Thompson won’t Pursue Reelection
Senator Sam Thompson (D-12) won’t pursue reelection after all, InsiderNJ has learned.
The longtime Republican who changed parties in order to pursue his political career, in defiance of the bosses who stiffed him, now has other plans.
He’ll retire, preferring the sunset of a distinguished career to the hurly burly of general election politics in a new party.
Not that he feared running against nemesis Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry, the Republicans’ designated successor.
It’s simple, he said.
“My wife needs me,” Thompson told InsiderNJ. “I must take care of her.”
As for Henry – “I am confident I would have beaten him.”
It was a raucous February politically for Thompson.
No, he said in a phone interview earlier this month, he is not abandoning the Republican Party.
“My party leadership is abandoning me,” he told InsiderNJ’s Fred Snowflack.
“No matter how you look at it, the bottom line is clear: Thompson, who has been in the state Legislature since the late 1990s and the Senate for about a decade as a Republican, is about to become a Democrat.
“The 87-year-old Thompson said he was prepared to officially make the switch today, but he ran into an unforeseen obstacle – Abe Lincoln. The 16th president’s birthday was Sunday, Feb. 12, but many government offices close today in observance of the holiday.”
Governor Phil Murphy and Senate President Nick Scutari rolled out the welcome mat for Thompson.
Scutari issued the following statement officially welcoming Thompson to the New Jersey Senate Democratic Caucus:
“After a multitude of extended meetings with Senator Sam Thompson, as well as members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, we want to extend a warm welcome to Senator Thompson as he joins our Majority Caucus. He will bring extensive experience to our caucus as we continue to welcome those with differing perspectives to the big tent that is the Democratic Party.
“Sam Thompson is a hard-working legislator who has demonstrated an ability to work in a bipartisan way in support of many shared New Jersey priorities. We look forward to his dedication to his legislative work as a member of the Senate Majority.”
Thompson’s decision not to pursue reelection leaves an open general election path for Henry.
Photo of Senator Thompson by Carina Pizarro.
Good riddance! For a politician who couldn’t even remember that it was Abe Lincoln’s Birthday and the government offices were closed the next day is all everyone needs to know about this politician. Goes to show he doesn’t have the mental capacity to remember things, let alone know things about American History.
Thompson finally realized that he wasn’t going to win in a heavily Republican district after he made his foolish decision. I guess his age caused him to also forget which party he was in and decided to woke and then go broke.
Just based on the Abe Lincoln Birthday issue and his switching to Democrat because he thought he could win in a Republican district shows he’s non compos mentis.