Why I’m Running

February 28, 2024

Dear Somerset County Republican Leader,

I hope this letter finds you well. After much consideration, I am writing to formally announce my candidacy for Chair of the Somerset County Republican Organization (SCRO) in the upcoming June reorganization to elect our next leader. I am running to restore the trust, transparency, and leadership of the organization in order for us to win elections again.

As the current Vice-Chair of the SCRO and the Chair of the Watchung Republican Municipal Committee, I have been receiving many calls from GOP leaders in the county very concerned about the direction of the SCRO. In fact, last year, more than 150 County Committee members from all over the county personally and publicly (via signed petition) called for the removal of our current Chairman Tim Howes due to his repeated disregard for legally required campaign compliance and disclosure reports, which resulted in SCRO being cited with a serious state election law violation.

(Source: State of New Jersey, Election Law Enforcement Commission, Notice of Non-Compliance dated 12/22/2022 to Somerset County Republican Executive Cmte, 66 E Main St, Somerville, NJ 08876)

Due to these issues, our candidate recruitment has been negatively impacted and fundraising practically paralyzed, as potential candidates and donors are uneasy being associated with the organization under the current leadership. Not surprisingly, as a result the organization has lost every election under his leadership, the worst election record in county history. Bottom line is we cannot move forward if we re-elect the current chair. It is time for change.

My focus will be to rebuild the integrity of the SCRO and get back to Republicans winning again in Somerset County. Otherwise, we will continue to slide in the wrong direction, which will greatly impact our local races. I promise to restore faith in our organization with 100% transparency and strong leadership. We must also prioritize fundraising so we can run strong campaigns and assist our local candidates. We can do better.

These are not just promises. I have a record to prove it. As the Municipal Chair in Watchung, I turned a Democrat-controlled governing body into an all-Republican one. I did it the old-fashioned way – I raised 10 times more money than my predecessors and built a grass-roots organization that turned the town red.

I hope to earn your support to serve in the tradition of former Chairman Luke Gray and Jack Penn, both of whom were Watchung-based GOP leaders who presided over a period of great success at the county-level as County GOP Chairs. We can and must do better. In the coming days I will be sharing my plans to improve our county organization and look forward to your input as we move ahead. Please reach out to me with any questions. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Sincerely,

Tracy DiFrancesco
Vice Chair
Somerset County Republican Organization