2024 Statewide Leadership Summit
Mastering the Message:
GOP Messaging Training
Sat., 10:30 am – 11:15am
You have the right ideas in your head… but how do you get them out to your audience? Grassroots leaders and campaign consultants come together on this panel to highlight the best messaging strategies & vehicles. Learn how to craft a winning message and effectively deliver it!
Panelists
Mike Testa
Mike Testa was elected to the New Jersey State Senate in 2019 to represent the First Legislative District. He is a member of the Senate Budget and Labor committees, and is the Co-Chair of the Legislative Manufacturing Caucus. He won his second term as a New Jersey Senator in 2021 by a historical margin, and repeated that victory for his third term in 2023.
During the 2020 COVID Pandemic, Sen. Testa dedicated his time to assisting the families of the First Legislative District. With Assemblymen Erik Simonsen and Antwan McClellan, Testa helped over 6,000 residents receive the unemployment benefits they deserved. The Senator strongly opposed Gov. Murphy’s State shutdown and introduced legislation, S-2482, which would limit executive orders issued by the Governor to 14 days unless the Legislature passes a concurrent resolution extending the duration. As an attorney, Testa represented New Jersey small businesses to allow owners to re-open their stores. Testa fought against Murphy’s State shutdown as the Governor picked “winners and losers” by allowing big box stores to stay open and forcing small businesses, gun stores, and religious institutions to close.
Sen. Testa has been a vocal advocate for Election Integrity. After Governor Phil Murphy issued an executive order that created a full Vote by Mail 2020 General Election, the Senator challenged the executive order in court as the order violated the United States and New Jersey State constitutions.
During his first term as a State Senator, Michael Testa kept his promise and he was a proven leader that placed New Jersey’s residents first and acted on a check-and-balance on Governor Phil Murphy’s leadership.
Now in his third term, Senator Testa continues work on enhancing the state environment to foster and support business growth and expansion, protect Parental Rights for their children in education and health, improve veteran benefits in the state, promote tourism and shore economy, as well as preserving marine life and fishing industry. His opposition to the wind turbine project has been public and is ongoing.
Vicky Flynn
Assemblywoman Vicky Flynn joined the State Legislature in 2022, serving as Deputy Conference Leader since January 2024. She currently is on the Assembly Judiciary Committee, Housing Committee and Financial Institutions and Insurance.
Flynn earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 1996 from Rutgers University and went on to get her Law Degree from Seton Hall Law School in 1999. Upon joining the Legislature, she started her own law firm in Homdel.
Flynn served on the Holmdel Board of Education from 2016 to 2021, serving her final four years as president; and on the Nutley Board of Education from 2011 to 2013, serving her final year as Vice President.
Vicky Flynn resides in Holmdel with her husband Mike Naughton and daughters Grace, Kate and Shannon.
Pete Sheridan
Pete Sheridan is an experienced political and public affairs professional. His career has taken Pete across the Northeast, including serving as Victory Director at the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee during President Bush’s reelection in 2004, at the Republican National Committee HQ in Washington, DC, as manager of a targeted congressional campaign in Connecticut and as Deputy Campaign Manager on a gubernatorial race in New Hampshire.
In 2009, Sheridan returned home to New Jersey and joined the successful campaign of Chris Christie for Governor. He served in several positions in the Christie Administration during the Governor’s first term. Sheridan was then asked to serve in a senior role on the Governor’s reelection campaign – his work being personally recognized by the NJ.com / Newark Star-Ledger as a “WINNER” of the 2013 election cycle. Following the reelection campaign, Pete joined the NJ Republican State Committee – ultimately serving as Executive Director for more than two years.
More recently, Pete has served as the Executive Director of numerous multi-million dollar Super PAC’s supporting US Senate, Congressional, Gubernatorial and local campaigns and has served as a political consultant to many candidate(s) committees, PAC’s and party organizations both in New Jersey and across the country.
Sheridan has served as a spokesperson for candidates and organizations and has appeared on television and in numerous print outlets including the New York Times, Politico, The Star-Ledger, Philadelphia Inquirer and others.
Pete is an avid golfer, sports fan and resides in Lambertville, NJ with his dog, Rory.
Joe LaBarbera
Starting as a volunteer for the Sussex County GOP in 2019, and serving as President of the Skylands Tea Party, Joe LaBarbera has been an activist against Democrat corruption, and for government transparency & Parental Rights. He is a U.S. Army Veteran who served in Afghanistan, then returned to deploy to Iraq.
Now with a wife and children, Joe entered the civilian world and completed an MBA in Finance
from Syracuse University, and in addition to his farm, he and his wife manage a business. Joe’s background as a strategic planner believes that food sustainability is critical to national security, and that our quality of life could improve dramatically if we inspire a renaissance of small farms. Joe and his family have made their farm in Sussex County their family home.
LaBarbera was elected Chairman of the Sussex County GOP in 2023. Since then, Joe has built a culture of transparency and inclusiveness for all Republican volunteers and activists. Oriented on what he believes to be the decisive issue of the era; parental rights, Joe intends to synchronize voter outreach efforts with the parental rights cause to highlight the extremism the far-left Democrats have brought forward. Joe’s expanding the scope of his party has been successful and his bi-weekly email updates to the committee have been called “a breath of fresh air.” Joe aims to work with his fellow party chairs and with key leaders within the county to build a coalition of competent, determined, and incorruptible. Joe’s goal is to build the Sussex GOP into a statewide force that can inspire the masses of unaffiliated voters to come out and effect change in New Jersey’s corrupt and failing government.
