PEAPACK GLADSTONE - Jon Bramnick is one Republican who is not shy about criticizing Donald Trump's hold on the party.

Some of Bramnick's rhetoric rubs Conor Sweeney the wrong way, but that's not the only reason Sweeney has announced a 2027 primary challenge to state Sen. Bramnick in LD-21.

"It's really just the time for youth. We need election, not selection," Sweeney said Monday morning over coffee in nearby Chester.

Sweeney is a software engineer who serves on the borough council. He replaced his late father in that position last year.

He's 36, "which for the Republican Party in New Jersey makes me a baby," he said.

Sweeney, who graduated from Columbia University, is delighted the "county line' has disappeared. This, naturally, gives all primary challengers more hope than they had just five years ago.

The district in question is a strange one geographically, which is normal considering the gerrymandering that goes on. It covers parts of Morris, Somerset, Union and Middlesex counties, with the largest population centers being Summit and Westfield.

The district leans Democratic on the registration rolls by a bit more than 10,000. The district's two Democratic Assembly members -  Vincent M. Kearney and Andrew Macurdy - ousted two Republicans last year.

So, Bramnick is the lone legislative Republican.

The overall makeup of the district is not Sweeney's immediate concern. It's next June's primary.

Regarding Trump, Sweeney acknowledges that the Iran war, at least politically speaking, was a big mistake for the president. In what is quite the understatement, the war was a big reason why Democrats did so well last week across the nation.

But here in New Jersey, Sweeney thinks it was more than that.

He says that the state's Republican party needs to look inward.

"We're propping up candidates who were horrible - like Tom Kean," he said. Sweeney explained that while going door-to-door, it was difficult to get voters excited about a congressman who was absent this year for about four months.

Looking at New Jersey issues, Sweeney says it would be a good idea for the governor to suspend the state's 49 cent per gallon gas tax to give relief to motorists.

He also knows that won't happen, noting that such a move would counter Mikie Sherrill's contention that Trump is solely to blame for high prices at the pump.

Sweeney was asked about two perennial New Jersey problems - housing and education.

He criticized affordable housing mandates, suggesting that they encourage "urbanization," adding that it is nobody's dream to live in an apartment.

Like many conservatives. Sweeney says public schools offer "indoctrination" and "woke mandates."

While this has been a Republican position for the last few years, it has not translated to victories.

Nonetheless, Sweeney said, "The school system right now is a tax on conservative values." He said that presents many conservative parents with the choice of private schools, home schooling or leaving New Jersey.

More broadly, Sweeney says Republicans in the Legislature need to fight and speak out loudly. To that end, he says he admirers Assemblywoman  Dawn Fantasia from LD-24, who does precisely that.

Bramnick, for one, is not impressed with Sweeney. He said of his challenger on Monday:

"He represents those who ignored the results from Tuesday and the loss by MAGA Jack (Ciattarelli) by 14 points. My district wants a representative that puts constituents ahead of loyalty to Donald Trump."

Just for the record, Bramnick has been in the state Senate since 2022; he served previously in the Assembly, rising to Republican leader. He won reelection to the Senate in 2023 by about 4.500 votes.

It's a long time between now and June and Sweeney is talking to Republicans throughout the district. As candidates predictably are, he is upbeat.

"I'd say, I’ve been getting a lot of love," he said.