OLD BRIDGE, N.J. – Old Bridge Democratic Councilman Mark Razzoli has gotten plenty of attention in recent months for vocally opposing Sanctuary Statehood and criticizing Democrat Governor Phil Murphy’s 2019 directive.

On Friday? Razzoli announced his decision to run for Congress next year… as a Republican.

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The new Republican explained that his decision was “not made in haste, but a necessary one for anyone with a conscience. The Democratic Party that I knew has abandoned the American way of life, rule of law, and common sense, in favor of exaggerated, socialist ideology.”

“Public safety and national security should be our number one priority; no state legislator should put themselves in a position to make their own laws,” continued Razzoli, a retired police detective. “Their job is to enforce the laws that exist and to protect the citizens of their respective states… public safety and law enforcement go hand in hand.”

A viral video of Razzoli condemning Sanctuary Statehood (you can click here to watch it) earned the one-time Democrat municipal chairman a growing online following.

Councilman Razzoli plans to take on incumbent Bonnie Watson-Coleman in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District. “Placing illegal immigrants over the safety of American citizens is egregiously anti-American, even by far-left socialists standards,” explained Razzoli in a recent Save Jersey op-ed accusing Watson-Coleman of abandoning her constituents.

“I am not looking for a hashtag movement, nor am I seeking the proverbial 15 minutes of glory. I am a patriotic American and by running for Congress with the Republican Party, I will fight for the rights of American citizens and for their safety,” Razzoli added.

NJ-12 (encompassing Princeton and Trenton) is considered reliably Democratic, but some Trump-friendly suburbs like Old Bridge – which the president carried in 2016 – could make 2020 an interesting test of both the GOP’s working class appeal as well as the wisdom of the Democrats’ hard-left turn.

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