DENVILLE - The name of the state is New Jersey. And that's where Anthony M. Bucco, as Senate Minority Leader, reigns as the highest-ranking Republican in the state.

But on this Monday night, surrounded by friends and supporters at his annual fundraising golf outing, Bucco had something "old" on his mind.

That would be old New Jersey, or in Bucco's view, the state that once was.

"It's time that we really dig in and fight ... to get our old New Jersey back," Bucco said to the crowd at the Rockaway River Country Club, a splendid setting in this Morris County town.

Nothing subtle about his point.

He ticked off various state problems, including high energy bills, affordable housing that generally brings in four times as many market priced units as affordable ones and a school funding formula that has some districts operating on a "shoestring budget."

The governor, as Bucco noted, has acknowledged these problems, most of which surfaced long before Mikie Sherrill took the oath in January.

And then there's the voter registration mess. "We (meaning the Republicans) spoke about voter registration at the Motor Vehicle Commission," he said. "We now see that what we were concerned about has, in fact, come true."

The governor announced last month that about 6,600 non-citizens registered to vote at MVC offices between 2023 and 2024. She said about 400 did so. An investigation into the mishap is being headed by a law firm of which Jeff Cheisa, a former Republican Attorney General, is a partner.

While that may give a bipartisan touch to the probe, this issue clearly is a gift for Republicans, not only in New Jersey, but across the nation.

More broadly, Bucco spoke of an "unaffordable New Jersey," adding that he was determined to fight back and help return the state to viability.

Here we must pause.

There is nothing new about Republicans raising the issues Bucco raised Monday night - energy, school funding, housing, voter integrity.

A Democratic, and or cynical, response, would be that the GOP has talked about these subjects constantly in recent elections only to lose the governor's race last year and a number of Legislative seats the last two cycles. To be exact, 11 seats in the Assembly.

So, either voters disagree or they are focused on other issues.

Nonetheless, fighting back is the only option when you are in the minority and that's what events of this type are for.

There was golf during the day and cocktails and dinner in the evening. Some just came for the food and drink. Go figure.

The day was also about history.

It was the senator's late father, Anthony R. Bucco, who began the golf outing 29 years ago. His son, who replaced him as the senator from District 25, has continued the tradition.

In politics the past is also present.

James Gannon, the county sheriff and like the Buccos, a native of Boonton, made that clear.

Extolling Bucco's virtues, he said he gets things down and that:

"When Anthony is in Trenton, you're in Trenton."

It was the senator's father who first used that line in the 1990s when he originally ran for the state Assembly.

History is not always forgotten. And that is nice to see.