Two Boonton boys staged an old-fashion campaign rally Monday night complete with beer, pizza and ear-piercing patriotic music.

This was the official campaign kickoff for Assemblyman Anthony M. Bucco, R-Dist. 25, and Morris County Sheriff James Gannon. Both grew up in Boonton.

The event at Boonton’s Sokol Hall attracted dozens of local office-holders and candidates, not to mention some “out of towners.”

Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who already has said he’s running for governor in 2021, was there, as was Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, who got a bit carried away.

He introduced Bucco and Gannon as “two of the most outstanding public officials in the history of New Jersey.” Ever? High praise indeed. Bucco is not a fiery speaker. That’s meant as a compliment, not an insult. He often sticks to the facts and avoids rhetorical superlatives that win applause, but accomplish little else. The assemblyman gave a sober assessment of the state’s fiscal problems and said simply, “All we have to do is make it (New Jersey) more affordable.”

He suggested we start with seemingly minor fixes like eliminating a marriage tax penalty and indexing state income tax rates for inflation.

Bucco long has stressed constituent service and a Bernardsville woman, whose daughter benefitted from a bill the assemblyman got passed, introduced him.

Gannon, who actually announced his reelection campaign last week, talked about the importance of party unity, which has been elusive of late for Morris Republicans.

He said a strong and united Republican ticket is essential “with uncertainty in Washington and trouble in Trenton.”

He asked the 200 or so people in the room to back incumbent freeholders Doug Cabana, Tom Mastrangelo and Kathy DeFillippo.

That group is being challenged in the Republican primary by Donald Dinsmore, William Felegi and Cathy Winterfield, who were also on hand.

But they were not mentioned.

Gannon also urged support for the Assembly incumbents in nearby District 26, Jay Webber, who was there, and Betty Lou DeCroce, who was not. There have been rumors of a GOP challenger entering the race.

All this leaves Bucco as the only incumbent in District 25. His district colleague, Michael P. Carroll, has said he’s not running for reelection. He plans instead to seek the county’s open surrogate seat.

So far Bucco is running on his own, but that may change.