NJ GOP Assemblyman Bergen Teases 2029 Gubernatorial Aspirations – Bearing Arms

New Jersey lawmaker Brian Bergen, who defended the Second Amendment during the 2022 carry-killer hearings, is now teasing a 2029 run for governor. “Politics is one hell of a ride,” says Bergen.

Bergen, R-26, has been serving the Garden State in the Assembly for the last seven years. The U.S. military veteran is up for reelection for the Assembly in 2027, but is looking further down the road as well. In a late-night post to social media, Bergen wanted to squelch rumors of a possible state senate run and at the same time said he’ll be “more than likely” running for governor in the next gubernatorial election. Bearing Arms talked to Bergen and he confirmed that.

Bergen’s statement came at the heels of Senator Joe Pennacchio’s announcement that he’d not be seeking reelection in the same district Bergen serves in. “Senator Joe Pennacchio announced today that he will not seek re-election, which opens up the State Senate seat here in the 26th District,” Bergen wrote. “A lot of people are asking if I’m going to run for it.”

Bergen stated that “Politics is one hell of a ride” and was expecting a “nice, calm day,” rather than spending it in search of a running mate. In his post, Bergen stated that there’s a lot of work left for him to do in the Assembly and that’s where he’d be better suited for the time being.

A September New Jersey Globe article addressed the topic as well. In their coverage of the Sherrill administration, they quoted Bergen in saying: “If the governor keeps up the way she’s been, you could see a Governor Bergen candidate in 2029.”

In the November 10 post Bergen said that he’s going to be spending the 2027 election season “earning every vote” in his district and not using that time to measure “drapes down the hall.”

“And if the voters are kind enough to send me back, I’ll be straight with you about what comes next. I will more than likely be running for governor in 2029,” Bergen wrote. “That’s the real prize. Not the title, but the chance to actually fix this state for the people who are working hard and still can’t afford to stay in it.”

In an interview with Bearing Arms, Bergen declared that Governor Rebecca “Mikie” Sherrill has been running things very middle-of-the-road. He says that she’s “got mediocrity down to a science” and it’s his suspicion it’s the way “she’s being managed.”

“As long as she doesn’t screw anything up, if there’s a Democratic president in 2028, I think she’s looking for a cabinet position,” Bergen said. “So (she’s) spending a lot of her time flying around campaigning for Democrats, being hyper-partisan in that regard, and then in terms of running New Jersey, she’s not doing anything substantial. It’s a lot of hyperbole.”

Concerning the news about Senator Pennacchio and now having to find a new running mate, Bergen said it was a bomb. “In politics, man, it’s like the Game of Thrones, you know? Really, it really is,” he said. Ultimately speaking, Bergen wanted to set the record straight that he’s not going to be trying to take up the senator’s spot — as nice as being called senator would be, he said — because his aspirations are in fact for higher office.

Bergen can’t officially start running, but he said he did not want to be one of those politicians who says things like “we’ll see.” He’s serious about it. There’s no “blagh, blagh, blagh,” coming from the assemblyman’s mouth, he’s being rather sincere and up front about his intentions.

“If things line up the way that I think they’re going to line up, and Mikie Sherrill doesn’t start improving, which I know she’s not going to, because … her goal is not to run New Jersey well,” Bergen explained to Bearing Arms. “Her goal is to go for higher office. Then I’m going to be running in 2029. I’m pretty confident in that.”

Being governor, Bergen said, is the “ultimate prize” because it’s “the place (he) could do the most good for the people in New Jersey.”

In the 2022 post-Bruen landscape, Assemblyman Bergen — along with a few other Republican allies — worked very hard to expose how awful the New Jersey Bruen-response bill was. Mid-2022, Assemblyman Joe Danielsen, D-17, introduced a sweeping bill that eventually eviscerated the right to carry in the Garden State. Bergen challenged many of the provisions of the bill during the committee hearings.

“Do you agree we have a constitutional right to bear arms?” Bergen asked Danielsen during an Appropriations Committee hearing. Danielsen reportedly said, “I do. I have at many times been an advocate for gun owners. This is a safety first legislation. This bill says more about safety than it does about guns.”

“This bill discriminates against a woman’s right to carry,” Bergen said, as reported by Insider NJ. “The bill is discriminatory. Will you commit to altering the bill to permit a woman to carry in anything she might be wearing? What’s the rationale for not permitting a woman to carry a gun in a purse? You said under your bill a woman could not carry a gun in a purse.”

“It requires you to take your handgun and lock it to be concealed,” Bergen declared. “There is a law against brandishing a weapon; if you show your weapon it’s against the law to do that. You are asking a person to brandish their weapon in public.”

When talking to Bearing Arms, Bergen said that he took a real common sense approach to everything that was going on with the 2022 legislation.

“We had a ruling that said that you had to let people conceal carry, and then we had this idiot, Joe Danielsen, trying to make it so restrictive that it flew in the face of the decision,” Bergen explained. “It doesn’t make any sense, and these people are fools sometimes in the policy they try to put together, and it’s like they don’t ask anybody.”

Bergen described the absurdity of one of the provisions — now enjoined by a court order — where carriers would have to unload and lock up their firearm every time they’re in their car. “What if some guy gets out of his car in the middle of the street and is locking and loading the gun? Are you kidding me?” Bergen mused. “I mean, the stupidity of what they were doing is unbelievable.”

While the assemblyman says he’s a Second Amendment supporter and that he “loves 2A,” people need to be logical. “Am I gonna advocate that people can drive down the street in a freaking Abrams tank?” he posed. “No.” He said that regardless of partisanship — far-left or far-right — at the end of the day people need to exercise “common sense.”

As for the race ahead, Bergen admits that running for governor could mark an end of his time in politics if he loses — at least for that election cycle. The gubernatorial election would fall on the same year as a future assembly election cycle and provided he’s reelected in 2027, he’ll be all in in 2029.

“Most politicians would be scared to death of losing what they have. I’m not. You know, I’m gonna contribute the best I possibly can with the time I got, and my time’s over, I move on,” Bergen said. “I mean, I think that’s how it should be. I think the best people have that kind of attitude, and I think if they give me a shot, I’ll deliver some damn good results.”

Bergen is in a minority class of candidates. Not many who have run for governor in New Jersey have been so outwardly pro-Second Amendment. The last two gubernatorial elections had some strong support pledged from candidates in the GOP primaries on firearm-related policy, however, Bergen — like former Assemblyman and two-time Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli — actually has a voting record to hang his hat on. 

“If I’m fortunate enough to become the governor, I’m gonna do my damnedest to just improve this dragon state and that’s what I want to do,” Bergen told Bearing Arms. “It’s not about me. It’s not about a title. It’s not about the glamor. It’s about doing my best to do the best I can for the state.”

More on Assemblyman Brian Bergen can be found at: VoteBergen.com 

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their extreme gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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