Successful NJ mayors under fire from back room bullies (Opinion)

Somerset County is one of the wealthiest counties in America. It's also one of the nicest places to live in New Jersey regardless of income level. There's an opportunity for everyone.

One of the great towns in Somerset is Bridgewater. It's a transportation hub as travel from south to north and vice versa tends to go through the Somerville Circle right past the Bridgewater Mall as drivers connect from route 206 to 287. Shopping, neighborhoods, and great small businesses, Bridgewater has it all.

One of the reasons that Bridgewater is so attractive is that at the local level, the residents enjoy strong leadership in city hall. Mayor Matt Moench was elected along with council running mates Tim Ring and Michael Kirsh four years ago. They got to work immediately, negotiating a strong deal on behalf of the residents to curb over-development, which is plaguing many towns across the state.

They empowered law enforcement and focused on fixing the roads. The incredible success in Bridgewater was highlighted by my friend and Somerset County Republican chairman Tim Howes, who joined me on the show Wednesday morning.

He pointed out what we've been discussing for years, that backroom political class operators would sooner sack a good government leader than relinquish an ounce of control. We're seeing this happen in Bridgewater as the back room is behind a former GOP mayor who switched parties to challenge Matt in the general.

The back story has a lot more to do with the 2025 election than the 2023 election. Sadly, there are some GOP leaders who would rather bully local leaders into supporting their inside puppet candidate (guess who) than allow for a robust debate on who the best candidate should be against the Democrats.

We're seeing similar backroom treachery play out in Morris County where successful Parsippany Mayor Jamie Barberio is under attack by his own Morris County chairwoman. Jamie joined us on the show to discuss how they're coming at him.

The situation in Bridgewater and in Parsippany are indicators of how morally bankrupt the GOP insiders have become. Willing to take the crumbs off of the Democrats' table instead of fighting for real New Jerseyans. We saw the weakness on full display during the lockdowns and now we're seeing GOPers complicit with the Democrats on the wind projects and the sexualization of our school-age kids.

If the Republican party is going to ascend into a strong opposition and eventual majority party to fix the problems that are driving billions of dollars of income out every year, then it starts by cleaning up the mess internally. County chairs who would rather hurt good Republicans than tolerate disagreements should be sacked. Consultants who continue to undermine common sense challengers by smearing reputations and using the process to exclude people instead of including people should be fired and shunned.

It's time for the GOP to stand up for cops, teachers, nurses, truck drivers, skilled trade workers, moms, dads, kids and small business owners and employees, and every working and middle-class resident who suffers from the rule of the radicals. Time to wake up, fight hard and earn the respect of the voters in our state.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own. Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015.

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