Axel Owen, who managed Vin Gopal’s stunning win for State Senate last year against Jennifer Beck, is the new political director of the Democratic State Committee.
“With the addition of Axel, we are ramping up our campaign operations at a critical juncture. This year is New Jersey’s chance to hold Republicans accountable for Donald Trump’s lies, deceit, and the divisive agenda they’ve helped him promote,” said Democratic State Chairman John Currie. “To do that, we need to educate, organize, and mobilize voters. Axel has proven quite good at doing that,” said Chairman Currie.
The 11th district was one of Democratic success stories of the 2017 cycle. Gopal became the first Democrat to unseat a Republican Senator since Frank Pallone ousted Brian Kennedy in 1983, and Democrats Joann Downey and Eric Houghtaling were re-elected to second terms in the State Assembly in a district that was drawn to be Republican.
Currie says that Owen will work with the new executive director, Liz Gilbert, to pick up congressional seats in 2018. All five Republican congressmen from New Jersey are being targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Currie said.
“I am sure that the Democratic activists, labor leaders, campaign managers and candidates that have not yet worked with Axel will soon appreciate his savvy and responsiveness as much as those who already have,” said Currie. “I am eager to set him loose and see what he can do in the varied political turf of the state’s 21 counties.”