SCOTCH PLAINS — An intraparty feud has broken out between the local Republican chairman and the head of the Union County party.
County Chairman Glenn Mortimer has denied party support to some county committee members from Scotch Plains, where GOP Chairman Joseph Sarno is backing another candidate — Carlos Santos — for county chairman instead of Mr. Mortimer, who has led the party for the past 10 years. Mr. Santos is a Mountainside resident, and has previously run for Union County Commissioner on the Republican ticket. Mr. Sarno is seeking re-election to the county Republican Committee, but is being challenged by former Mayor William McClintock, who has the backing of Mr. Mortimer.
In all, 12 Sarno loyalists, running under the banner of “America First Republicans,” are facing challenges from candidates supported by the county GOP in the township’s 23 voting districts.
Ballot positioning for the candidates in the June 4 Primary, with county-backed candidates atop the ballot, was not expected to be an issue in the wake of last week’s ruling by a U.S. District Court judge that essentially barred county political bosses from giving endorsed candidates the best ballot position. However, over the weekend, that same judge clarified that his ruling applied only to the Democratic Primary election, not the Republican Primary, since the lawsuit had been brought by Rep. Andy Kim, the leading candidate for his party’s U.S. Senate nomination.
In an email to county Republicans, Mr. Sarno, who was elected chairman in 2021, accused Mr. Mortimer of acting “deceitfully” in removing him and other Scotch Plains candidates from the county Primary ballot line. He further said that Mr. Mortimer had committed “an egregious breach of trust” by filing ballot names and petitions with the township clerk that differed from forms that Mr. Mortimer had provided to Mr. Sarno. This, Mr. Sarno said, “broke [Mr. Mortimer’s] reputation for fairness.”
Mr. Sarno speculated that Mr. Mortimer’s actions were “a desperate attempt to cling to power and stifle any challenge to his leadership” and said his actions call into question his ability “to preside over a fair and transparent reorganization meeting” to be held this summer. Saying that Mr. Mortimer has “proven himself untrustworthy and unfit to lead our committee with integrity,” Mr. Sarno urged that Mr. Santos be elected the next county chairman.
In turn, Mr. Mortimer, in an email sent to county Republicans, said he had received “numerous complaints from long-serving members of the Scotch Plains Republican Committee, all of which focused on Chairman Sarno’s behavior with respect to management of campaign funds and lack of support for his favored candidates.” He accused Mr. Sarno of misdirecting campaign funds without the approval of the municipal committee and also said that Mr. Sarno had not supported the Republican candidate in a special election to fill a township council vacancy in 2021.
Mr. Mortimer accused Mr. Sarno of “political gamesmanship” by not allowing a number of long-standing committee members to use the county GOP’s slogan on the Primary ballot line. “In all my years involved in Union County politics, I have never witnessed such intraparty obstruction as was carried out by Chairman Sarno,” Mr. Mortimer said, while noting that when Mr. Sarno took over as GOP chairman, there were two Republicans on the council, while today there are none after losses in 2021 and 2022.
Besides Mr. McClintock’s challenge to Mr. Sarno for a county committee seat from Scotch Plains’ 2nd District, county-backed Nicholas Rettino and Deanna Dell Bene are challenging “America First” candidates Alexandr Gorbach and Maryana Sverdlova in District 3; Richard Duthie and Liz Mangan have the county’s support in their District 5 challenge to Kevin and Jennifer Newell; Gary Schuster is challenging “America First” Republican Anthony Masciolo in District 6; Brian Doyle has the county’s backing in his District 7 challenge to Michael Toffolo; Albert Muller is challenging “America First” candidate John Denning in the 18th District; Stephen Steinbergher and Susan Suminski have the county’s support in their District 19 challenge to Peter and Alice Debease; John Brewer is running against “America First” candidate Dennis Roitman in District 20; and former Mayor Mary DePaola has county support against Adriana Lombardi in District 23.
