Chaos Escalates in New Jersey Republican Primary Civil War

The disorder and disarray in the crowded New Jersey Republican primary is ramping up and it is getting nasty. Just this week, Trump-wannabee gubernatorial candidate Hirsh Singh penned a column declaring a “Civil War” against fellow candidate Jack Ciattarelli and his own party. Meanwhile, negative attack mailers are being sent out against Singh and Phil Rizzo saying there is “zero chance” they could beat Gov. Phil Murphy in November.

Let’s take a quick stroll down New Jersey GOP Civil War lane:

• Singh proclaimed himself as the “only candidate in this race who is proudly pro-Trump”, even as Ciattarelli headlined a  “Stop the Steal” rally in Trump’s honor and says Trump’s policies “worked for the country”. 
• In a tweet, Phil Rizzo attacked Ciattarelli for a Facebook post pushing against mandating vaccines for students. Rizzo argued his opponent’s anti-vax sentiment didn’t go far enough, calling the vaccine “experimental” and falsely claiming that “healthy young students” have “0 risk from COVID” — even as COVID-19 cases continue to rise among young people. 
• A mysterious piece of negative campaign mail attacked Rizzo for “paying zero in property taxes” and benefiting from a “shady tax deal”.
• The same attack mail went after Singh for winning “zero elections” and being a complete failure as a past candidate.  

And in the midst of all this chaos, Ciattarelli still won’t wear a mask. 

“The New Jersey Republican primary is getting downright nasty,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “Their self-declared ‘battle’ for Trump’s base has devolved into name-calling and mudslinging as they try to prove themselves the furthest right candidate. Whoever does manage to crawl across the finish line is going to be a bruised candidate that’s shown once and for all just how out of touch with New Jersey voters they are.”

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