The Jewish Link had a phone conversation last week with Mendham Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, one of the two leading candidates vying for the Republican nomination to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate. Serrano Glassner is a conservative who has been endorsed by Donald Trump. In recent weeks, top national conservatives have rallied behind her candidacy. Although she has been handily outspent by her opponent, Cape May real estate developer Curtis Bashaw, a moderate Republican endorsed by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the race is very tight.
Current senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) has already announced he won’t run in the Democratic primary due to his ongoing corruption trial, but hasn’t ruled out a bid to run as an independent in November. Following Tammy Murphy’s decision to drop out of the race, the Democratic party nomination is all but locked up for Andy Kim, a career public servant and progressive Democrat who currently serves in Congress. He has recently stated that he supports an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
So who is Christine Serrano Gassner? She is the middle child of seven children whose father was a policeman turned real estate salesperson and whose mother was a homemaker who became a travel agent. She and husband Michael Glassner are the proud parents of two daughters. Her first career and early passion was the culinary arts, but she wanted more, gravitating toward politics, an area she has embraced for over 40 years.
Serrano Glassner’s political career has spanned campaigns on the local, state and national level. She has led teams of operational and logistical professionals in planning and executing a wide variety of events and has served as senior lead advance press and as a director of operations. She has extensive business experience as well, as both a private business owner and as a political appointee for business initiatives. She worked for over seven years as senior vice president for special projects at the Empire State Development Corporation, which is a division of the New York State government. She was also a presidential appointee, serving as regional advocate for the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, a post she held for over three years.
Serrano Glassner explained that whenever a new U.S. president is ushered into office, the thousands of appointees from the previous administration must resign as new staffers take their place. As a Republican, she was one of 14,000 to resign when President George W. Bush’s term expired and Barack Obama became president. It was at that point that she moved to Mendham and started her own business. She became friendly with the town’s mayor, who encouraged her to run to succeed him based on her government background. “Give me a few years,” was her reply. She served on the town council for two years before running and winning the mayoral election in 2018, and was reelected for a second term in 2022 by historic margins.
When asked why voters should choose her, she replied that she is the most well-rounded candidate. Elaborating, she said, “I am a mom who was involved in schooling, a business owner, and someone who has had extensive political experience on all levels, understanding how government, the Senate and Washington D.C. work.” When asked to comment about those on the other side of the political aisle, Serrano Glassner said of Menendez: “I have integrity and additionally, people haven’t seen Menendez in years. He is out of touch.”
As for Kim, Serrano Glassner took him to task for being one of the dissenting voters in the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act that was passed by a vote of 320-91. To that end, she had issued a statement several weeks ago saying, “This is no surprise, as Andy Kim has proven himself to be no better than the Iranian mullahs at protecting the fundamental rights of Jews.”
On the subject of Israel, Serrano Glassner believes that the current administration is very weak. She noted that Biden “flip-flops a lot” and that “when the U.S. is strong, the world is at peace.” She added, “I am clear that Israel is an important strategic ally in the Mideast and we need to support our partners.” A woman of strong opinions who doesn’t mince words, Serrano Glassner further mused: “The current administration has fallen into a trap. They are mostly trying to please the progressives and are now trying to pull back—but they can’t. Progressives expect everything to go in their direction.”
When asked specifically how she would handle the war between Israel and Hamas, Serrano Glassner veered a bit, replying that while specific strategies of war were not her area of expertise, she believed the economic weakness of the U.S. was a strong contributing factor to the situation in which we find ourselves. “If our enemies perceive themselves as economically stronger, they will flex their muscles,” she said, referencing China and Russia. When emailed a follow-up question regarding her personal ground rules as to what Israel should and shouldn’t be doing in its current war with Hamas, she replied: “Israel is conducting their operations effectively and efficiently, and with compassion for the citizens of Gaza. They must continue unabated with the full support of the United States until Hamas is eliminated permanently and Gaza can be restored to peace. Second-guessing and holding back military support by the Biden Administration only makes their mission harder and undermines the goal.”
As mentioned, it’s no secret that Serrano Glassner is closely aligned with Trump. Additionally, her husband had been a campaign manager, COO and now consultant to the former president. As a strong ally of Trump, she wasn’t shy to share her thoughts on the presidential race. Echoing the words of Ronald Reagan, she said: “I would keep it simple for your readers. How was your life four years ago and how is it now?” She added, “On day one Biden shut down the oil pipelines and opened the fentanyl pipeline.”
When asked what she believed would be Trump’s top three policies should he be elected, she replied that the first would be the border. “It’s a big concern on both sides of the aisle and the administration has no idea who we are letting in.” The second one she mentioned was the economy. “The administration says things are great but really it’s only the stock market. So many are living paycheck to paycheck and are not enjoying those fruits.” Her final area was energy. “It’s such an important solution for helping the economy if we are once again allowed to drill.”
Robert Isler is a marketing research analyst and freelance writer who specializes in Jewish issues. He can be reached at [email protected].
