Sweeney time

Dec 12, 2023

Presented by Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind

Shocker: Former Senate President Steve Sweeney is running for governor.

Sweeney’s kickoff video shows his blue collar "tough guy" side with old footage of him working construction. It included the story of how the birth of his daughter Lauren, who has Down Syndrome, led him to a political career. And those who haven’t been following New Jersey politics for a long time may have been surprised to learn from the video about Sweeney’s integral role in some pretty progressive policies, like paid family leave and increasing and indexing the minimum wage. He also mentioned gay marriage, even if it was the state Supreme Court that initially legalized it — not the Legislature.

In his 12 years as Senate president, Sweeney had huge policy accomplishments. That makes it notable, albeit politically predictable, that his single biggest accomplishment went unmentioned in his campaign video: Overhauling public pensions, including eliminating cost of living adjustments for current pensioners.

I know, I know. He’s playing to a more liberal audience. Still, that was a huge policy that had huge implications and arguably defined his tenure as Senate president. It’s just not a convenient narrative in the Democratic primary, and it would probably remind people of how closely Sweeney worked with Chris Christie. I doubt Sweeney will avoid talking about it, but I see why he doesn’t want to lead with it.

TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at mfriedman@politico.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Barry Parker, Gary Berner, Cody Miller.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We are supposed to believe that Eric Peterson woke up one day, decided, ‘I’m going to go raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to make independent expenditures in this legislative election in another state, I’m going to set up this PO Box and I just know I’m going to raise all that money. … I found a mail house in Maryland. They’re going to extend me $30,000 in credit. And this is all going to happen between Oct. 24 and the end of the election.’” — Jason Sena, an attorney for the Republican State Committee, on Jersey Freedom’s basically anonymous chair and treasurer.

WHERE’S MURPHY? — Nothing on his public schedule

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WHAT TRENTON MADE

IRON MAN VS. GOLDMAN — Sweeney enters NJ governor's race after upset loss as Senate president, by POLITICO’s Dustin Racioppi: Former New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney is running for governor in 2025, ending speculation about his political future after his nation-stunning loss to an unknown truck driver two years ago. With Sweeney's declaration Monday, the race to become the next governor looks just how it was expected to six years ago, when Sweeney and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop were the two expected frontrunners in 2017. But Sweeney and Fulop dropped out within weeks of each other without formally declaring their long-anticipated bids for governor because Murphy, then virtually unknown, unexpectedly cleared the field with crucial party support and strong finances.

JERSEY FIEFDOM — Shady campaign spending a court test for the Elections Transparency Act, by POLITICO’s Matt Friuedman: New Jersey’s new campaign finance law is facing a legal test as a judge mulls whether to proceed with the state GOP’s lawsuit against a fly-by-night Democratic political organization that promoted alleged “phantom candidates” to hurt Republicans. Bill Tambussi, a South Jersey Democratic lawyer who represents the organization, “Jersey Freedom,” argued in Atlantic County Superior Court on Monday that the group complied with the Elections Transparency Act and that any alleged violations of it should be heard by the Election Law Enforcement Commission. Jason Sena, an attorney for the Republican State Committee, said the real question is whether an organization can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars late in an election and not disclose anything about its financing until three weeks after the election, once the “dust has settled.” … The case, which South Jersey Democrats are asking Blee to dismiss, could go a long way towards determining what recourse candidates have against organizations that target them with advertisements while obscuring the source of their funding. At the conclusion of Monday’s hearing, Blee said he’d issue a ruling within 30 days.

BRINDLE TO APPEAL ON THE GROUNDS THAT THE LAW’S NAME IS TOO IRONIC — Judge dismisses Brindle challenge to Elections Transparency Act, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: A state Superior Court judge has dismissed a constitutional challenge to New Jersey’s new campaign finance law by the former executive director of the agency charged with enforcing it. Jeff Brindle, former executive director of the Election Law Enforcement Commission, alleged that passages of the Elections Transparency Act are banned “special legislation” under the state Constitution because it was written specifically to oust him from the position. "The Court concludes that the legislation serves a valid purpose, concerns valid subjects, does not unreasonably exclude any person or entity, and employs a reasonable classification in limiting its scope to ELEC,” wrote state Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy, who sits in Trenton.

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OUT OF COMPTROLL — “Drug Case linked to trainer at vulgar ‘street cop’ conference is dismissed,” by The New York Times’ Tracey Tully: “Brad Gilmore, an instructor with Street Cop Training, a private police training company at the center of a far-reaching investigation by the New Jersey comptroller, was featured in videos made public on Wednesday in which he boasted about his success seizing large quantities of drugs. ‘I hit 15 kilos. I hit $300,000,’ Mr. Gilmore, a detective in the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey, said in footage included in the comptroller’s report, which found that instructors taught unconstitutional policing tactics in classes laced with lewd, sexist and discriminatory language. Then, on Thursday morning — as a judge in New Jersey was seating jurors for a drug trial that was likely to hinge on Detective Gilmore’s testimony — prosecutors abruptly dismissed the charges against the defendant, who was facing 20 years in prison if convicted. … The case, he said, was likely to be the first of many in New Jersey to unravel as a result of behavior exposed in the investigation by Kevin D. Walsh, the state’s acting comptroller.”

POLICE REVIEW — “Bill advances giving subpoena power to police review boards in 4 N.J. cities,” by NJ Advance Media’s Steve Strunsky: “An Assembly committee on Monday approved a bill allowing the state’s four largest urban centers to create civilian panels with the power to subpoena documents while investigating complaints of police abuses. The Democratic bill, A1515, authorizes the cities of Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Trenton each to establish a civilian complaint review board, or CCRB, as a pilot program lasting five years … New Jersey municipalities already have the authority to create a civilian review board. Some have one, including Jersey City. But current boards lack subpoena power.”

THE POOP CRUISE — “New Jersey’s new $2.1 billion bridge leaves a sludge barge stranded,” by The Wall Street Journal’s Paul Berger: “New Jersey’s new $2.1 billion rail bridge across the Hackensack River is on its way to smoothing connections to New York City for hundreds of thousands of commuters and Amtrak riders when the span opens in 2026. The Portal North Bridge also looks set to send hundreds of sewage-filled trucks onto local roads because the area’s lone commercial river operator, a barge hauling 1.2 million gallons of sludge to a treatment plant in Newark, N.J., won’t be able to navigate under the site. Capt. Mike Vinik said the 50-feet-tall new span will be too low for his vessel, leaving trucks as the only option to transport the human waste. ‘If they had just made it 55 feet, or even 52 feet, I would have been ecstatic,’ Vinik said. The conflict between the trains crossing over the bridge and the single, sewage-laden barge traveling underneath, highlights how the intertwining transport needs around New York City are creating conflicts and sharply curtailing commercial traffic on the waterway. … A single barge holds the equivalent of hundreds of tanker trucks’ worth of sludge.’

—“How every town voted in N.J.’s 2023 State Senate elections”

—“New Jersey lowers cost to register for medical marijuana as interest wanes”

—“NJ lawmakers move on two bills to bar discrimination in real estate appraisals”

—Sullivan: “The Garden State must continue to welcome the film industry”

—“Agency building Gateway rail tunnel okays $68M budget continuing ‘historic’ progress”

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BIDEN TIME

HECK OF A JOB, WHOEVER’S DOING BROWNIE’S OLD JOB —“N.J. schools still waiting for FEMA checks 2 years after Hurricane Ida devastated classrooms,” by NJ Advance Media’s Jackie Roman: “In the two years since Hurricane Ida damaged classrooms and wreaked havoc on an already strained school system, the federal government has promised $23 million for schools in New Jersey to assist with recovery efforts related to the storm, according to the latest federal data. But, some school districts say they are still waiting for millions more in reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”

—“Burlington Democratic chairman endorses Conaway for Congress”

LOCAL

THE JACKSON 2.2 — “Jackson agrees to huge payout to settle antisemitism lawsuit,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Mike Davis: “The township is on the hook for a seven-figure payout in its settlement with a religious group and developer who alleged rampant discrimination by municipal officials against the town's growing Orthodox Jewish community. Jackson Township will pay $2.2 million to developer WR Property and Agudath Israel, an Orthodox Jewish advocacy group, to settle the litigation first filed more than six years ago. … It was a pair of 2017 ordinances banning schools and dormitories — some Orthodox high schools require boys to board as a way of shielding them from secular distractions — that led to the Agudath Israel lawsuit. At the time, township officials argued that the municipality was within its right to curb development and protect the town's ‘character.’”

WHERE HAVE ALL THE STRIP CLUBS GONE? LONG TIME PASTIES — “In Atlantic City, where have all the strip clubs gone?” by The Press of Atlantic City’s Selena Vazequez: “From 2009 to now, Atlantic City went from having nine strip clubs to two. So what changed? ‘Obviously, it's supply and demand. If there's no need for business, they go away. The customer base just isn't here,’ said Atlantic City resident Coby Frier, the former owner of the pink strip club … and the Candy Shoppe. … A variety of elements led to the decline of strip clubs in the city. Those associated with the industry cited zoning changes, the #MeToo movement, safety concerns and a lack of redevelopment from clubs. … In 1979, the city changed its local zoning regulations to no longer permit sexually oriented businesses, or SOBs.”

THE AIRING OF THE GRIEVANCES — “Ruling could mean hundreds of N.J. police discipline cases are reheard,” by NJ Advance Media’s Steve Strunsky: “A Newark deputy public safety director should not be serving on a three-member panel that hears internal affairs complaints against officers, an arbitrator ruled in a grievance filed by the city’s rank-and-file police union asserting the panel was biased against its members. The Dec. 1 ruling siding with Newark Fraternal Order of Police Local 12 prompted the union to demand on Monday that the city rehear hundreds of cases in which the panel found that officers violated rules or laws and recommended suspensions, demotions or other punishment. ‘Literally hundreds of officers in the last 24 months have been affected,’ said the union’s lawyer, Patrick Toscano. … The ruling stems from a grievance filed last January by the union seeking to remove Deputy Director Sheronda Morris from the panel.”

—“Christmas coal for inconsiderate motorists: Jersey City council to introduce $175 fine for bike lane violations”

—“Bridgewater close to settlement with Black teen in viral Commons mall arrest”

—“Judge upholds charges in case against Wildwood officials accused of fraud”

EVERYTHING ELSE

SONAR BLAMED FOR DEAD CLAMS FOUND ON DINNER PLATE — “NJ’s lucrative clam fishing industry is threatened by climate change – and the wind farms meant to fight it,” by NJ Spotlight News’ Michael Sol Warren and John Upton: “The clams are shifting away from traditional near-shore habitats, with warming presumed to be the main cause. That’s forcing New Jersey’s fleets to travel farther for the catch and creating a regulatory headache as they mingle with different seafood hauls. ‘We’re seeing clams move offshore because of the warming waters — because of global warming,’ said Tom Dameron, a government affairs representative at clam company Surfside Foods. … Even as climate change harms the surfclams, a large-scale solution to global warming is expected to bring a jolt of its own. Dameron and others in the industry fret over plans to construct wind energy turbines in their fishing grounds.”

GLAD TO SEE HE’S FINALLY GETTING SOME RECOGNITION — “Bruce Springsteen earns Golden Globe nomination, faces off against ‘Barbie’ songs,” by NJ Advance Media’s Saleah Blancaflor: “Bruce Springsteen could win his third Golden Globe Award next year, but he’ll need to best Billie Eilish and Ryan Gosling. On Monday, Springsteen, 74, earned a nomination for ‘Best Original Song - Motion Picture’ at the 2024 Golden Globes for “Addicted to Romance,” which he wrote and performed for the 2023 film “She Came to Me” starring fellow New Jersey natives Peter Dinklage and Anne Hathaway.”

NEW JERSEYANS URGED TO GET NEW HOBBY — “Chair watch is over! Notorious dangling chair on way to Jersey Shore finally falls,” by NJ Advance Media’s Jackie Roman: “The notorious chair perilously perched on the edge of a weather-beaten New Jersey home for years and the main star of the popular ‘Chair Watch’ Facebook group has finally fallen to the combination of gusty winds and gravity. The news was reported like a doctor may pronounce the time of death. ‘Chair is down 7:10 a.m.,’ wrote one member of the ‘Chair Watch’ Facebook group.”

—“Coast Guard to hold first hearings on Port Newark ship blaze that killed 2 firefighters”

NOTE: On Friday I neglected to mention that you can now order beer and wine delivered to your home through some apps.

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