The president is not seeking reelection and the former president survived an assassination attempt two weeks ago, but in New Jersey, local politics continues apace.

This brings us to Morris County, where John Sette, a former county Republican Chair, planned a fundraiser for the three GOP incumbents seeking reelection to the board of commissioners.

He said this would happen because:

“As we all know, MCRC (Morris County Republican Committee) has no money to help re-elect the three county commissioners on the ballot in November.”

For the record, the commissioners running again are John Krickus, Stephen Shaw and Deborah Smith.

Sette said his involvement was needed because the county – long a Republican bastion – is becoming more competitive.

He said that the Dems came close to winning last year “without campaigning and without funding.” And this year – a presidential year – they are energized, he said.

In the 2023 race, incumbent Tayfun Selen won by about 6,000 votes over Democrat Jonathan Sackett.

It’s a bit misleading to say the Democrats didn’t campaign last year when they did. At any rate, Sackett is running again this year along with Justin Strickland and Bud Ravitz.

The 2023 margin was pretty close. Still by any objective standard, Republicans have the upper hand in Morris. They hold all countywide and state legislative offices representing the county..

It is common for politicians to worry. Sette’s planned Sept. 5 fundraiser, however, went a little deeper than that.

Sette has not been a fan of Laura Ali, the current county chair.

Back during what was a very heated, 2023 primary season, Sette unsuccessfully backed a number of candidates in opposition to those endorsed by the county committee.

This year’s Morris primary season was much more peaceful, but tensions apparently have not subsided.

But before Sette’s fundraiser even got started, it was over.

A subsequent email from Sette said his event was being cancelled.

He acknowledged not discussing his plans with the three incumbents in advance.

“They thought that I was being unfair to Laura Ali and MCRC,” Sette wrote. “I thought that I was stating the plain facts. The opinion expressed was totally mine and not theirs.”

He did say he received “one complaint,” but also that many people said they would attend. Nonetheless, the fundraiser won’t take place.

In a post on the MCRC’s Facebook page, Ali said:

“I, the Chairwoman of the Party, make a solemn promise and vow, that someday, when I pass the torch on to someone new, I will never be anything but tremendously helpful and supportive to all the candidates and the party.  You will never see anything from me like some of you saw today.  Now onwards towards Victory in 2024!!!”