The Republican primary for Upper Township Committee is intense. Tough and sometimes nasty election fights in local politics here and around the country are not out of the ordinary, but one aspect is much newer.
It’s something that was part and parcel for federal offices, the Senate and House of Representatives, but lately has filtered its way down to local elections. It’s the need to show support for the person at the top of the ticket in Washington, D.C.
Incumbent Mayor Jay Newman and Deputy Mayor Kim Hayes, who were the Republican Party-endorsed candidates when they first ran for office three years ago, are facing a primary challenge from two newcomers with a familiar name.
Cousins Zachary Palombo and Samuel Palombo, the son and nephew, respectively, of former longtime mayor Rich Palombo, not only are challenging Newman and Hayes, but they won the endorsement of the Upper Township members of the Republican County Committee.
It is a given that Republican candidates show adherence to Republican values, but since former President Donald Trump came to head the party, everyone from the top of the ticket nationally to the bottom of the ticket in small town elections needs to show loyalty to the man, not just the party.
That’s not a controversial issue in Republican-dominated Upper Township, where all four candidates for Township Committee sought the endorsement of the Cape May County Regular Republican Organization (or CapeGOP), which unabashedly considers itself part of the Trump Team.
Because Newman, Hayes, Palombo and Palombo are running to help oversee a township — and they have all talked about local issues in their campaigns — it seems the fealty to a president (past and/or future) should not rank high on the priority list.
When lifelong Democrat Jeff Van Drew switched to the Republican Party less than a year after getting elected to Congress, that was a move that made political sense.
He was an anomaly in this part of the state, a conservative Democrat surviving on a red island in a sea of New Jersey blue. It made sense to him to align with the party that dominates a large part of his district.
When he switched, he pledged his undying loyalty to then-president Trump. That was a political decision that will probably help ensure he gets re-elected time and again.
He should have pledged his undying loyalty to the Constitution and supporting big-D Democracy against those who diminish it, but he chose the political math.
While he has abandoned the Democrats and moderates who supported him through the decades in his various county and state offices, the Second Congressional District scales tip more heavily GOP. So, smart move when his ultimate priority is staying in office.
That is why he keeps doubling down on his late-in-life Republican-ness, and keeps popping up on the most right-wing TV talking head shows and doing things like voting against aid to Ukraine.
But how much should a loyalty pledge to a former or future resident of the White House matter in a township race?
Hayes and Newman have always espoused conservative Republican values. It’s hard to knock them on that. The Palombos are running as the “chosen” Republican candidates. The values that theoretically come with that are believing in lower taxes, limited government and their take on family values.
When Van Drew votes in the House of Representatives, he is linked directly to the sitting president because that is how laws are made. Presidents will call congressmen to get their votes and congressmen will vote to get their president’s approval. That works for Democrats the same way.
When the members of Upper Township Committee vote, they are directly linked to the people of Upper Township. A lot of those people absolutely support Trump, but it would seem when it comes time for choosing their elected leaders, they would care most about things much closer to home: taxes, roads, parks and playing fields. Their school district, the community center and public safety. Diminishing state aid. The development of the former B.L. England site. What happens if the $6.1 million in energy receipts support from the state goes away?
Having party faithful at all levels caught up in a cult of personality isn’t a new phenomenon, but it should have its limits.
Most Democrats loved former President Obama. (Loved. Adored. Canonized.) But there wasn’t a litmus test that filtered down from the top of the political food chain to local government. They didn’t have to show their allegiance to the national leader. To their party values, yes, but the leader himself, no.
When voters choose who will represent them on Upper Township Committee in the June 4 primary, they should expect their candidates’ loyalty is first and foremost to them, not to anyone in the nation’s Capitol.
