Lt. Governor Guadagno, Madam Speaker, Mr. President, members of the Legislature, fellow New Jerseyans:
I am pleased to present to you my budget for Fiscal Year 2014.
The budget continues a journey you began with me three years ago – to get New Jersey’s house in order; to turn Trenton upside down; to make hard but better choices so that we could put our state back on a path to growth.
For the fourth year in a row, the budget maintains the fiscal discipline we need to restore New Jersey. Fiscal sanity has indeed returned to Trenton.
For the fourth year in a row, this budget is balanced and imposes no tax increases on the people of New Jersey. I want every New Jersey citizen to remember just how different things were before we arrived. 115 tax and fee increases in eight years. Skyrocketing spending. $13 billion in deficits left on our doorstep by the irresponsibility of the past.
We must never take for granted what we have already achieved. Reduced spending. New jobs. Balanced budgets four years in a row. And lower taxes. It is truly a new day for New Jersey.
Photo by Serena DiMaso. Taken with Tom Arone’s phone
Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal is only 27 years old, but he’s over the hill politically according to Governor Chris Chrisite.
Speaking in Sea Bright while accepting Mayor Dina Long’s endorsement for reelection, Christie responded to the statement Gopal issued criticising Long and threatening her political future by saying,
“Vin represents the party of yesterday,” Christie chimed. “To put out a statement like that is a product of yesterday. Maybe Chairman Gopal will see the wisdom” (of Christie’s brand of bipartisanship),” according to PoltickerNJ.
Following yesterday’s news of Long endorsing Chrisite, Gopal issued the following statement on facebook:
Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long, a Democrat, will endorse Governor Chris Christie for reelection tomorrow morning at Woody’s, according to a source who doesn’t want to be known for talking to a Republican blogger.
Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long. photo credit:RedBankGreen.com
The Christie campaign has announced a campaign event at Woody’s Ocean Grille for 11:15 am.
Long did not return a call for comment. Nor did Christie strategist Mike DuHaime.
Long’s support of the Republican governor is a set back for Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal, one of Democratic gubernatorial presumptive nominee Senator Barbara Buono’s strongest supporters.
Should Long find herself in trouble with Gopal, Monmouth Republican Chairman John Bennett would welcome her to the GOP.
“I would welcome any caring mayor or council member, including Mayor Long, into the party,” said Bennett in a phone interview, “So long as they are working for the people and not out of a personal agenda, I will welcome them.”
If the gubernatorial election was today, Chris Christie would be reelected in a landslide, according to a Quinnipiac poll released this morning.
Christie beats likely challenger Barbara Buono by 62%-25%. Christie leads with women 54-38, with men 71-18. Republicans back the governor by 93-4, Independents by 68-18. Democrats would vote for Buono, 51-31, despite the fact that they approve of the job Christie is doing by a 56-38 margin. Overall, New Jersey voters approve of Christie by 74-22. That’s the highest rating of any governor in the 17 years Quinnipiac has been doing surveys.
83% of New Jersey voters don’t know enough about Buono to form an opinion.
In a 2016 presidential match up with Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State beats Christie for New Jersey’s 14 electoral votes by 4 points, 49-45. Christie beats New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for president 54%-36%.
Chris Christie’s independent streak continues to confound liberals and conservative alike, Save Jerseyans.
Just the latest example: sometime yesterday, New York’s Capitol Confidential blog (hosted by The Albany Times Union) highlighted a Glens Falls Chronicle interview with the political director for the United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters and Steamfitter.
The relevance for New Jersey political watchers? Governor Christie purportedly called this gentlemen to thank him for union donations to the Sandy relief effort. I’m sure you’ll find the details of their convo (as recalled by the political director, Mr. Bulman) as interesting as we did:
[Bulman] said when he told Mr. Christie he is from upstate New York, “he said, ‘I’m not much different from Andrew Cuomo. I probably agree with him on 98% of the issues.’ ” Mr. Bulman said Gov. Christie “sees value in the building trades, which are private sector unions. He complimented us and said he uses us as an example of a pro-business union.
Mr. Bulman, asked if he thinks Gov. Christie will run for president, said, “I don’t know, but he talked about Israel, and he wanted to make sure we knew he had been traveling abroad.”
New Jersey’s senior U.S. Senator, Frank Lautenberg, will not seek reelection when his term expires in 2014.
The Star Ledger broke the story with a statement from the senator:
“I am not announcing the end of anything. I am announcing the beginning of a two-year mission to pass new gun safety laws, protect children from toxic chemicals and create more opportunities for working families in New Jersey,” Lautenberg told The Star-Ledger. “While I may not be seeking re-election, there is plenty of work to do before the end of this term and I’m going to keep fighting as hard as ever for the people of New Jersey in the U.S. Senate.”
Lautenberg will be 91 when his term expires. Recent independent poll have indicated that New Jersey voters favor Newark Mayor Cory Booker heading to the Senate.
Congressman Frank Pallone is said to be ready to challenge Booker for the Democratic nomination in 2014. State Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver have also indicated interest in the Democratic nomination.
Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik said he will not be a candidate.
TV and radio personality Geraldo Rivera is the only Republican who has publically expressed an interest in competing for the Senate seat. State Senators Tom Kean, JR, and Joe Kyrillos have been mentioned as possible candidates, as has Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, Lt. Governor Kim Guadango, and bio-tech executive/Navy Intelligence Officer John Crowley. New Jersey has not had a Republican in the U.S. Senate since 1974.
In a statement issued to the media, Governor Chris Christie said, “Frank Lautenberg and I have had our differences through the years, but I’ve always respected him for his tenacity, devotion to the people of New Jersey and his love for and commitment to public service. I will always be grateful for his doggedness in fighting with me and the delegation to ensure congressional passage of an aid package after Hurricane Sandy that is delivering necessary assistance to our residents. I wish him the best in his retirement.”
A Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press Poll released this morning echoed the recent Quinnipiac and Rutgers-Eagleton Polls. Over 70% of New Jersey voters approve of Governor Chris Christie’s performance and over 60% favor his reelection. Christie is trouncing presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Senator Barbara Buono by more than 40 points.
78% of voters haven’t heard enough of Buono to form an opinion about her. Polling Director Patrick Murray said the race is likely to narrow to a 20% gap in favor of Christie and the Democratic challenger becomes better known.
“There is a long history that shows horse race polling has little predictive value this far out from an election. This is especially true when there is a popular incumbent and a largely unknown challenger. The important number here is that 6-in-10 voters support Gov. Christie’s re-election,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “This suggests that the race should close in on a 20 point margin as the campaign progresses and Buono becomes better known. The question remains whether the challenger can peel off Christie supporters to shrink that gap even more.”
Murray says that jobs, property taxes, schools, storm recovery and gun control are very important issues to the New Jersey electorate. Minimum wage is an important issue with most voters supporting an increase. However, Christie’s conditional veto of a minimum wage increase has not hurt his support with most voters.
According to Murray’s analysis, Buono has the potential to motivate 7% of the electorate to switch from voting for Christie to voting for her. If she gets all of them, Christie still wins with over 50% of the vote.
Monmouth polling staff attempted to identify voters who could potentially be motivated to switch support from the incumbent because of this issue. This group includes voters who: feel Gov. Christie deserves re-election, are dissatisfied with his veto, say they will vote to support a minimum wage ballot measure, and report that the issue is very important to their vote for governor. Analysis shows that this group comprises about 7% of the total electorate. Hypothetically, if Sen. Buono were able to convince all of these voters to abandon their support for Christie, his re-election support would remain above the 50% mark.
Atlantic City Attorney Seth Grossman will kick off his campaign to deny Chris Christie the GOP nomination for governor this morning outside the Revel Casino and in Newark across from Red Bull Stadium this afternoon.
The former Atlantic County freeholder and Atlantic City councilman who was arrested with Steve Lonegan for trespassing outside of one of Governor Jon Corzine’s Town Hall meetings in 2008 wants the State to refuse to pay bonds that were not approved by the voters and to cap public pensions at $50,000 per year per retiree. He says New Jersey is in the same mess it was in three years ago when Christie took office, but now its a bi-partisan mess, not just a Democratic mess now.
Grossman told MMM that he has raised $5,000 for his endeavor thus far. He hopes to raise $15,000 by the end of this week to open an office. If he can raise another $45,000 by the end of February, he hopes to hire a campaign manager and appeal to national conservatives to who are upset with how Christie embraced President Obama after Superstorm Sandy for the rest of the $388,000 he will need to qualify for State matching funds for the primary.
In a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released this morning, 64% of New Jersey voters, including 87% of Republicans, say that Christie deserves to be reelected. The Governor has raised well over $2 million for his reelection campaign and will not take State matching funds for the primary. Christie will not be in New Jersey for Grossman’s announcement. He is in California for a fundraising tour including an event at the home of facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Chris Christie’s independent streak continues to confound liberals and conservative alike, Save Jerseyans.
New Jersey’s senior U.S. Senator, Frank Lautenberg, will not seek reelection when his term expires in 2014.
Atlantic City Attorney Seth Grossman will kick off his campaign to deny Chris Christie the GOP nomination for governor this morning outside the Revel Casino and in Newark across from Red Bull Stadium this afternoon.