| | | | |  | | By Daniel Han | Good Thursday morning! A hotly contested South Jersey GOP primary has featured abortion, accusations of escort services and “Leprechauns” on tricycles. Now thrown into the mix: South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross. GOP Senate candidate Chris Del Borrello and his Assembly slate are accusing Norcross of meddling in the 4th Legislative District GOP primary, and the state GOP has piled on. The district is expected to be a marquee race come November, after redistricting made it much friendlier to Republicans. A new Super PAC, American Representative Majority, is s ending out mailers bashing Del Borrello. American Representative Majority shares a P.O. box with the Norcross-linked Super PAC American Democratic Majority. “As we have alleged from the beginning, the South Jersey Democrats, George Norcross, and Steve Sweeney are meddling in our Republican Primary and will do everything in their power to drag down the Del Borrello, Walker & Esposito ticket and prop up the weak and flailing Nick DeSilvio ticket,” Del Borrello and his running mates said in a statement. The last couple election cycles have chipped away at the South Jersey delegation, so keeping control of the 4th Legislative District in 2023 is critical to maintaining their statewide influence. But Norcross said he will be minimizing his role in state politics — so how does this square with that? We don’t know, since Norcross spokespeople declined to comment (the Globe confirmed the connection between the new PAC and Norcross). The conventional wisdom is that Democrats are attacking Del Borrello because Del Borrello’s opponent, Nick DeSilvio, would be more beatable by Democrats in a general election. (This tactic has been used by Democrats across the country, where Democrats quietly back GOP candidates they think are easier to beat in a general election.) Another theory for Democrats’ involvement: Del Borrello is a Camden County resident while DeSilvio lives in Gloucester County. A Del Borrello win would give the GOP countywide senatorial courtesy in Camden County, the heart of the South Jersey Democratic machine. (The GOP already has countywide courtesy in Gloucester County by way of State Sen. Ed Durr.) TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at dhan@politico.com. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I welcome that, as I welcome anything else … because they can look all they want into my phone, outside maybe of some inappropriate photos of my feet, there’s nothing on there that they will find,” — Paterson Councilmember Michael Jackson on the Attorney General’s Office seizing his phone. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Hamilton Councilmember Anthony Carabelli, Jr. WHERE’S MURPHY? In Asbury Park to visit boardwalk small businesses.
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BOOZE AT STATEHOUSE — “Familiar schisms show as lawmakers hear package of liquor license bills,” by The Monitor’s Nikita Biryukov: “Assembly lawmakers heard debate Wednesday about state rules that cap how many liquor licenses New Jersey municipalities can award to bars and restaurants, part of a larger fight to loosen the state’s Prohibition-era liquor license laws. The Assembly’s oversight and reform committee weighed several bills that would alter those rules, a package competing with Gov. Phil Murphy’s more expansive proposal to increase the number of available liquor licenses statewide. The package includes measures to allow municipalities to auction off excess retail licenses to their municipal neighbors, create a new type of license allowing food courts to serve alcohol, and lift event and food restrictions on craft alcohol manufacturers.”
LIBERTY STATE PARK — “DEP commissioner doubles down on Liberty State Park plan: No privatization, no commercialization,” by NJ Advance Media’s Mark Koosau: “The redesign of Liberty State Park is still in the planning stages, but the commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Wednesday said one thing is certain — there will be no privatization and commercialization of the Jersey City Hudson River waterfront park. DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette doubled down on a statement he made two months ago while discussing the park plans Wednesday morning and reiterated it Wednesday night at the DEP’s open house at the park’s Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal. The DEP’s current plan calls for a makeover of the soon-to-be-remediated interior, the northern, southern, and waterfront sections in three phases.” FRONT OFFICE STAFF MOVES — Andrea Katz Spevak has been tapped to be Gov. Phil Murphy’s new Cabinet secretary, the governor’s office announced yesterday. Katz Spevak comes from the New Jersey Department of Human Services where she served as Deputy Commissioner of Operations. The move comes as the state Senate recently approved Cabinet Secretary Christine Guhl Sadovy to the Board of Public Utilities. Other staff moves in the governor’s office include Carolyn Cannella serving as Deputy Chief Policy Adviser and Catherine Klinger becoming the Director of the Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy. Cannella currently serves in the governor’s office as a senior advisor on economic growth. Klinger is currently a senior policy adviser in the Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy. All three will report to Chief Policy Adviser Dennis Zeveloff. MEDIA MOVES — Longtime Statehouse reporter Michael Symons has joined the communications team of the Attorney General’s office. Symons previously covered the statehouse for New Jersey 101.5 and Gannett newspapers. He is also possibly a chef. — “Murphy wants NJ Transit to switch to electric buses. But there's a speed bump ahead,” by The Record’s Colleen Wilson: “Yet another NJ Transit initiative that could be delayed or put at risk because the agency doesn't have a dedicated source of money is the effort to transition its fleet to zero-emission buses. Thanks to some initial federal grant money, the agency has made progress developing plans to make the switch, but the real challenge will be finding the money for the needed upgrades to some of its aging garages so they can store and charge batteries on zero-emission buses, Mark Tuozzolo, the agency's acting senior director of capital planning, told the agency's sustainability committee on Wednesday.” — NJ Advance Media: “Robocall group made more than 237M illegal calls to N.J. residents, state says” — NJ Advance Media: “How N.J.’s guidelines fail transgender students: A Q&A with Dr. Erica Anderson” — Gothamist: “Every seat in NJ's Legislature is on the primary ballot June 6. Most people won't vote.”
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FLORIDA MAN — Making it official: DeSantis marches into fierce battle with Trump, by POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg and Gary Fineout: Ron DeSantis filed paperwork on Wednesday to run for president after months of anticipation, putting the Florida governor in direct competition with former President Donald Trump for the heart of the Republican Party.
LESNI-BACK? — Former state Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union) is still “seriously thinking about” a run for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. Lesniak said in an interview he even has his first campaign event envisioned, should he run. “That would be to have Bill and Hillary Clinton to have a fundraiser with me,” Lesniak, a former New Jersey campaign chair for Bill Clinton’s presidential run, said. When asked if he was sure the Clinton’s would come by New Jersey for him, Lesniak replied: “Are you serious? Do you know who wrote the introduction to my book?” (It was Bill Clinton.) The remarks come the day after former U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski (D) said he wouldn't pursue a rematch against incumbent Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R). There are no announced Democratic candidates, although New Jersey Working Families Executive Director Sue Altman is considered a potential candidate. Lesniak – who lives in Elizabeth, which is outside the district – said he would make a commitment on whether to run after the 2023 November election at the latest. But it remains to be determined if Lesniak takes on Kean, his former state Senate colleague, for Congress. “It's not exactly like I've had Democratic leadership in the state knocking on my door to run,” Lesniak said. MAKE NEW JERSEY GABAGOOL AGAIN — Italian men are a distinct political group in New Jersey — and most back Trump, poll finds, by POLITICO’S CAROLINE PETROW-COHEN: Italian American men in New Jersey are more likely than other white men in the state to be Republican and support former President Donald Trump, a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll found. The poll results show that Italian Americans remain a distinct political group in the state, but the views of Italian American men are more distinct than those of Italian American women. White New Jersey residents overall are 40 percent Democratic and 42 percent Republican, the poll found, while white Italian Americans are 36 percent Democratic and 43 percent Republican. The differences become more stark when looking at men alone: 57 percent of Italian American men in New Jersey said they’re Republicans, compared to 45 percent of other white men. — OP-ED: “This program [340B] intended to help the sick is actually an outrageous failure” | | LOCAL | | MO MONEY, MO PROBLEMS — “N.J. towns quietly paid $87M to settle lawsuits against cops. Inside the secretive deals,” by NJ Advance Media’s Riley Yates: “An NJ Advance Media investigation found that across the state, police departments have agreed to pay at least $87.8 million since 2019 to resolve claims of misconduct against their officers, a hidden price tag the public shoulders when police are accused of beating suspects, sexually harassing their co-workers or discriminating against the drivers they stop. Often shrouded in secrecy, those payments were obtained through public records requests to 484 police departments in New Jersey. They represent a rare accounting of just how much legal settlements involving law enforcement are costing the state, at a time of demand for greater police accountability. The claims spanned the breadth of misbehavior: suspects mauled by police dogs, residents whose homes were raided by officers who went to the wrong address, and 14 lawsuits for wrongful death stemming from police shootings and other fatal encounters.” SILK CITY — “Paterson Councilman Michael Jackson says Attorney General seized his phone with warrant,” by The Paterson Press’ Joe Malinconico: “Councilman Michael Jackson, who already faces long-lingering election fraud charges, said three people from the Attorney General’s Office used a warrant on Tuesday to confiscate his telephone. Jackson revealed that his phone was seized in his opening comments at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, saying he was “blindsided” by the warrant. The councilman did not disclose details of the warrant, such as whether it cited the ongoing election case or some other investigation by state authorities. Jackson took the same position he has maintained ever since he was charged with election crimes in June 2020.” BOOK BANS — “Heated debate over LGBTQ books in Roxbury High goes past midnight. How the board voted,” by The Record’s William Westhoven: “A marathon Roxbury school board meeting drew hundreds of supporters on both sides of a dispute over LGBTQ-themed library books and explicit discussions of sexuality Tuesday night, in a town where a high school librarian's lawsuit against four local residents has turned the debate personal. … As the calendar turned to Thursday, with only about 100 people left in attendance, the board voted 6-4 against a motion to ‘temporarily’ pull several of the books in question off the shelves. Many board members who voted ‘no’ stated their vote was mainly made on procedural grounds because a special library committee formed to study the 11 books in question has not completed its report. Board member Christopher Milde, also a member of the special committee, said one book had already been taken off the shelf, with access limited to students who had their parent's permission to check it out. Nine more books are still under review. ‘Gender Queer’ was returned to the bookshelf after it was reviewed.” — NJ Advance Media: “Parents should be told if kids want to change gender identity at school, N.J. district says" HOLLEY CAMPAIGN GETS A SHOT IN THE ARM — “Holley wins endorsements from three ex-Roselle mayors,” by The New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein: “Jamel Holley’s off-the-line comeback bid for mayor of Roselle has the support of three living former mayors: Joseph Picaro, Garrett Smith, and Christine Dansereau. The 43-year-old Holley served as mayor from 2012 to 2015 when he resigned to take his seat in the New Jersey State Assembly. He served three terms before making an unsuccessful bid for State Senate two years ago. He is challenging incumbent Donald Shaw in the June 6 Democratic primary.” MONEY-AWAY — “Rockaway Township wasted millions on duplicate prescription benefits, comptroller says,” by The New Jersey Globe’s Joey Fox: “A report released today by Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh finds that Rockaway Township has been plagued by poor money management in its local government, with millions of dollars unnecessarily going towards prescription benefits and vacation leave. According to the report, the Morris County township of 25,000 could have saved $4.5 million between 2019 and 2021, primarily by eliminating duplicate prescription benefits. The township has also accrued $4 million in financial liabilities thanks largely to the accumulation of unused vacation time, the report says.” — The Patch: “Teen Curfew Resumes For Ortley, North Beaches For Summer 2023” — The New Jersey Herald: “Sparta council approves flying Pride flag, two other banners in split votes” — The Jersey Journal: “4% annual raise for teachers under new Jersey City school district contract up for board of ed vote” — The Hudson County: “Hoboken City Futbol Club ‘operations will cease in their current form’ after this season” — OP-ED: “Ignore the billionaire and his grandiose plans. We want a simple, beautiful Liberty State Park.”
| | EVERYTHING ELSE | |
TRAP QUEEN, TRAPPED IN JAIL — “Fetty Wap Is Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for Running Drugs,” by The New York Times’ Karen Zraick: “Fetty Wap, a New Jersey rapper who shot to fame with his hit ‘Trap Queen,’ an ode to a romance entangled in the drug trade, was sentenced to six years in federal prison on Wednesday for trafficking narcotics across the country.”
HOTSPOT — “Climate change is making NJ and NY into wildfire hotspots,” by Gothamist’s Rosemary Misdary: “The chances of wildfires in New York and New Jersey are increasing. In a new nationwide analysis of weather conditions over the past 50 years, the research nonprofit Climate Central found that the annual number of days that have a high risk of fire has risen by 10 days in northern New Jersey and coastal New York, which includes the city and Long Island.” — Pix 11: “110-year-old NJ woman shares her secrets: ‘Ice cream’ and ‘just living good’” CORRECTION: Yesterday’s issue misnamed The Zita Group.
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