.com/razzoli-for-council/colts-neck-august-4th August 9 (Monday 3:00 pm) – Drawing of ballot position for General Election Candidates by the County Clerk. August 21 (Saturday 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm) – “Stories, Spirits, and Smokes” Sayreville GOP Fundraiser. Madison Park Volunteer Fire Company Hall, 3011 Cheesequake Road, Parlin. Tickets $75.00 per person and $25.00 additional for a premium cigar bundle for those interested. Spend an evening sipping a cocktail, enjoying an expertly presented prime rib carving station, and enjoying the entertaining stories that sound like someone’s been spying on your own family by Mike Farragher. Cash Bar, Butlered hors d’oeuvres, Prime Rib Carving Station, Pasta Dish, Coffee, Tea Cookies, Pastries, and more. Checks payable to Sayreville GOP to P.O. Box 1078, Sayreville, NJ 08871. September 7 (Tuesday) – Last day vacancy can occur for primary election nominees for the General Election. September 9 (Thursday) – Deadline for filling primary election nominee vacancy for the General Election. September 18 (Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm) – St. James (Woodbridge) Street Fair, Main Street, Woodbridge. The Woodbridge Township Republican Organization (WTRO) will have a booth and all Middlesex County GOP candidates are invited to participate. Free parking on nearby streets as well as at the St. James Church parking lot. Rain date is Saturday, September 25. For additional information about the WTRO booth, contact John Vrtaric at 732-636-1919. September 18 (Saturday) – Statutory Deadline by which the County Clerk is supposed to start mailing out Vote By Mail (absentee) Ballots. (45 days before General Election Day) September 20 (Monday 9:00 am Shotgun Start) – South Plainfield GOP 1st Annual Golf Outing. Raritan Landing Golf Course, 491 Sidney Road, Piscataway. $100.00 per Golfer. For information contact: Peter Smith 908-546-2653 or pds1919@yahoo.com or Matt Anesh 908-421-5274 or matthew.anesh@gmail.com. October 12 (Tuesday) – Last day to register to vote in the General Election. October 19 (Tuesday) – Deadline for filing your list of Election Day challengers for the General Election, with the Board of Elections (Middlesex County Board of Elections, 11 Kennedy Boulevard, East Brunswick, New Jersey 08816-1250.) October 20 (Wednesday – Noon) – Statutory Deadline by which the County Clerk is supposed to mail out the Sample Ballots for the General Election. October 23-October 31 – Early in person voting on voting machines (Number and location of voting sites not yet determined.) October 26 (Tuesday) – Last day for vote by mail (absentee) ballot applications to be received by the County Clerk by mail in order to vote in General Election. (Middlesex County Clerk, P.O. Box 1110, 75 Bayard Street, 4th Floor, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-1110). November 1 (Monday 3:00 pm) – Last day to apply for a vote by mail (absentee) ballot in person (or by authorized messenger) at the County Clerk’s office in order to vote in the General Election. November 2 (Tuesday) – General Election Please forward this information to any Middlesex County Republican, or other individuals, who you think might be interested in seeing it. Further, if you know of any Middlesex County Republican who would like to receive periodic e-mail reports about NJ Republican State Committee meetings and other information I believe might be interesting or useful, please have them send me, Donald Katz, an e-mail to dkatzlaw@aol.com, and I will add them to my e-mail list. By the same token, if you ever want to be removed from my e-mail list, click “unsubscribe” at the foot of this e-mail. Donald Katz, Esq. Republican State Committeeman – Middlesex County and Counsel, Middlesex County Republican Organization dkatzlaw@aol.com 17 Buffalo Run East Brunswick, New Jersey 08816 (H) 732-251-3804 |
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Middlesex County GOP Update July 22
