SCOTCH PLAINS – Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-21) makes the case that the combination of what he sees as budget overreach by Governor Phil Murphy as a U.S. Senate Ethics Committee-rebuked U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) places Republicans in a stronger position this year.

He also sees the continuing rivalry between Governor Phil Murphy and Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) as enormously politically advantageous to the GOP’s inside game, and pushes back against retiring Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll’s (R-25) assertion that the Assembly Republicans are irrelevant.

“I think they have to be a little worried,” Bramnick, ensconced in his bustling downtown law office, told InsiderNJ, referring in particular to the challenge by retired pharma executive Bob Hugin. “I think that’s a real race and Democrats down ballot should be a little concerned.”

Speaking in response to InsiderNJ’s interview with Carroll, Bramnick observed, “You can get tired of being in the minority.”

But, “We’re the voice that is standing up against the extreme policies of Phil Murphy,” he said. “I don’t see the Democrats in the legislature coming to the aid of Governor Murphy, so we have the opportunity to be the voice of the taxpayer. Michael tired of being in the minority. I’m not tired of fighting for the taxpayers.”