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Mike Crispi and his team spearheads historic early vote turnout for Donald Trump in New Jersey.
MARLBORO, NEW JERSEY – A group consisting of 200 grassroots activists and volunteers crammed into Renzo’s pizzeria in South Jersey on a late October evening to watch the live shoot of “Wise Guys,” a Newsmax program hosted by John Tabacco. The event took place a week before Election Day, in a part of the Garden State historically known for being a Republican stronghold. The theme of the evening’s show was “Can New Jersey Turn Red?” The crowd was buzzing with hopeful energy: for the first time in decades, the Garden State is on the national radar in a presidential election year due to its remarkably high early vote turnout for President Trump.
The panel of guests included several Wise Guys regulars, plus Mike Crispi, an up-and-coming figure in New Jersey Republican politics. A man still in his early thirties, Crispi has already made a name for himself as a Jersey firebrand with an impressive resume: congressional candidate, political talk show host, and now, founder of the America First Republicans of New Jersey (or “AFRNJ” for short).
Plastered over the walls of the Renzo’s were signs emblazoned with the words “America First Republicans of New Jersey,” in bold typeface. Between bites of pizza and sips of wine — and Diet Coke, for the teetotalers paying tribute to President Trump — the bustling crowd watched the Italian haunt transform into a makeshift convention hall, with studio lighting and a litany of special guest speakers to match. The signs made it unmistakable who the event’s organizer was: the America First Republicans, and their ringleader, Mike Crispi, the charismatic rock star of the group decked out in pinstripes, was an unmistakable presence throughout the evening.
The cast of the popular Newsmax talk show, Wise Guys, filming their New Jersey special at Renzo’s in late October. Seated left to right are Mike Crispi, chair of the AFRNJ, Cara Castronuova, co-host and reporter for The Gateway Pundit, John Tabacco, host of Wise Guys, and Louis Gelormino, in-house consigliere of the show.
The Renzo’s Wise Guys event would be the 28th of such events organized by AFRNJ over the last year. The grassroots organization has been crisscrossing the Garden State nonstop, sometimes hosting multiple events —in multiple cities, some on the same night — tracking Donald Trump’s own busy schedule. The group’s mission, as Mike Crispi explains, has been to turn out the vote for Donald Trump in record numbers. The 28 events Crispi’s organization has personally commandeered in 2024 are far and away more than any other Jersey-based grassroots group — or political group of any sort dedicated to pro-Trump voter outreach. AFRNJ has also recruited over 1,000 volunteers on a shoestring budget, who have appeared at 100 events across New Jersey advocating for President Trump and his policies.
The group had been planning events as early as January. But it really put itself on the map after President Trump’s record-breaking rally that took place in Wildwood in early May. At that point, Wildwood was Trump’s biggest rally (it has since been rivaled by Butler and Madison Square Garden). Over 100,000 people, the overwhelming majority being Jersey natives, flooded the Jersey Shore to hear Donald Trump speak. As a result of his outreach efforts, Mike Crispi landed a speaking role at Wildwood before the President took the stage. In his trademark raspy voice, Crispi roused the crowd with a no-holds-barred exhortation, and announced a Get Out The Vote initiative, which Crispi called “Project 14,” a reference to the Garden State’s 14 electoral votes. The goal of the initiative, Crispi explained, was to get Jersey residents to register 14 “low-propensity” (i.e., voting groups that typically do not show up to vote for Republicans in massive numbers, like young people and certain racial minorities) people within their circle of contacts and add them to Republican voter rolls.
Mike Crispi, the charismatic rock star and co-chair of the America First Republicans of New Jersey, delivering remarks before a raucous crowd in Wildwood, New Jersey, shortly before President Trump took the stage.
The success of the effort endeared Crispi to not only his growing Jersey fandom, but also caught the eye of a special person. As he was flying to the venue, Donald Trump watched Crispi’s stirring remarks from his plane, and lavished praise on Crispi as soon as he took the stage:
“A man that made a hell of a speech today … man did he make a good speech! Thank you, Mike. I watched you from the plane flying overhead and I said, ‘that guy’s good.’ And I know you have big plans for the future and we’re with you. A good man”.
Crispi’s efforts represent a broader grassroots-led movement to change the political tides of the Garden State, which has not voted for a Republican president in over thirty years. At first glance, Jersey would appear to be a lost cause for any dedicated Republican commitment. Although the Garden State has scattered pockets of Republican voters, it has long been politically associated with other Democratic strongholds such as adjacent New York. It has not voted for a Republican president since 1988 and President Trump lost the state by double digit margins in his previous two elections. For these reasons, it has not been on the radars of national Republican groups, who have long ignored New Jersey for its perceived Democratic bent.
