Curtis Bashaw beats Trump-endorsed candidate in New Jersey Senate primary

Real estate developer Curtis Bashaw won the GOP nomination for Senate in New Jersey on Tuesday, according to a projection from Decision Desk HQ. 

Bashaw defeated Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner and two other candidates for the nomination. Despite not having the endorsement of former President Trump, who backed Serrano Glassner, Bashaw had the support of most of the county Republican parties in the state, which is particularly influential in New Jersey.

The state has for decades used a ballot organizational system known as the county line in which candidates who receive the county endorsement are given the most optimal positioning on the ballot.

The ballot is composed as a grid, with each office candidates are seeking having their own row and candidates being ordered in columns. The most ideal position for a candidate to have is in the same column as the other candidates that the county party endorsed.

This allows voters to just go down the column to back the county-endorsed candidates without straying to other candidates. So while Serrano Glassner had Trump’s endorsement, Bashaw had the preferred ballot spot in the same column as Trump in a majority of the counties in the state. 

A federal judge issued an injunction striking down the county lines as unconstitutional following a lawsuit from Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), a Democratic Senate candidate, and a couple of other candidates, but the ruling only applied to the Democratic primary. The Republican primary went forward with the county lines in place. 

Bashaw will have an uphill battle competing against Kim for the Senate seat currently held by embattled Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) in the solidly blue state. Menendez has been embroiled in controversy amid his federal corruption case in which he is facing charges of bribery and other offenses.

The incumbent chose not to run for the Democratic nomination following the indictment against him and widespread calls within his party to resign, but he officially launched an independent bid for the seat Monday.

Republicans hope Menendez’s candidacy could possibly put the seat more in play and give them a chance despite no Republican being elected to the Senate from New Jersey in more than 50 years.