Curtis Bashaw, a GOP hopeful for US Senate, froze and nearly fell over during a Sunday night debate against his Democratic rival in New Jersey — a frightening moment he later attributed to not having eaten all day.
The 63-year-old Republican had been in the middle of a statement about affordability when he suddenly stopped, moaned lightly and began leaning forward — almost tipping over the podium, which he clutched with a white-knuckle grip, according to video of the debate.
A voice off-screen called out “Curtis!” — and Bashaw looked that way, but seemed incapable of responding.
His opponent, Democratic Congressman Andy Kim, rushed over, put his hand on Bashaw’s and asked, “Are you ok?”
“Yea,” Bashaw answered quietly. But he continued his silent stare.
“I think maybe we need to take a commercial break to address some issues here on the stage,” the moderator said, just before the feed cut out.
New Jersey Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw, a Republican, appeared to freeze on Sunday during his debate against Democrat Rep. Andy Kim. ONNJWhen Bashaw returned to the stage about 10 minutes later, he blamed the worrying incident on his failure to eat enough.
“I got so worked up about this affordability issue that I realized I hadn’t eaten so much food today,” Bashaw said. “So I appreciate your indulgence.”
Both Bashaw and Kim are each looking to fill the Senate seat vacated by Democrat Bob Menendez. ONNJHe then finished the two-hour event in Nutley without incident, and the two candidates sparred over hot-button issues such as abortion, immigration and Bashaw’s support for Donald Trump in this fall’s presidential election.
But the scary moment cast a pall over the race between Bashaw and Kim, a 42-year-old, three-term congressman, as they vie for the seat vacated by disgraced Sen. Bob Menendez, who resigned earlier this year after a jury convicted him on federal bribery charges.
The GOP candidate stopped speaking mid-sentence. ONNJKim, a popular Democrat who represents a broad district in South Jersey, defeated Gov. Phil Murphy’s wife, Tammy, to seize the party’s nomination in the deep-blue state, which has not elected a Republican to serve in the US Senate since 1972.
The incident might make that uphill fight even tougher for Bashaw, a hotel entrepreneur from South Jersey.
Afterward, Bashaw wrote in a post on X that he was thankful for everyone’s well wishes.
“I was out campaigning all day, and I never stopped to get a bite to eat,” he said. “Excited to eat pizza with my fantastic volunteers at the post-debate party tonight!”
With Post wires
