Personally I think he's the best GOP candidate for Governor. Tom Kean seems more interested in running for NJ-07, Tom MacArthur is too conservative and too pro-Trump to win statewide, and Kim Guadagno is too connected to Christie. Hugin has enough money and built up name recognition during his 2018 Senate campaign.
Bad idea for him. If we're gonna go with a legacy Kate Whitman seems like a better option, with Tom Jr. running for Governor in 2021.
What is it with Republicans on this forum and Tom Kean, Jr.?
He's not that talented as a politician and he only got into the Legislature thanks to his family's name and connections, benefits that are rapidly receding. He's also probably too moderate to win a congressional or gubernatorial primary in this day and age--the base of the NJ GOP is in Ocean and Monmouth County now, not Union and Morris.
The Republican bench in New Jersey is extraordinarily bad at the moment. Christie and the 2017 & '18 elections have tarnished the brands of so many "stars" (if you can call them that) in the party-- Jennifer Beck, Tom MacArthur, Jay Webber, Hirsh Singh, and of course Guadagno. Hugin may not belong on this list but he still lost by 9 points against the objectively worst Democratic Senator up for re-election. If the GOP chooses them to run against Murphy in 2021 they'll lose big barring some giant scandal on the Democratic side.
