Two years ago, Ed Durr became an instant, out-of-nowhere political celebrity when the little-known Republican truck driver unseated the seemingly unbeatable Democratic state Senate President Stephen Sweeney.
It was quickly branded as one of the most stunning upsets in New Jersey political history, putting him in the national spotlight.
Now Durr is facing an ultra-bitter primary challenge as he seeks a second term in the Senate representing the Garden State’s 3rd legislative district. And it’s coming from a fellow freshman Gloucester County Republican lawmaker who was elected alongside him and has since been his district mate.
State Assemblywoman Beth Sawyer, part of a Durr-led ticket that also took down the two incumbent Democratic assemblymen on Sweeney’s slate in that famous 2021 race, is running an off-the-line campaign to deny Durr the Republican nomination and ultimately move up to his seat in their battleground part of South Jersey.
That’s despite Durr receiving the endorsement of party leaders in all three counties — Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem — that make up the district.
It’s one of the most closely watched races in the state’s June 6 primaries in a year when all 120 seats in the state Legislature, the body in Trenton that crafts state laws and passes the state budget, are up for grabs.
It’s also one of the most fierce, with Durr and Sawyer — among the most right-leaning members of the Democratic-controlled Legislature — trading sharp attacks that echo the kind of barbs former President Donald Trump often throws. (More on that later.)
Whichever candidate wins will get to run in as the district’s GOP nominee in a critical general election as Democrats aim to win back the district and Republicans try to wrest control of at least one chamber in the Legislature for the first time in two decades, two years after gaining seven seats.
Whichever candidate loses will be ousted from Trenton when the new Legislature takes office in January.
John Froonjian, executive director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University, called the race an “unusual situation.”
“Incumbents are most vulnerable the first time they run for re-election,” Froonjian said. “Instead of consolidating and expanding their base of support, they are carving it up in an intra-party battle.”
Waiting in the wings could be Democrat John Burzichelli, the former assemblyman who lost his seat to Sawyer and is now vying for Durr’s spot in the Senate. Burzichelli faces his own primary challenge for the Democratic nom from Glassboro teacher Mario De Santis, though the county parties have endorsed Burzichelli, making him the favorite to win.
Sweeney opted against running to regain his own seat and is focused instead on a possible bid for governor in 2025.
Durr — who represents the district in the Senate, the Legislature’s upper chamber — said his goal for another term is to keep “fighting for the people” and admitted he’s not happy a former running mate is challenging him.
“Of course it bothers me,” Durr said. “I thought we’d be able to work together and defeat the Democrats in November. But unfortunately, this primary has come along, and now we’re going to have to basically focus and take care of this.”
The other running mate Durr was elected with, Assemblywoman Bethanne McCarthy Patrick, R-Salem, is on his ticket again.
But Sawyer — who represents the district in the Assembly, the Legislature’s lower chamber — noted she’s one of a few Republicans in the area who have grown disenchanted with Durr. She said he has “turned off all different voters” with controversial comments and that he’s “all talk and no action” — “Do-Nothing Durr,” she called him.
Instead, Sawyer said she is the one who gives Republicans the best chance of preventing Durr’s sear from returning to Democratic hands. She also promised she’ll work to bring more money to South Jersey.
“I do not want somebody like that to represent the Republican Party,” she said of Durr. “I don’t know how anyone thinks he could win a general election.”
“We all caught lightning in a bottle. But I have put my head down from day one, doing the work.”
Durr responded by saying Sawyer “grew scales on her skin the second she stepped into the ‘swamp’ in Trenton.”
“The people of South Jersey elected me to represent them because I share their conservative values,” he said. “They’ll elect me again, in June and November, because I’m committed to fighting for South Jersey, no matter how much the swamp bites at my legs.”
“Beth Sawyer will never win another election because she has become a shill for the liberal establishment that has eroded our schools, our gun rights, and our bank accounts.”
Sawyer replied that Durr is a “coward” who didn’t “have the courage” to meet her in a debate.
“His desperate attacks from behind a keyboard show he continues to be a tiny incel,” she said. “The truth is, I’m a proud conservative — pro-life, pro-2A, and the only legislator to endorse President Trump. My record clearly reflects that.”
“This isn’t about who’s more conservative, it’s about who can get things done for South Jersey,” she said, arguing that Durr “dragged down” Gloucester County Republicans in last year’s local elections.
“He’ll do it again if he’s the nominee. Republican voters are smarter than that.”
Durr did not immediately return a message seeking comment on those remarks.
A 59-year-old commercial truck driver from Logan Township, Durr had never held elected office before and raised only about $10,000 when he took down Sweeney, the longest-serving Senate president in New Jersey history, in a district that has grown more red in recent years.
The victory didn’t make Durr the new Senate president. It gave him only Sweeney’s seat in the Legislature. And despite his popularity in conservative circles, Durr — nicknamed “Ed the Trucker” — has been relegated to the back bench in a Statehouse run by Democrats.
As lawmakers, Durr and Sawyer each have seen only one bill they sponsored become law.
Durr’s proposals include ones that would make gun ownership easier, restrict abortion, curtail vaccine requirements, and limit school curriculum in the state.
A broader bill that would put cameras in group homes to protect developmentally disabled adults has stalled amid debate. But Durr said getting that measure passed remains a big goal.
Asked what he’s learned in his first term, Durr suggested it would be easier to accomplish his goals if Republicans were in charge.
“I’ve learned that I do want majority,” he said. “I’ve noticed majority has its perks.”
He was also asked if his surprise tenure in Trenton has been what he’s expected so far.
“That’s the question I can’t quite answer because I didn’t have anything to expect,” Durr said. “I had no expectations. So everything is what it is.”
Sawyer is the owner of a real estate company and a former member of the local land use board in her hometown of Woolwich.
She said she ran for her Assembly seat in response to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s COVID-19 lockdown policies and stresses that she’s an ardent supporter of police and has an “A” rating from the NRA. (Durr has an A+.)
But Sawyer insists that despite running on Durr’s ticket last time, she was technically a write-in candidate for the Republican nod and waged her own campaign. She said she told a local party official after their win that she would not run on a slate with Durr again.
Sawyer noted Durr faced scrutiny immediately after his victory when past remarks he made against Muslims on social media resurfaced. Durr apologized and met with members of the Muslim community, later introducing a bill that would recognize two Islamic holidays
“Listen, you get behind a keyboard and you don’t see a person,” he said at the time. “It doesn’t define me as a person.”
Recently, comments Durr made on Facebook in 2020 came to light in which he said about abortion: “A woman does have a choice! Keep her legs closed!”
In response, Durr told Politico earlier this year that “contraceptives and abstinence from sex is a way for not getting pregnant” but also said “I’m not a perfect man.”
“As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one perfect man, and they crucified him, didn’t they?”
Sawyer said she’s worried Republican women won’t support Durr and Democrats would turn out to defeat him in a low-turnout general election.
“I will continue to work hard and cultivate relationships on both sides of the aisle,” she said. “That’s how you get things done when you’re in the majority. You have to be an effective legislator in Trenton to have people respect you.”
Froonjian, the Stockton professor, said a primary fight “risks alienating” some Republican voters who then might “sit out the general election,” while also using up money and resources party leaders “will wish they had in October.”
He also said he’s not shocked Durr is facing a primary.
“I thought after that election that Republican Party regulars would say, ‘Thanks for knocking off the giant. We’ll take it from here,’” Froonjian said.
Still, he noted, Republicans “reward service to the party.”
Getting the so-called county line, he added, will give Durr a boost. Unlike in other states, most New Jersey counties have a controversial system — being challenged in court — in which political parties endorse a preferred candidate in the primary and give them prominent placement on the ballot.
Froonjian said the district is key to Republicans’ efforts to paint the Legislature more red. It has about 11,000 more Democrats than Republicans, but Republican candidates have done well there in recent years and it has become slightly more GOP-friendly after the post-census redrawing of districts that takes effect this election cycle.
Durr said there’s a simple reason voters should pick him.
“I think I’ve proven I am a fighter,” he said. “Trenton tried to change me, and they’re not going to change me. I’m still the guy I was when I was running.”
Sawyer’s pitch?
“We need good people in Trenton,” she said.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him at @johnsb01.
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