| Written and distributed since 2003 by Donald Katz, Esq., Republican State Committeeman for Middlesex County and Counsel, Middlesex County Republican Organization MCRO SCREENING COMMITTEE RESULTS The Middlesex County Republican Screening Committee met on Wednesday, February 25th to consider candidates for various offices to be finally selected at our convention on March 14th. We ultimately had only one contested race, where multiple people competed to obtain the Republican nomination. The contested office was for the U.S. Senate. In that race Richard Tabor of Elizabeth, a current NJ State Trooper and a US Army Combat veteran who later served in the New Jersey National Guard, received 28 votes, Alex Zdan of Robbinsville, a former News 12 New Jersey Reporter and current Journalist, received 19 votes, and Justin Murphy, of Tabernacle, an attorney and former Tabernacle Deputy Mayor, received 4 votes. Since no candidate received two thirds of the votes, both Tabor and Zdan will be presented to our convention. The other positions were uncontested, and the following candidates were recommended to be endorsed at the March 14th County Convention: County Commissioner – Middlesex Borough Mayor Jack Mikolajczyk and Spotswood Council President Andrew Zaborney Congress 6th CD – Hillary Herzig from Oceanport, who is a small business owner and a career civil servant. Congress 12th CD – Greg Mele from Clark, who is an attorney in private practice. Those candidates who are selected and endorsed at the MCRO convention will be awarded the MCRO’s slogan: “Endorsed by Middlesex County Republican Organization. POLITICAL TRIVIA: Here are some political trivia questions. I hope you enjoy them. The answers are below, immediately above the calendar: 1. James Buchanan was the only unmarried U.S. President. True or False? 2. Which First Lady taught her future husband at New Hope Academy? 3. How long did the US President’s salary remain at the $25,000 amount it was set in 1789? 4. Which wild animal did Theodore Roosevelt famously refuse to shot? 5. What was the Hoover Dam called while Franklin Roosevelt was in office? 6. Which U.S. President pardoned people who avoided military service in Vietnam? 7. Ronald Reagan likened himself to which classic movie star? RECENT ELECTION LAW CHANGES As of just a few days ago, you can now apply for a vote by mail ballot on line at the New Jersey Division of Elections website at NJElections.org. (As has been the case for a while now, you can also register to vote on line at the same site.) Also based on a recent law, 17-year-olds who will be 18 years old by the time of the general election are permitted to vote in the preceding primary election, assuming they timely register to vote. NOMINATING PETITION SIGNATURES ARE NEEDED NOW FOR THE COUNTY COMMISSIONER CANDIDATES, ANY CANDIDATES RUNNING IN YOUR TOWN AND GOP COUNTY COMMITTEE CANDIDATES EVERYWHERE IN THE COUNTY Thanks to the Democrats, more, and often many more, signatures are needed to get our candidates on the ballot. We need your help to sign our candidate’s nominating petitions and, if you can, circulate the petitions to get more signatures for them. Most of your local GOP Municipal Chars have petition signature sheets for the County Commissioner candidates which can be circulated along with the petitions for any local candidates running in your town, while you or your neighbors are also getting the signatures on your, or their, petitions for GOP County Committee in each local election district. If you have an opportunity to do so, you should also sign the petition for the Congressional candidate in your district, which is either the 6th CD or the 12th CD. Congressional candidates need a minimum of 500 good signatures of registered Republican voters in their Congressional District, where it used to be only 200 which our County Commissioner candidates need, for this year, a minimum of 298 good signatures of registered Republican voters in Middlesex County, where it used to be only 100, if you have a race in your town this year, the signatures required have also increased and, except for our very smallest municipalities, have minimums of either 50, 75 or 100. Contact your candidates or your municipal chair to find out how to sign or how to help get more petition signatures. Note that if you or someone you know is running for election or re-election for GOP County Committee, more signatures are needed on your petition than the last time county committee was on the ballot, and all signatures must only be from registered Republicans who live in your election district. The deadline for filing all GOP candidate petitions is 4:00 pm, Monday, March 23! ANSWERS TO POLITICAL TRIVIA: 1. True. President Buchanan was once engaged, but his fiancée called off the engagement, leaving him forever a bachelor. 2. Abigail Powers met future President Millard Fillmore when he attended a class she was teaching in New York. (She was 21 and he was 19 at the time.) Abigail Fillmore was also the first First Lady to hold a job after marriage. 3. The President’s salary remained the same from 1789 to 1873, when it was doubled to $50,000 by a bill signed by President Grant on March 3, 1873 – the day before he started his second term. 4. A black bear. On a hunting trip in 1902, Theodore Roosevelt failed to find a wild bear to shoot, so a bear cub was captured and tied to a tree for him. However, the President refused to harm the adorable creature. A cartoonist sketched the moment, and an ingenious toymaker dedicated a stuffed bear to the President, calling it “Teddy’s Bear.” 5. Boulder Dam. During Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, the Hoover Dam was known as the Boulder Dam, as the President didn’t want to give too much credit to his predecessor. Construction on the mighty dam began during Herbert Hoover’s era in 1930, but it was up to Roosevelt to finish the job. The new name didn’t stick, though, and in 1947, the Hoover name was officially restored. 6. Gerald Ford. In his first few weeks in office, Gerald Ford issued several controversial pardons: first to his predecessor Richard Nixon, and then to “draft dodgers” who evaded conscription in the Vietnam War. However, the pardon was conditional — those who had avoided service while remaining in the U.S. had to work a public service job for two years. 7. Errol Flynn. Ronald Reagan once joked, “I’m the Errol Flynn of the B-movies,” referring to his career starring in low-budget movies that made enormous profits for Warner Bros. However, Reagan’s acting portfolio was more than lighthearted comedies and Westerns — he also appeared in the macabre “King’s Row” (1942), the evocative “Knute Rockne” (1940), and the tear-jerking “Dark Victory” (1939). 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 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. March 14 (Saturday, Registration 8:30 am – 10:00 am, Start 10:00 am) – Middlesex County Republican Organization Nominating Convention. George Bush Senior Center, Old Bridge Municipal Complex, Route 516 and Cottrell Road, Old Bridge. March 23 (Monday 4:00 pm) – Deadline for filing all Candidate and County Committee petitions for the Primary Election. Local candidates and county committee petitions are filed with your municipal clerk, county candidate petitions are filed with the county clerk and congressional and US senate candidate petitions are filed with the NJ Division of Elections in Trenton. March 26 (Thursday 6:30 pm – ) – Borough of Middlesex Republican Organization Fundraiser. Carpaccio Ristorante, 651 Bound Brook Road, Middlesex. $50.00 per person. Checks payable to Michael Conahan for Council or Kevin Doley for Council should be mailed to BMRO, PO Box 324, Middlesex, NJ 08846. Questions: email info@middlesexrepublicans.com or call 732-794-7553. March 28 (Saturday 6:30 pm – ) – South River Republican Red & White Victory Ball. Portuguese Fisherman, 11 Jackson Street, South River. Reception/Dinner/Dancing. $90 per person. Checks payable to South River Republican Organization to be mailed to P.O. Box 373, South River, NJ 08882. Questions call 848-448-0423 or email hutchisonteresa@msm.com. April 8 (Wednesday) – Last day to change party affiliation to vote in the Primary Election. April 18 (Saturday) – Commencement of mailing of Vote-By-Mail Ballots for Primary Election. May 12 (Tuesday) – Last day to register to vote in the Primary Election. May 12 (Tuesday) – Deadline for filing your list of primary election day challengers with the Board of Elections. (Middlesex County Board of Elections, 26-B Kennedy Boulevard, East Brunswick, New Jersey 08816) May 26 (Tuesday) – Last day for vote-by-mail ballot applications to be received by the County Clerk by mail, in order to vote in the Primary Election. (Middlesex County Clerk, P.O. Box 1110, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-1110). May 26 (Tuesday) – May 31 (Sunday) – Primary Election Early Voting Period (Note, this time period is longer previously noted, due to another newly adopted law.) June 1 (Monday 3:00 pm) – Last day to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot in person (or by authorized messenger) at the County Clerk’s office (26-C Kennedy Boulevard, East Brunswick, New Jersey), in order to vote in the Primary Election. June 2 (Tuesday) – Primary Election Please forward this information to any Middlesex County Republican, or other individuals, who you think might be interested in seeing it, but, before you forward it, make sure you delete the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of this e-mail, otherwise one of the people you forward it to, may unsubscribe you and the program will not let me add you back to my mailing list. Further, if you know of any Middlesex County Republicans who would like to receive periodic reports about Republican-related 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 wish 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 119 Leeds Lane Monroe Township, NJ 08831 (C) 908-227-9239 Copyright © 2025 Donald Katz, All rights reserved, except forwarding of entire newsletter to Republicans is permitted and encouraged and excerpts may be used for non-commercial purposes provided the excerpts are attributed to Donald Katz |
MIDDLESEX COUNTY GOP UPDATE
