Republican Mercer County Freeholder candidate Joe D’Angelo has withdrawn from the race.
In a release, D’Angelo cited new county leadership elected Tuesday as his reason for dropping from the race, but did not elaborate on specific issues.
D’Angelo is the second GOP candidate to drop from the race in as many days. Wednesday, Republican Jim Castelize dropped from the race, also citing concerns with new county leadership.
Castelize said this morning that he was loathe to associate with the leadership, adding that he feared the name recognition he has built over the past two years could be destroyed.
On Tuesday, Robbinsville Councilman Rich Levesque was elected the new chairman of the party, replacing Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried and Maria Bua, who had acted as co-chairs. Though Bua had been nominated for another term, she eventually withdrew form consideration, leaving Levesque to run unopposed.