David Richter

Well, I thought I was going to be blogging about two Brians in CD2, “New Brian” and “Old Brian” with the “New” being older than the “Old.” It’s not going to happen. I spoke with Brian “New Brian” Glackin this morning and he will not be running in CD2 due to work commitments.

I’ve had a few conversations with Glackin and I like the guy. Frankly, I think he could have been a formidable candidate. He did say he’s going to stay involved and help where he can.

Announced Republican candidate in CD2, David Richter, has opened his wallet. Admittedly, I wasn’t kind to Richter when I first learned he was considering a run, but after meeting him several times he’s growing on me. He’s a likeable guy. On the downside Richter still hasn’t come on the radio show, but I blame his consultant (and Bob for endorsing Brian Fitzherbert) more than I do the candidate. Anyway, according to the great Matt Friedman at Politico:

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew may be doing all he can not to alienate his relatively pro-Trump district, but the Republican race to replace him is intensifying.

Yesterday, Republican challenger David Richter disclosed a $413,000 fundraising haul, though almost three-quarters of it came from a self-loan.

Richter — a former HIll International CEO who just moved to the district from Princeton on Saturday — is emphasizing that money is important in this race. His main rival in the primary, Brian Fitzherbert has earned a lot of local endorsements, including an appearance at his event by former U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo. But as of June 30, Fitzherbert had only raised about $17,000 (his campaign did not respond to a phone call seeking more recent numbers).

$413,000 is a lot of cabbage and having $300,000 of your own to throw in to make that number isn’t a bad thing. Good for Richter. Spend it wisely. One activist tried to make the argument that he only raised $113,000 and that Brian Fitzherbert was in a better position. I pointed out that Richter’s $113,000 is nearly 10 times what Fitzherbert raised in his first quarter and that’s without the local name ID of Fitzherbert, meaning Old Brian better get to work.

The part of the story that really jumped out at me is that Brian Fitzherbert’s campaign “did not respond to a phone call seeking more recent numbers.” It’s unlike Fitzherbert to be quiet. His campaign has been announcing endorsements at a rate of about once a week.

So, at least for now, it appears the GOP primary in CD2 is shaping up to be Fitzherbert’s ability to organize versus Richter’s ability to fund his campaign, and we all know, in politics money can buy love and catapults your campaign to frontrunner status.

All this seems to leave the third announced Republican in this race, Bob Patterson, as the odd man out. Most people who meet Patterson seem to like him. He’s a smart guy, one activist recently told me he’s an academic. Maybe, but Patterson’s thoughts on “semen-exposed” women is likely enough to keep him from doing anything except maybe playing the role of spoiler. Let’s see who he hurts.

Note: While Bob has endorsed Brian Fitzherbert for next year’s CD2 primary, Steve is completely neutral and making no endorsement