Forget the Tea Party. Across the Hudson, Jersey Republicans just nominated a former Reagan speechwriter to run for Senate against incumbent Cory Booker.
His name is Jeffrey Bell. And it’s not his first upset in a New Jersey primary. Back in 1978, the then-upstart ousted incumbent Sen. Clifford Case, only to lose to Bill Bradley in the general.
Two years later, Ronald Reagan would win the presidency campaigning on the same principles Bell had — and change the Republican Party forever.
In more recent years, Bell has been an activist for tax and monetary reform. Along the way he has authored thoughtful books and contributed to magazines such as National Review and The Weekly Standard.
Booker’s reputation, of course, has faded since he was elected mayor of Newark, a city whose name has become a synonym for urban dysfunction and despair.
Though Booker started with much promise, in the end he failed to transform the city, leaving behind a growing murder rate, a failing school system and an electorate jaded by unfulfilled promises of reform.
Even so, it’s a long shot for Bell. The state is heavily blue. Booker has a hefty campaign war chest. And Jersey voters haven’t sent a Republican to the Senate since 1972.
Which may explain why Bell’s wife told Politico she cried when her husband told her he was running.
Jeffrey Bell appreciates the odds against him. But he also says he has confidence ordinary voters will respond to what The Weekly Standard calls a “pro-growth, pro-Main Street agenda.”
We look forward to a campaign debate New Jersey badly needs.