Election Day Predictions 2017

Kim Guadagno will be elected the 56th Governor of New Jersey by less than 2000 votes.

The Associated Press will not call the NJ gubernatorial race until Thursday due to the failure of the vote reporting systems in Essex, Hudson, Camden and Middlesex counties which will prevent the vote from being counted.  CNN and NJ.com will report rumors that the New Jersey election was hacked by the Russians.

Steve Sweeney will survive the millions spent against his reelection by the NJEA.  The teachers’ union will lose considerable influence in Trenton and its membership will revolt against leadership and reform the association.  Guadagno and Sweeney will have a stronger and more effective reform agenda than Christie and Sweeney had during the first Christie’s term. Read the rest of this entry »

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NJ Democrat Operative Advocates Hunting Republicans

James Devine, a well known New Jersey Democrat operative and local newspaper publisher from Union County, responded to the shooting of Congressman Steve Scalise and three others yesterday by creating the hashtag #HuntRepublicans and #HuntRepublicanCongressmen on his social media accounts.  Devine declared that Democrats are “in a war” with Republicans.

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Golden’s Touch: The magic power of “the line” is a myth

Photo by Marielanina LaRosa

Many pundits are explaining away Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno’s victory in the NJ GOP gubernatorial primary to the power of “the line” — the party organization’s column on the ballot, particularly in Monmouth and Ocean Counties where Guadagno earned 20,106 of her 37,712 vote margin of victory.

InsiderNJ pointed out this morning that Guadagno had the line in counties accounting for 46.4% of the average GOP vote share.  She won 46.8% of the vote.  Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli had the line in counties with 31.2% of the vote.  He earned 31.1% of the vote.

The implication is that a candidate is endorsed by a county political party is a shoe-in. Primary voters will magically show up on election day and vote down the line.

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Pallone calls Ferguson Grand Jury decision a “failure of justice”

Congressman Frank Pallone issued the following statement regarding the St. Louis County, Missouri Grand Jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown:

“The St. Louis County Grand Jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson is a failure of our justice system.  The principle of ‘Equal Justice under Law’ must apply to all Americans.  My thoughts and prayers are with Michael Brown’s family, especially his parents, who have endured such unimaginable pain and hardship over these past few months.”

Pallone’s statement is disgraceful and beneath his office.  He did not sit on the Grand Jury and hear the evidence.

Monmouth County GOP Chairman Shaun Golden, Middlesex County GOP Chairman Sam Thompson and the New Jersey Republican Congressional Caucus members should start recruiting a candidate to defeat Pallone in 2016 and start raising money for that campaign immediately.

Pallone is a radical liberal extremist who does not represent the people of the 6th Congressional District.  He can be defeated and he should be defeated.  Defeating him will take a will, a plan and money. It can be done and it should be done.

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Monmouth And Ocean Senators Ask Congressional Delegation For Sandy Help

Six state Senators representing Monmouth and Oceans Counties have written to New Jersey’s U.S. Senators and Members of Congress asking for help in correcting inequities and inefficiencies in the federal government’s response to Superstorm Sanday.

In a letter dated March 31, Senators Jennifer Beck and Joe Kyrillos of Monmouth County, Robert Singer, Christopher Connors and James Holzapfel of Ocean County and Sam Thompson of Middlesex raised six issues concerning Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the Small Business Administration (SBA), FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Elevation and Mitigation(RREM) grant program.

With all those agencies and initials, how could anything be going wrong?

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Hari Eppanapally Withdraws From CD-6 Race

In an email to Middlesex and Monmouth County Republican Chairmen Sam Thompson and John Bennett, Hari Eppanapally withdrew his name from consideration for the nomination for Congress from the 6th congressional district this afternoon.

In his letter which can be read in its entirety here, Eppanapally said he made the decision to withdraw in the best interests of the GOP so that the party can put up a united fight against the incumbent, Congressman Frank Pallone, by rallying behind one candidate.

“Looking at the big picture and being a responsible leader, I feel the party’s time and energy  should be spent on the main election to win this race rather than diluting it on a primary which may divide the party.”

Anthony Wilkinson, an attorney from Old Bridge, is now the only candidate seeking the Republican Party endorsements at the Middlesex and Monmouth GOP conventions which will be held tomorrow morning. Monmouth’s convention is at Freehold Township High School at 9am, Middlesex’s at Royal Albert’s Palace in Fords at 10..

Eppanapally said the GOP in CD-6 and nationally should focus on Health Care, Education and the Economy.

Click for larger view

Eppanapally offered an explanation for his support of Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula’s 2012 congressional candidacy against Congressman Leonard Lance in the 7th congressional district.

I want to clarify my support to Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula during his 2012 Congressional race from NJ CD7. He is a
very close long-time friend of mine. I decided to support him purely on a personal level, not because of his Party affiliation. I
want to stand corrected on this so that people do not have any misunderstanding on my belief in Republican principles.

Eppanapally did not offer an explanation of his $2500 contribution to President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in his letter.

MMM stands by its endorsement of Eppanapally for the Democratic nomination in CD-6.

Pallone can be beat in a primary, as Cory Booker proved last August in the Special Senate Primary.  More importantly, Pallone’s campaign war chest was depleted by about 75% in that primary last year.  Eppanapally can force Pallone to spend his resources while defending his Democratic nomination while the GOP candidate, presumably Wilkinson baring an unknown primary contestant, raises funds for the fall campaign.  If Eppanapally agrees to enter the Democratic Primary, MMM will lead his petition drive to get him on the ballot.

UPDATED

Eppanapally told MMM that he became interested in challenging Pallone after being approached by the National Republican Congressional Committee. NRCC presented Eppanapally with statistics showing that almost 300,000 Indian Americans live in Middlesex County, over 100,000 of them in CD-6 and argued, based upon Anna Little’s 2010 performance against Pallone, that an Indian American candidate could swing enough votes to beat Pallone.  Eppanapally said that he would only seek the nomination if there was no primary challenge.  When Wilkinson got in the race and made it clear he would run a primary campaign regardless of the outcome of the Monmouth and Middlesex GOP conventions, Eppanapally bowed out.

Labels and List’s analysis of the 2010 U.S. Census Data indicates that there are 21,069 voters of Indian/South East Asian descent in CD-6.

Eppanapally told MMM that his $2500 donation to President Obama’s reelection campaign was the price of a ticket to an event at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 2011 that he attended as an employee of Financial Policy Council Inc.  Obama spoke at the event.  He said he was unaware that the event was an Obama fundraiser when he attended.

Eppanapally said he would not challenge Pallone in the Democratic primary.

UPDATED AGAIN

Eppanapally called to clarify his earlier remarks about his $2500 contribution to President Obama’s reelection campaign and the event at the Waldorf-Astoria. He said that his attendance at the event was “on the personal level” and not as an employee of Financial Policy Council Inc.  He said he wrote a personal check to the Obama campaign to attend the event.  Asked how he could not know that he was contributing to the Obama campaign or attending an Obama fund raisers if he wrote a check to the Obama campaign, Eppanapally said, “It doesn’t matter.”

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Lonegan Should Challenge Pallone

Steve Lonegan is not going to win the GOP nomination to replace the retiring Congressman Jon Runyan in New Jersey’s third congressional district.

The party bosses in Ocean and Burlington Counties that comprise the district have settled on endorsing former Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur.  Ocean County Republicans with the stones to defy Chairman George Gilmore are lining up behind Toms  River Councilman Maurice Hill, a retired Navy rear admiral.  If Lonegan continues to compete for the nomination in the party conventions, he’s likely to come in third in Ocean and second in Burlington.  Lonegan does not have an organization to compete with the Ocean and Burlington Republican organization should he run a primary race against MacArthur.

Lonegan should stop fighting fellow Republicans in Ocean and Burlington and come north to Monmouth and Middlesex where we need his considerable talent.  If Monmouth GOP Chairman John Bennett and Middlesex GOP Chairman Sam Thompson have not been on the phone pleading with Lonegan to take on ObamaCare author Frank Pallone in the 6th Congressional district, they are missing an opportunity.

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2 NJ lawmakers urge corruption probe of Newark watershed agency

2 NJ lawmakers urge corruption probe of Newark watershed agency (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — Two state senators today called on the legislative committee investigating the George Washington Bridge scandal to turn its attention to Newark, where they said tax dollars have been wasted for years amid malfeasance and incompetence. State…

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Golden Not Running Against Pallone

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden told MMM that he will not be a candidate for Congress this year.

Monmouth County Republican Chairman John Bennett has been urging Golden to take on Congressman Frank Pallone due to the sheriff’s strong record of accomplishment and his popularity at the polls.

“I would love to see Shaun Golden run for Congress, ” Bennett said earlier this month, ‘Not only is he popular and a demonstrated vote getter, he has an outstanding record with a documented ability to get things done.”

Golden said that it is just not the right time for him to take on a congressional campaign.

Former Howell Mayor Joe DiBella said last week that he “would love to run against Pallone” if Golden doesn’t. Bennett told MMM that he received a message from DiBella expressing his interest. DiBella has not returned several phone calls inquiring about his candidacy from MMM this week.

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Little not running against Pallone

Party leaders are encouraging Sheriff Shaun Golden to challenge entrenched ObamaCare defender

Former Highlands Mayor Anna Little told MMM yesterday that she is not running for Congress in New Jersey’s 6th congressional district this year and that she never had plans to do so.

The GOP nominee against Congressman Frank Pallone  in 2010 and 2012 said that her November 1, 2012 email to supporters wherein she announced “I want to work for YOU in Washington” and asked supporters for contributions to help her “finish the job” was not an announcement of her candidacy, but rather a reaction to Pallone’s over the top defense of ObamaCare .  In October, Pallone called a congressional hearing into ObamaCare that he was participating in a “Monkey Court.”  Appearing on FoxNews with Megyn Kelly, Pallone shouted, insisting that President Obama had kept his, “If you like your healthcare, you can keep it, period, I guarantee it,” promise and said insurance companies were practicing capitalism by cancelling “lousy” “scam” insurance plans that people didn’t want to buy.

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden

Sheriff Shaun Golden’s strong performance in last November’s election …a 64%-36% reelection victory with over 100,000 votes… was noticed by state and national Republican leaders, many of whom are encouraging Golden to take on Pallone.

The two Republican leaders who matter the most in determining who receives the GOP nomination, Monmouth County Republican Chairman John Bennett and Middlesex County Republican Chairman Sam Thompson, like the idea of Golden running against Pallone.

“I would love to see Shaun Golden run for Congress, ” Bennett said, ‘Not only is popular and a demonstrated vote getter, he has an outstanding record with a documented ability to get things done.”

Thompson said, “Shaun would be a great candidate.”

Little said she would support Golden if he runs.

Golden wouldn’t comment when we asked if he was running.

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