With Democrats in control of the governor’s office and both houses of the legislature, Republican State Chairman Doug Steinhardt says that his party’s “ability to check Phil Murphy’s radically liberal agenda from inside the system is on life support.”
Steinhardt, who took over the chairmanship after the general election, say he is skeptical of the direction Gov. Phil Murphy wants to take the New Jersey.
“Murphy campaigned on a liberal platform that some in the press compared to Bernie Sanders’,” Steinhardt said. “He has already doubled down on many of his campaign promises, bucking some in his own caucus, by championing legalized marijuana, a $15 government mandated wage, higher income taxes, unprecedented, state-sponsored protections for illegal immigrants, and a $1.3 billion tax increase to pay for it all.”
Republicans are down to fifteen State Senate seats and 26 Assembly seats, and four of the five Congressmen face serious challenges in 2018. The GOP may still compete in the U.S. Senate race, where incumbent Bob Menendez is coming off a corruption trial, and one Democratic Congressman, Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) faces a potentially competitive race.