Anti-Trump Republican known for his barbs launches race for N.J. governor at a comedy club

Have you heard the one about the veteran Republican state lawmaker who moonlights as a standup comic and has thrown many a verbal barb at Donald Trump?

Well, he’s running for New Jersey governor. No joke.

State Sen. Jon Bramnick on Saturday entered the 2025 race to succeed Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy, becoming the first candidate to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination.

The 70-year-old Union County legislator launched his long-expected campaign in a big tent outside the Stress Factory, a New Brunswick comedy club where he often performs — but he came out with a serious message as he faces a likely tough primary in a fractured political landscape.

Bramnick, a longtime moderate, pitched himself as the “most qualified and electable Republican” in a blue-leaning state with all branches of government ruled by Democrats the last six years.

“I’ve decided to run for many reasons, but first and foremost is to bring back balanced public policy to Trenton, policies that reflect the views of the majority of our citizens,” he told a crowd of about 200 supporters at the club, including elected officials, local party leaders, and fellow comedians.

He also firmly distanced himself from Trump, the former president considered the favorite for the party’s nomination for the White House this year. Bramnick warned that moderate and independent voters — usually crucial to statewide elections in New Jersey — “don’t quite trust” Republicans right now.

“The view of our Grand Old Party has changed, and as a result, we’ve been losing election after election after election,” Bramnick said. “We have always been the party of law and order, but if we want to continue to be the party of law and order, we cannot make excuses for the rioters on Jan. 6 who were hitting police officers over the head with sticks.”

He also said Republicans “cannot reject” court decisions that say President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump was legitimate.

“Respecting the courts is part of being the party of law and order,” Bramnick said, adding Republicans must “call out” those who think otherwise — “even if it’s Donald Trump.”

“Let’s stop losing elections. Let’s give thoughtful reasons for voters to support us.”

Murphy is prohibited by law from running for a third term and will leave office in January 2026. Though the election for his successor is still more than a year-and-a-half away, a crowded race is already taking shape.

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and former state Senate President Stephen Sweeney have declared campaigns for the Democratic nomination. More candidates from both parties are expected to follow.

A Plainfield native and former councilman who now lives in Westfield, Bramnick has served more than two decades in the Democratic-controlled state Legislature, the governing body in Trenton that writes the state’s laws and passes its budget. He spent 10 years as the Assembly’s Republican leader before moving up to the Senate in 2022.

Bramnick represents the state’s 21st legislative district, a purple swath of the North Jersey suburbs where he has sometimes won tight elections. He noted he kept his seat with a 7-percentage-point victory even as Republicans unexpectedly lost six seats in last year’s legislative elections.

He is also a personal injury attorney who founded a high-profile Scotch Plains law firm. You have probably seen their billboards on the highway.

And yes, he performs standup routines at comedy clubs throughout the state. He often calls himself the funniest lawyer in New Jersey, after winning a State Bar Association contest years ago.

(Sample joke: Suggesting hiring “Jersey moms” as TSA agents at airports. “A Jersey mom takes one look and says, ‘That guy is no good.’”)

Bramnick considered running for governor in New Jersey’s last two gubernatorial elections but decided against it.

Politically, he was a close ally of former Gov. Chris Christie during the Republican’s 2010-18 tenure. He has often sponsored bipartisan legislation, including laws to require defibrillators in New Jersey schools and mandate health classes to include lessons about grief.

And in recent years, while many centrist Republicans have walked a tightrope, Bramnick has openly been a Trump critic, crusaded against political extremism, and urged decorum and civility in government.

All of that has also led to some blowback from right-leaning Republicans who dismiss Bramnick as part of an-old guard GOP that has dwindled amid Trump’s rise and failed to win recent statewide elections in New Jersey.

The 2025 gubernatorial primary will be a test for what kind of standard-bearer Garden State Republicans want to nominate.

Bramnick and former Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli — who lost to Murphy by 3 percentage points in 2021 and has promised to run again but not formally declared — may both campaign from the moderate wing of the party. They’d be pitted against more right-leaning, pro-Trump candidates such as radio talk show host Bill Spadea.

State Sens. Holly Schepisi, Declan O’Scanlon, Mike Testa, and Doug Steinhardt; state Republican Party Chairman Bob Hugin; and pastor Phil Rizzo are also considered possible GOP contenders.

Registered Democratic voters far outnumber Republicans in New Jersey, and the state often elects Democrats in federal elections. But the state has also frequently gone back and forth between parties when picking a governor.

The big question — and the challenge for Bramnick — is whether an anti-Trump candidate can win the party’s primary when much of the base still supports the ex-president, even if a centrist may be more likely to win the general election here because polls show Trump is unpopular in wide parts of the state.

Bramnick said if he’s elected, Democratic lawmakers will “have to negotiate and compromise, or I will take out my veto pen and politely return (bills) to them for reconsideration.”

But he said calling Murphy and Biden names is “not a path to victory,” and he declared that “hateful rhetoric is a threat to our democracy, and a terrible, terrible message for children.”

He also said despite consultants warning him about bashing Trump in a primary, moderates and independents want to know if the GOP is the “party of one person.”

“Here’s my answer: Our values and our history are much greater than one individual,” Bramnick said, adding he will stand for the party’s “traditional values” of “smaller government, law and order, lower taxes.”

Bramnick warned opponents who promise to “rule this state far to the political right.”

“Not only can’t you do it, but you will lose the election, and the only thing that will change is that the Democrats will become more extreme,” he said.

Bramnick also noted he believes “women should have control of their bodies and reproductive systems” — a declaration that comes as abortion has dominated recent state elections at the peril of Republicans.

“I am a pro-choice Republican, and I’m not scared to say it,” he said.

Bramnick said, if elected, he would also push for mandatory minimum sentences and policies that bolster businesses. As a legislator, he voted against same-sex marriage. On guns, he supports a ban on automatic weapons, as well as universal background checks.

He would be New Jersey’s first Jewish governor.

Because he isn’t up for re-election to the Senate next year, Bramnick wouldn’t have to give up his seat if he doesn’t win the governorship.

At the end of his speech, he put on a baseball cap that read: “Wanna win ... Vote Bramnick.”

That was also the theme of a campaign video played at the beginning of the event, showing a handful of guys — portrayed by comedians — playing poker and discussing Bramnick’s candidacy. One called him a “normal“ guy who isn’t “crazy” like other politicians. Another said Bramnick “calls it Taylor Ham, not pork roll.”

Then there were clips of national Republicans endorsing Bramnick. Former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said he has known Bramnick for 20 years and he would “make a fine governor.” George P. Bush, the former Texas land commissioner and son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, said Bramnick “knows how to bring people together for the common good.” Bush recorded a similar video in Spanish.

“We need reasonable. We need decency. We need bipartisanship,” Christopher Porrino, the former state attorney general under Christie, said of Bramnick from the stage.

Ben Dworkin, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship at Rowan University, said this will be an “aggressive” Republican primary set against the backdrop of a national GOP wrapped in tension. He noted a fight between the party‘s moderate and Trump wings never really panned out in the 2021 gubernatorial primary that Ciattarelli won.

“This is the fight New Jersey Republicans got to avoid four years ago,” Dworkin said.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @johnsb01.