Stand firm and stay the course
Tuesday’s Election results were not what we were hoping for or even expected. I am sure lots of questions and analysis will take place over the next few days and weeks. My background is in ministry. I am not a political science major, but in my personal view the problem was not the candidates or the message. Socially moderate candidates as Chris Del Borrello in district 4 and Steve Dnistrian in district 11 lost, AND strong conservatives like Senator Ed Durr in district 3 and candidate Mike Pappas in district 16 lost.
So – what Happened?
Politics is the art and strategy of winning an election. The progressive Democratic incumbents outspent their Republican challengers by a massive amount. A political war chest in the millions is hard to overcome. Investing large sums of money in character assassinations and distortions of policy positions that are communicated in daily mailers and non-stop YouTube videos puts fear in some voters and deflates the energy in other voters. The result is a larger turnout for the progressive base of voters and a disappointing turnout on the other side.
In the final analysis, the problem, once again, was the method of voting. Republicans were down over 3-1 on Vote By Mail ballots going into Election Day. Those numbers are just impossible to overcome by well-intentioned voters driving in the dark after work at 6PM to a school building to stand in line and vote. Therefore, until the Republican “base” embraces Vote By Mail as the method to get their friends and family to vote, it will be very difficult to pick up seats outside of deep red districts.
Please, do not be fooled by progressives who will now say that the people of New Jersey have spoken, and they represent their values. Untrue! That is a non-factual statement. A mere 30% of registered voters took the time to vote across the state. For example, (these numbers are not yet certified) in district 16, Senator Andrew Zwicker (D) received 55% of the vote – of the 33% of registered voters who participated in the election. In other words, he received a vote from 18.0% of registered voters in his legislative district. Yet, with this small minority of voters giving him the win, New Jersey families will be on the defensive to protect their children from his radical policies for the next four years.
But – we are winning!
Rutgers/Eagleton Center released their latest poll the morning of the election that showed 80% of New Jersey voters say parental rights in education is a factor for who they vote for, with 47% saying it’s a major factor. Only 20% said it was not a factor at all.
Two months ago, Monmouth University released a poll that showed 78% of New Jersey adults believe parents should be notified of their child’s gender identity and do not want gender identity diversity lessons taught in K-5.
Both Rutgers University and Monmouth University have published similar conclusions based upon their polling. 78%-80% of New Jersey voters support the parental rights movement. We are winning the hearts and minds of people across the state.
We must stay the course and not allow political campaigns to interrupt our vital work.
I want to encourage you to watch the video from my interview on NJTV News Live Election Night coverage as I discussed how parental rights is impacting the election.
