WOODBRIDGE, NJ – Jon Bon Jovi has a Garden State service area named in his honor, but if one candidate for Governor wins next year, he says he will strip that honor from the New Jersey native singer.
Joseph Rullo, who ran for governor in 2017, finishing third in a crowded GOP primary says if he wins in 2025, Jon Bon Jovi will be Gone Bon Jovi.
Rullo points out Bon Jovi’s political activism during the 2024 election Presidential election cycle, endorsed Kamala Harris, and supported the divisive campaign of the Democrat party.
“When you look at the names on these rest areas, they are truly New Jersey legends who never told half of the state they are garbage,” Rullo said. “James Gandolfini, Frank Sinatra, Whitney Houston, Larry Doby…these are American legends and patriots.”
In 1991, Whitney Houston gave a stunning performance at the Star Spangled Banner during the Super Bowl as American troops were fighting in Iraq. It has since become one of the most iconic performances of the national anthem.
Rullo said the impact Gandolfini and Sinatra had on New Jersey and America is clear.
Lary Doby was was the first African American to play baseball in the American League, following in the footsteps of Jackie Robinson, Rullo said.
“I would rename the Jon Bon Jovi rest area to the Donald J. Trump rest area,” Rullo said. “Trump is a resident of New Jersey. He spends a good amount of time at his Bedminster home, and his contributions to America and New Jersey far outweigh the divisive politics of Jon Bon Jovi.”
Rullo said that wasn’t all, and he would also ban Bruce Springsteen from ever being eligible to have a state building or facility named after him.
“There are people like Bruce Springsteen, and we should never honor them as a state. These people had great careers, but they chose to end their careers in disgrace by attacking nearly half of New Jersey’s population,” Rullo said.
Who else would Rullo ban? Politicians. Chris Christie, Christine Todd Whitman, and Phil Murphy would also be barred from having buildings or roads named in their honor, he said.