Ribbons!

Today is primary election day in New Jersey, and because this state has not elected a Republican to fill a US Senate seat in practically my lifetime, most of the media attention fell on the “county line” issue, the propriety of a governor’s wife running, and Congressman Andy Kim. As it should have. The GOP contest generated few headlines but no small number of mailers. The race simply did not attract a high quality candidate with any name recognition. Monmouth reported that in March, the “favorables” and “unfavorables” for all the candidates was in the single digits while the “who the hell is that” column was 80% or higher. Republican primary voters could be forgiven for low turnout today. My veterans-in-politics sniffer got tickled by one candidate, however.

Albert Harshaw, who wasn’t even included on the Monmouth poll list, caught my eye as a US Navy veteran running in the race. His campaign website, like most of them, has a few tabs. “Issues,” “Donate,” and the usuals are all there. But there is also one for “Military Awards,” which I’ve screenshotted for fear that the website will disappear tomorrow. (In case it stays up, here’s the link.)

I’ve seen quite a few military vets run for office, but I don’t recall ever seeing a raw ribbon dump so explicit. Oh, and no disclaimer, either!