[17] The top-tier candidates for the Republican primary, Thomas Kean Jr. and Jay Webber also declined to run in early January 2014, leaving Jon Bramnick and Michael J. Doherty as the remaining candidates with established credentials and fundraising abilities able to start a United States Senate campaign.

[18][19] On January 9, 2014, Brian D. Goldberg, a West Orange resident and New Jersey businessman, announced that he would seek the Republican nomination.

[24] Ramapo College professor Murray Sabrin, who ran for the Senate in 2000 and 2008, announced another run on February 13.

[25] Former FBI agent Robert Turkavage, who ran as an Independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012, had declared his candidacy.

Opponent Brian Goldberg won the party lines in conventions in Ocean, Atlantic, Cumberland, Mercer, and Somerset Counties.