New Jersey Senator Michael Testa speaks at a press conference about voters still receiving unemployment benefits two years after the pandemic began on Tuesday, February 22, 2022.
During his second term in office, State Senator Mike Testa (Republican Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, Cumberland) has attracted the attention of the entire state and is being talked about as a future gubernatorial or congressional candidate. increase.
Testa was named Politician of the Year 2022 and Republican Congressman to Watch in 2023 by political columnist Alan Steinberg. Posted by Insider NJdespite belonging to a minority party facing an uphill battle to pass the bill.
The Vineland native, who turned 47 on May 1, is running for re-election against fellow Vineland Democratic challenger Charles R. Raspata.
Newark Mayor Russ Baraka named Testa in a city speech, drawing attention to how Newark was tricked into signing a sister-city agreement with the nonexistent Kailasa United States bill Testa introduced. got angry with
It sparked an altercation between the two, with Testa only getting more press across the state.
Testa said Thursday that he was surprised by Baraka’s outrage over his bill, which would require the New Jersey State Department to investigate and approve a sister-city agreement.
“Mayor Baraka made it in a very personal way, so it’s probably not[possible passage],” Testa said. “I wanted to make sure that no other municipality would feel this embarrassment.”
In naming Testa Politician of the Year, Steinberg cited Testa’s historic Republican takeover as GOP chairman of the Cumberland County Commission, as well as countering pig barrel spending in the state. I mentioned that I made a law to do it.
“He’s a far more attractive figure than virtually every other conservative politician and media figure in New Jersey,” Steinberg wrote. It projects pessimism. Testa projects Opportunity, optimism and hope like Reganes.”
Testa also continues to push for passage of a bill he first introduced in 2021 called “Fairness in Women’s Sports Law.” Institution of higher education.
“I think there are a lot of people (Democrats) who are ready to admit to agreeing with me behind closed doors,” Testa said when asked if there was a chance of passing. I want to protect the girls in and the spirit and intent of Title IX.
A father of two young daughters, Testa is a Division I tennis player at Villanova University, where sisters Venus and Serena Williams lost to male tennis player Carsten Brasch in the 1998 Australian Open exhibition match. said he remembers seeing the
Braasch was ranked 203rd in the world when her sisters were still teenagers, but by 2002 she was ranked 19th and 53rd female players en route to the top ten.
“They were already megastars. They really blew him away,” said Testa. “It doesn’t take anything away from the Williams sisters’ achievements. It’s the difference in strength and speed between biological males and biological females.”
Testa was New Jersey’s chairman of the 2020 Trump re-election campaign.
In an interview Thursday, Testa said he would run like he was 20 points behind in 2021, even though he and his team were re-elected with about 64% of the vote.
He said the reorganization of the district changed things a bit.
“Now I have the city of Bridgeton,” Testa said of the Democratic Party’s home, which was in the 3rd legislative district until it was reorganized after the 2020 Census.
Airwaves and newspapers across the country are filled with news and analysis of Congress on Nov. 8…
He also said several Republican townships moved to third, including Hopewell Township, Shiloh, Stow Creek Township and Greenwich Township.
“He’s a very capable politician. “He’s very involved in the local community, something his family has been very committed to over the years.”
A well-known Vineland attorney, Testa burst onto the political scene in 2019 when he and his team swept the District 1 legislative election.
That time, Testa and his team of congressional candidates, Antoine McClellan and Eric Simonsen, defeated the Democratic candidate led by incumbent state senator Bob Andrzejczak of Cape May.
It was the only Senate election voted that year to fill the remaining term of then-Democratic U.S. Representative Jeff Van Drew, who had just been elected to Congress.
The District 1 race was the most expensive in the state that year, with candidates and independent groups spending a combined $2.96 million ($1.88 million for candidates, $1.1 million for groups). .
Democratic candidates spent $1.83 million against Republicans’ $641,000. ELEC said the $1.1 million spent by the independent group was all in favor of the Democrats.
It was the first time in a decade that a Republican won a seat in Congress, according to ELEC.
“Districts have always been favorable and have become more favorable to Republicans,” Dworkin said.
District 1 has 58,304 independent voters, 49,429 Democratic voters, and 53,380 Republican voters.
A red wave swept New Jersey in the 2021 legislative election, even losing Senate Speaker Steve Sweeney D-Salem of Gloucester, Cumberland, to a seat in the 3rd District.
Also missing in 2021 were District 2 D-Atlantic Rep. Vince Mazzeo and John Armato.
The red wave that swept New Jersey in this year’s legislative elections has seen many…
According to ELEC’s 2021 report, that red wave was born with the Testa team’s 2019 victory.
As for the future, “I don’t know what title I want to hold other than state senator,” Testa said. “We want to leave a lasting impact and legacy for South Jersey.”
A statewide run could occur at some point in the future, he said.
“If there’s one thing we’ve learned from watching the 2021 election, it’s that we have to focus on the race at hand,” said Testa. “I am dedicated to getting the LD1 team re-elected. We are a band of brothers out there.”
His immediate goals are Republican sweeps of all seven seats on the Cumberland County Commission, as well as winning the sheriff and proxy elections.
“We absolutely believe we can do it,” Testa said. The First Legislative District is the tip of the Republican spear in New Jersey.”
How far will this success take Testa in the future?
“He’s a clear, engaging politician, and that’s why he always speaks up within Trenton circles,” Dworkin said.
However, in Dworkin’s opinion, the province is too green for Testa to target the Governorate. Dworkin said Democrats outnumber Republicans by about a million.
And the demographic dominance goes north. Governor James Florio was the last South Jersey politician to become governor from 1990 until he became governor in 1994.
As such, other political commentators speak of Testa as the natural Republican congressional candidate after Van Drew, whose second congressional district far favors Republican candidates over states.
Whatever Testa does, people will talk about it.
“He’s clearly the leading Republican voice in South Jersey,” Dworkin said.
“If there’s one thing we’ve learned from watching the 2021 election, it’s that we have to focus on the race at hand.”
State Senator Mike Testa