RANDOLPH – Doug Cabana talked about the tendency of Morris Republicans to “eat their young.”

No, this wasn’t a National Geographic study of exotic wildlife, just an observation about highly competitive GOP primaries in one of the state’s most Republican counties.

Cabana should know. As a freeholder for more than 20 years, he has extensive experience with the county’s sometimes bruising primaries.

This year’s contest seems tame – so far.

Cabana and fellow freeholder incumbents Tom Mastrangelo and Kathy DeFillippo are being challenged by the team of Donald Dinsmore, Will Felegi and Cathy Winterfield.

The incumbents are taking nothing for granted. Already, they have a huge billboard  extolling their virtues alongside Route 80 in western Morris. And they gathered Thursday night for a fundraiser in Randolph that netted about $15,000.

Mastrangelo talked about how Democrats are making more of an effort of late. Left unsaid was that last year’s effort resulted in Democratic congressional candidates garnering more votes in the county than
Republicans. This would have been unheard of a few years ago.

Talking about the Dems, Mastrangelo said, “They want a freeholder seat, they want an Assembly seat. If we don’t stay together, they can do it.”

While contested primaries are an obvious hindrance to “staying together,” Cabana said Republicans have no choice but to mend fences after the primary. That’s true, but an obvious problem is that emotions are still raw in some quarters after last year’s acrimonious fight for county chair.