NJ Republican Challenging Sen. Cory Booker Drops Out Of Race

NEWARK, NJ — One Republican down, four to go. That was the sentiment from the camp of Sen. Cory Booker on Thursday after Stuart Meissner announced he’s dropping out of the race for New Jersey’s U.S. senator in 2020.

Meissner, a Bergen County resident, chose to end his bid for the Republican nomination against Booker, a Democrat, earlier this week.

Meissner announced his decision on Twitter, writing:

“After months of tireless campaigning across the Garden State… I have decided that the narrow path to victory in the Republican primary by seeking the party lines in each of the counties does not afford us a chance to success in such efforts based on recent events. Further, we currently do not have the funding to launch a successful ad campaign primary fight from outside the party lines.”

Meissner, a former prosecutor in New York who eventually opened a private law firm, had touted his experience “fighting for the little guy” against “big Wall Street banks and corporations” such as Monsanto, Wells Fargo, UBS and Morgan Stanley.

The former Democratic Party member, who flipped parties and volunteered on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016, had been self-financing his bid for U.S. Senate, the New Jersey Globe reported.

Meissner identified himself as a “political outsider” and said he was proud to have shed some light on issues such as opposing sanctuary cities, supporting Israel, fighting anti-Semitism, and lowering prescription drug prices and the cost of medical insurance.

“I have said from the very beginning that beating Cory ‘Spartacus’ Booker, opposing the ‘Squad’ and supporting President Trump against the extremist socialist policies of the Democratic Party of today is of the upmost importance,” Meissner wrote.

• See related article: Cory Booker Preps For Senate Election; Candidate Field Grows

Meissner got a message of thanks from New Jersey GOP Chair Doug Steinhardt, who said it takes “real guts” to put your name on the ballot.

Sen. Booker, the former mayor of Newark, still lives in the city's central ward, a fact he played up during his 2020 bid for president. That bid ended in January when the senator announced there was no longer a “path to victory.”

• See related article: Cory Booker Drops Out Of 2020 Presidential Race

Booker’s campaign team trumped Meissner’s announcement in a fundraising email.

“This may be welcome news, but keep in mind that there’s a few more weeks for additional challengers to enter the race,” Booker’s team wrote.

“There may be one less Republican running, but we still have four opponents,” Booker’s team added.

Those opponents include Rik Mehta, an attorney and former U.S. Food and Drug Administration official, who has reportedly gained a thumbs-up from the Republican committees in Burlington, Camden, Hunterdon, Monmouth, Somerset, Union and Warren counties.

Booker also faces a challenge from Hirsch Singh, a New Jersey Institute of Technology graduate and Atlantic City native who has attracted support from the Montclair Republican Club and Somerset County Republican State Committeewoman Janice Fields.

"This campaign will bring together grassroots activists, minorities, the youth, and elected officials, like Janice, who can deliver a new Republican message that pushes back against the socialist onslaught of Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, [Alexandria Ocasio-Corte] and Phil Murphy that has come to dominate New Jersey," Singh recently said.

Singh has also been a proponent of making New Jersey a "2nd Amendment sanctuary."

• See related article: Montclair Republicans Back Booker Challenger In 2020

Another Republican hopeful, Tricia Flanagan, ran against Sen. Robert Menendez and challenger Bob Hugin in 2018 as an independent, garnering more than 16,000 votes.

Flanagan, a healthcare expert, has worked at Pfizer, Becton-Dickenson, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, later serving as CEO of The Flanagan Group and president of Anderson Ludgate Global Healthcare & Life Sciences.

“We need dedicated service in Congress that serves all of New Jersey,” Flanagan writes on her campaign website. “Our current leadership is heavily-weighted with liberal extremism and bureaucracy. That leaves a significant portion of New Jersey's constituency underserved and unrepresented. It's time to change the power equation in New Jersey. It's time to turn the page on failed policies, lack of vision, and politicians that serve their own interests instead of their constituents.”

Former Monmouth County Freeholder Gary Rich ended his campaign earlier this month, endorsing Flanagan.

Natalie Rivera, who also ran against Menendez and Hugin in 2018, earned almost 20,000 votes as an independent candidate. She remains in the race against Booker, the Globe reported.

Ballotpedia lists a fifth remaining Republican challenger, Navodaya Garepalli.

New Jersey Republicans have lost the last 16 races for U.S. Senate. Only Hawaii has gone longer without a GOP victory, according to the Globe.

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