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Election Picture in New Jersey

NJ Spotlight, COLLEEN O’DEA, SENIOR WRITER AND PROJECTS EDITOR | SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

Labor Day marks the start of election season, but with New Jersey Republicans eager to try to take back control of at least one of the houses of the Legislature for the first time in two decades, campaigning in some districts is well underway. Election Day is Nov. 7. In the 16th District in central Jersey, the Democratic ticket of Sen. Andrew Zwicker, Assemblyman Roy Freiman and Mitchelle Drulis sent out their first general election mailer before Labor Day, proclaiming they “fight for the issues that matter most to you and your family’s future.” They also slammed their Republican challengers — Mike Pappas, in a rematch against Zwicker, and Ross Traphagen and Grace Zhang — for engaging in “extreme Trump-style politics.” 

The races in the 16th District, which was made slightly friendlier terrain for Republicans by last year’s legislative redistricting, are likely to focus on many issues that candidates will be arguing in a handful of other hotly contested races this fall: parental rights, Trumpism, abortion and tax relief. To that list, particularly in districts like Monmouth County’s 11th along the Shore — which has split party representation — add the Murphy administration’s Energy Master Plan, with wind-power development off the coast, no new gas cars to be sold after 2035 and the Board of Public Utilities’ energy incentives, characterized by the GOP as a gas-stove ban.  

“Legislative Democrats have been playing defense,” said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. 

Democrats are still stinging from the net loss of seven seats in 2021, including the shocking loss by then-Senate President Steve Sweeney and the assemblymen in the 3rd District. Republicans have been on offense when it comes to energy policy, from electric cars and stoves to the financial and coastal impacts of the wind industry. Republicans also think they have the Democrats on the run over the state’s lawsuits to stop parental notification policies in several school districts.   

“Democrats have even been forced to distance themselves from the Biden administration’s identification of the FAA facility in Atlantic County as a potential site to move immigrants out of New York City,” Rasmussen added. “Democratic legislators could fairly argue that most of these are the policies of other parts of government, but that won’t stop Republicans from urging voters to send Governor Murphy and President Biden a message.” 

Ben Dworkin, director of the Rowan Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship, said Democrats won’t let the GOP continue to hammer away at them unchecked. “Now that we’re entering the real fall campaign, the Democratic campaigns are going to be much more actively engaged in the messaging,” he said.  

Look beyond the numbers 

While registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost 1 million statewide and in three-quarters of the state’s 40 legislative districts, party leaders are worried about being vulnerable on some of the more controversial steps taken by the Murphy administration and they may have a right to be.  

Democrats are still stinging from the net loss of seven seats in 2021, including the shocking loss by then-Senate President Steve Sweeney and the assemblymen in the 3rd District in the southwest, and Gov. Phil Murphy’s relatively small victory margin for election to a second term.  

Talking about the elections

And despite their advantage in voter registration, Democrats in recent years have lost seats in three districts — Assembly seats in the 11th, as well as the 2nd and 3rd districts in South Jersey — and have been unable to take control in three others. 

Turnout in years when the state Legislature tops balloting typically is low: In 2019, the last time the Senate and Assembly led the ticket, just 27% of those who were registered, voted. 

Two recent Monmouth University polls indicate both parental rights and wind energy are issues that could help Republicans. The poll on parental rights found that more than three-quarters of people said schools should notify parents if their child wants to be identified as a different gender than is on their school registration, even as the state attorney general has gone to court to stop such notifications. READ MORE

by John Reitmeyer – NJ Spotlight June 30, 2023

Gov. Phil Murphy, just hours before the start of a new fiscal year, signed off on a new state budget that calls for another big increase in year-over-year spending. An election-year spending bill approved in both houses of the Legislature on Friday includes more money for K-12 public schools, child tax credits and senior property-tax relief, among other key initiatives. All 120 seats in a Legislature now controlled by Democrats are on the November ballot. Murphy signed the spending bill into law just after 8:30 p.m. During a State House event, he said it wouldhelp address the “affordability challenges” faced by many middle-class residents. “Everything in this budget is about growing and strengthening the middle class,” Murphy said. READ MORE

The winner of last night’s Democratic primary election for mayor of Highland Park was Elsie Foster, the current mayor, who attracted 1,269 votes, 64 percent of the ballots cast. Her opponent, Monique Coleman, a member of the Highland Park School Board, had 707 votes, 36 percent of the ballots cast. Therefore, Foster will be on the ballot as the Democratic candidate for mayor of Highland Park in the November 7, 2023 General Election. In January, the Borough of Highland Park raised the curtain on a political drama that was inspired by the resignation of former Mayor Gayle Brill Mittler from her mayoral position on January 1, 2023. Several individuals vied for the council appointment as mayor to finish out Brill Mittler’s term. READ MORE

Sheryl Lee Ralph, an Emmy Award-winning actress, Broadway star, TV sitcom star, and one of the first women admitted to Rutgers College more than 50 years ago, encouraged members of the Class of 2023 to chase their dreams and find their voice in a passionate speech that started with her singing and taking a selfie with the crowd. “Don’t chase money. Money will come,” said Ralph who made history in 2022 when she won the Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard in ABC’s hit sitcom Abbott Elementary. “Figure out what makes you happy. If you enjoy what you do, it doesn’t feel like a job.”

Before Ralph, only the second Black woman to win that Emmy, delivered the commencement address, President Jonathan Holloway bestowed upon her an honorary degree of humane letters during the 257th Anniversary Commencement of Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS). READ MORE

Highland Park NJ Porchfest 2023 is back by popular demand for its 3rd year. This Sunday, May 21, 2023, 12 to 6 p.m. several porches in town will be alive with the sounds of music. Last year was a huge success with over 13 porches and a ton of very talented musicians. For exact locations, go to Facebook.com and search for Highland Par NJ Porchfest 2023.     Main Street Highland Park’s annual Downtown Planting Days are back for two more fun-filled days of downtown beautification! READ MORE

FROM NJ SPOTLIGHT 21 APRIL 2023

Today marks the one-year anniversary of legal sales of marijuana for recreational use in New Jersey. Some 25 dispensaries are now open to the public, double the initial number approved as of last April; all are major retailers who already held licenses to sell medical marijuana in the state. According to the latest figures from the N.J. Cannabis Regulatory Commission, recreational marijuana users have spent more than $325 million, yielding more than $20 million in tax revenue. ——————————————————————————————————–

FROM NJ SPOTLIGHT 20 APRIL 2023

RUTGERS strike still threatens the health and well being of the University. Leaders of faculty unions at Rutgers University said today that their members could renew their historic strike in the absence of progress on remaining contract issues in negotiations with management. READ MORE

PLAY BALL- HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL VARSITY MEN’S BASEBALL HAS HIGH HOPES

Highland Park Middle School baseball hadn’t won a game in at least five years and were down six runs in their next-to-last at bat against Timothy B. Christian in May 2021. Then, there were a couple of walks, then a hit, a few more walks, a double, and a wild pitch. Finally, Lucas Weinberg raced home to score the go-ahead run and three outs later, they secured the long-awaited win. That team was cobbled together in the wake of the worst of the pandemic with more than half the kids having barely ever played organized baseball. These team members now make up the bulk of the current Highand Park High School team. READ MORE

Daylight Saving Time makes its return on Sunday, March 12 at 2 a.m.– time to move the clocks forward one hour. The much debated annual process of changing clocks back in fall and ahead in spring began during World War I as a way to conserve energy. In 1966, the Uniform Time Act established the current practice of Daylight Saving Time, which runs from March through November. The Energy Policy of 2005 made Daylight Saving Time four weeks longer. Only Congress or the Secretary of Transportation can make a time-zone adjustments. READ MORE

Highland Park School District came out a big winner in Gov. Phil Murphy’s $531 billion budget proposal with an increase in funding of 34.2 percent. The proposed state aid for 2023/24 HP School District is $6,416,165, an increase of $1,636,138 or 34.2 percent. The biggest slice of Gov. Phil Murphy’s  budget proposal for the next fiscal year is state funding for public education. And the biggest slice of that is direct aid to local schools. Funding is set to increase for 400-plus districts, but 157 districts face cuts. READ MORE