| Written and distributed since 2003 by Donald Katz, Esq., Republican State Committeeman for Middlesex County and Counsel, Middlesex County Republican Organization EARN $300+ AND HELP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY: BECOME AN ELECTION DAY REPUBLICAN POLL CLERK AND FIND OTHER REPUBLICANS WHO WILL ALSO WORK We need more Republican Poll Clerks on Election Day, especially in some of our strongest Democrat towns. Republican Poll Clerks who do their job and make sure everything is done by the rules are a great help to the Republican party and our candidates. If you work on Election Day you will earn $300 and when you take the required pre-election training, you will earn another $30. As those of you who have read these e-mail newsletters from me for some time already know, the Board of Elections will honor poll clerk appointment recommendations made by each GOP municipal chairman (or his or her designee), provided they are submitted in a timely fashion, and it is now past that date. If the Republican organizations don’t make these appointments, the Board of Elections will fill the slots with whoever they can find – sometimes with Unaffiliated voters and, we have found, that there are actually registered Democrats in some of the Republican poll clerk positions stemming from times when local Republican organizations failed to make Republican recommendations for the positions. We presently have a large number of openings in New Brunswick, Perth Amboy and Woodbridge, as well as a substantial number of openings in Carteret, Plainsboro and elsewhere. There are a small number of openings in many of our towns, but you will help the Republican party and our candidates best if you can work in the towns where we have the most openings – where Republican eyes are most needed to watch what the Democrats are actually doing in and around the polling places when there are no, or very few, Republicans watching. If you, or any other Republican you know who lives anywhere in Middlesex County are interested or willing to work/help, you can first contact your GOP Municipal Chair or local poll clerk coordinator, or you or they can contact one of the bipartisan employees at the Board of Elections office. The following is a list of the employees and the towns they cover, but you will help the Republicans best if you can work in one of the towns where we need the most Republicans, so call that Board of Elections employee who covers that town first and if it somehow doesn’t work out, she or he can transfer you to one of the other employees. Edison Lisa Byrne 732.745.8413 Helmetta, Highland Park, Jamesburg, Metuchen, Middlesex, Milltown Christine Lee 732.745.8347 Monroe, New Brunswick Angela Ramos 732.745.8107 North Brunswick, Old Bridge Hariom (Harry) Sood 732.745.8171 Perth Amboy, Piscataway Linda Palughi 732.745.8425 Plainsboro, Sayreville, South Amboy Csilla Soproni 732.745.8291 South Brunswick, South Plainfield, South River Esther Kankanala 732.745.8288 Spotswood, Woodbridge Lauren Massaro 732.745.8294 If you can’t reach the person you want to reach and don’t want to leave a message, you can always call the Board of Elections directly at the general number 732-745-3471. POLITICAL TRIVIA: Here are some political trivia questions. I hope you enjoy them. The answers are below, immediately above the calendar: 1. What New York town is home to FDR’s birthplace and presidential library? 2. Who lost the 1984 presidential election alongside his running mate, Geraldine Ferraro? 3. What US senator came in second in the US presidential elections of 1832 and 1844? 4. In lieu of a First Lady, who acted as White House hostess for Thomas Jefferson? 5. Which US President was the first to sport a beard while in office? 6. Before FDR who was the only US President to win the popular vote 3 times? 7. Which US President was an orphan who grew up with his uncle in Oregon? VOTE BY MAIL BALLOTS GOING OUT. FOLLOW UP WITH ANY REPUBLICANS WHO ARE GETTING THEM TO MAKE SURE THEY VOTE THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE Depending on when you are reading this, the vote by mail ballots are still going out or have recently been received. Pursuant to law, the ballots started being mailed Saturday, September 19th. Typically, the ballots to all of the people on the permanent vote by mail list and those people who have already requested a vote by mail ballot for just this election, go out over the first week from the required start date. Therefore, you need to contact all Republicans in your district or you otherwise know will be receiving the ballot or who have recently received their ballot, to urge them to immediately complete it and send it back. The best and safest way to get these ballots back to the Board of Elections is to drop them off in a drop box. There is at least one drop box in each of our municipalities which is usually near the municipal building or municipal complex. None of the drop boxes have been moved from their prior locations, so if you used one last year, it is still in the same place or you can drop it in any drop box anywhere in the county. We can’t afford to leave any Republican votes on the table, especially since the people who receive vote by mail ballots in Middlesex County have been casting their ballots at almost twice the frequency as the registered voters who don’t receive vote by mail ballots. DON’T MISS THE IMPORTANT ELECTION DEADLINES REFERENCED IN MY CALENDAR, BELOW The last day to register to vote is Tuesday, October 13th and if you are the person responsible for filing for credentials for election day challengers in your municipality, that deadline date is also Tuesday, October 13th – a week earlier than it used to be, based on a law change. Finally, the last day to apply, by mail, for a vote-by-mail ballot is Tuesday, October 27th (After that date, you can still get a vote by mail ballot in person at the county clerk’s office, up to 3:00 pm the day before to Election Day.) CONDOLENCES… * Condolences to the family of Walter F. Uveges, Sr. a long time Woodbridge Republican committeeman, who, if memory serves, many years before, for a short time, had been a Perth Amboy Republican Committeeman and who at one time also was a Woodbridge Township Council candidate. * Condolences to the family of Buddy Thomas, a Marine Corps veteran and loyal South Brunswick Republican. LOOKING FOR ATTORNEYS TO VOLUNTEER ON ELECTION DAY As previously reported, we would like to place attorneys at various critical locations on Election Day, so that there will be someone available at the other end of the phone line at all times to answer your Election Day questions, at the courthouse to represent the Republican Party in Election Day matters, monitor polling locations in potentially problem areas, etc. Although election law experience is a plus, it is not necessary – we will train them, either by their attendance at a challenger training session which will be held prior to the November election, or otherwise. If you know any attorneys who would be willing to volunteer, please have them personally contact Vince Le Blon, via e-mail at vinczl@aol.com or 732-343-0277 our lead attorney for Election Day, who will run the attorney operation this election, while I am handling my duties at the Board of Elections. (Of course, prior to Election Day, you can always contact me directly if you have an election law question.) Anyone who offers to be a volunteer attorney on Election Day should be sure to include both his or her e-mail address and his or her cell phone number and he or she should also let Vince know his or her time availability on Election Day. (Although all day availability would be preferable, if the attorney can volunteer a block of time of 4 hours or more, it would be acceptable.) ONCE AGAIN, THE COUNTY DEMOCRATS PROVE THAT “THEY WILL SPARE NO (TAXPAYERS’) EXPENSE” IF THEY FEEL IT WILL GIVE THEM A POLITICAL ADVANTAGE If you are a registered voter in Middlesex County and are not already on the permanent vote by mail ballot list, you probably have recently received a letter and a vote by mail ballot application over the signature of the Democrat Middlesex County Clerk, so I would estimate that more than 450,000 letters were sent out, all at the county taxpayers’ expense, which I estimate cost the Middlesex County taxpayers in excess of $225,000.00. Why did county Democrats do this? More of the registered voters in our county are Democrats rather than Republicans, so it is likely that more of the people who respond to this mailing and sign up to vote by mail will be Dems rather than Republicans. Even though, on the average, Republicans tend to vote at a higher rate than Democrats, since it is easier to vote by mail, the percentage of people who vote their vote by mail ballot is generally much higher than the percentage of people who vote in person, which helps the Democrats. We can’t let this continue. We need to get our Republicans who only vote occasionally, perhaps only in a Presidential election every 4 years, to sign up to vote by mail, so they will vote, (and probably vote Republican), more often, or get them to vote in person, either during the early voting period (dates in the calendar below) or on Election Day. ANSWERS TO POLITICAL TRIVIA: 1. Hyde Park, New York, is the site of Springwood, a 1793 estate where Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in 1882. 2. Walter Mondale 3. Henry Clay, who ran three presidential elections and is considered to be one of the most qualified candidates never to win due to his contributions to domestic policy. Known as the “Great Pacificator,” he began his campaigns in 1824 when he came in fourth to John Quincy Adams. Eight years later, he came in second to incumbent Andrew Jackson, and 12 years after that, he lost in a close race to James K. Polk. 4. Dolly Madison. In 1772, Thomas Jefferson married Martha Wayles, who passed away 10 years later. This left Jefferson a widower when he became President in 1801. Though the role of First Lady was not an official role, it was common at the time for a friend’s wife to act as hostess for a man without a female head of house. Dolley Madison, the wife of Jefferson’s secretary of state, James Madison, stepped into the role. 5. Abraham Lincoln 6. Grover Cleveland, the first US President to serve two nonconsecutive terms, but he also won the popular vote in the election in between. In 1888, Cleveland received 90,000 more votes than Benjamin Harrison, but lost the electoral vote 233-168. 7. Herbert Hoover was born in Iowa to a blacksmith and a teacher, but was orphaned at the age of 9. He then moved to Oregon, where he was raised by his uncle. 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. September 30 (Wednesday 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm) – East Brunswick GOP Fundraiser for Candidates. Avos Ria Mar, 25 Whitehead Avenue, South River. $100 per person, county committee and elected officials $75. RSVP to Suzanne Blum at 732-236-4489 or chair@eastbrunswickrepublicans.org. Checks payable to Le Blon Vazirani Abdo for Council should be mailed to 21 Bunker Hill Run, East Brunswick, NJ 08816. October 5 (Monday 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm) – Sayreville GOP Town Hall, American Legion, 240 Macarthur Avenue, Sayreville. Meet the Candidates: Justin Murphy, US Senate Candidate, John Zebrowski and Michael Colaci, Sayreville Council Candidates. October 8 (Thursday) – US Senate Debate between Justin Murphy and Cory Booker. (Sponsored by Rider University and the N.J. Globe – to be streamed online.) October 13 (Tuesday) – Last day to register to vote in the General Election. October 13 (Tuesday) – Deadline for filing your list of Election Day challengers for the General Election with the Board of Elections. (Middlesex County Board of Elections, 26-B Kennedy Boulevard, East Brunswick, New Jersey 08816) October 13 (Tuesday 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm) – Middlesex County Republican Women’s Club Meeting, East Brunswick Library, 2 Civic Center Drive, (off Ryder’s Lane), East Brunswick. October 24 (Saturday) – November 1 (Sunday) – Early Voting Period (Any voter registered in Middlesex County can vote at any of the 10 Early Voting Sites in Middlesex County.) October 27 (Tuesday) – Last day for vote-by-mail ballot applications to be received by the County Clerk by mail in order to vote in the General Election. (Middlesex County Clerk, P.O. Box 1110, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-1110). November 2 (Monday 3:00 pm) – Last day to apply for a mail-in 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 General Election. November 3 (Tuesday 6:00 am – 8:00 pm) – General Election November 10 (Tuesday 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm) – Middlesex County Republican Women’s Club Meeting, East Brunswick Library, 2 Civic Center Drive, (off Ryder’s Lane), East Brunswick. December 8 (Tuesday 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm) – Middlesex County Republican Women’s Club Meeting, East Brunswick Library, 2 Civic Center Drive, (off Ryder’s Lane), East Brunswick. Program includes election of officers. December 12 (Saturday, Departing from North Brunswick by bus at 7:30 am and returning at 3:00 pm) – Middlesex County Republican Women’s Club Holiday Bus Trip to Trump Tower in NYC. $100.00 per person, which includes Bus, Breakfast at the Trump Grill, Taxes and Gratuities. Send checks payable to “MCRWC” and attendee information to P.O. Box 5274, Old Bridge, NJ 08857 or pay online at https://sbgop.wufoo.com/forms/mcrwc-america-250-bus-trip-to-trump-tower 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 bottom 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 © 2026 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
