After ‘briefly’ meeting with Christie in Aspen, Astorino says he can live with not having Christie’s help
New York gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino’s campaign described their candidate’s fundraising trip to Aspen last night as a success – even if they will not be depending on the chairman of the Republican Governors’ Association, Gov. Chris Christie. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Toss-up Time: Christie to fundraise tomorrow in Illinois for Rauner and Scott
Chris Christie, head of the Republican Governors’ Association, will head to Illinois tomorrow to fundraise for two candidates for governor who are running in toss-up races. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
http://www.politickernj.com/77851/toss-time-christie-fundraise-tomorrow-illinois-rauner-and-scott
Bergen County Exec’s race: Paramus, Tedesco’s home base, could play strategic role in election’s outcome
PARAMUS – Bergen County Freeholder Jim Tedesco has reason to believe that based on his recent electoral history in his hometown of Paramus, the Democratic candidate for Bergen County Executive might have a chance of defeating Republican incumbent Kathleen Donovan in November. (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)
NJ business leaders decry ‘initiative and referendum’ trend
TRENTON – Oftentimes, the weightiest policy issues in New Jersey are decided not in the halls of the statehouse, but in the voting booths on election day. It’s a trend that has some New Jersey business leaders shaking their heads. (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
http://www.politickernj.com/77856/nj-business-leaders-talk-economic-recovery-policy-making-trenton
NJ pension fund showing impressive returns
New Jersey’s pension fund value has grown to $80 billion, and its investments are earning double what managers expected. Those investment gains come as good news to a state struggling to make the annual contributions that actuaries say are needed to keep the pension fund in good health. (Reitmeyer/The Bergen Record)
http://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-pension-fund-showing-impressive-returns-1.1056029
Chris Christie battered by his GOP rivals on governors’ circuit
Forget, for the moment, about the cornfields and the straw polls, the live-free-or-die gun shops of Manchester and the sticky-sweet BBQ pits of South Carolina. There is a point in the 2016 presidential campaign, when the action that matters most is more likely to happen under gilded ceilings of Manhattan’s toniest restaurants than where voters actually live. Which is why New Jersey Governor Chris Christie found himself supping at Cipriani on May 18, seated between the billionaire who might fund his way to the White House and a rival governor who wants the job himself. It was a test meal, in its way, and Christie fumbled it. (Miller/TIME)
http://time.com/3026026/chris-christie-republican-governors-rob-astorino/
Chris Christie’s potential 2016 rivals jump to Rob Astorino’s defense
Several Republican governors eyeing runs for the White House in 2016 are rallying behind the New York gubernatorial candidate spurned by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. (Associated Press)
http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/07/24/republicans-jump-to-astorinos-defense
Poll: Clinton dominates 2016 field in Florida
Hillary Clinton easily tops the 2016 presidential field in the battleground state of Florida in a new poll, while in-state Sen. Marco Rubio is narrowing the GOP gap, as support wanes for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. (Shabad/The Hill)
Bob Menendez: no arms to Iraq unless Congress gets info
An influential Democratic senator threatened Thursday to block U.S. arms sales to Iraq if Congress doesn’t get an assessment of Iraqi forces and assurances the weapons won’t fall into the hands of extremist militants. (The Associated Press)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/24/bob-menendez-iraq_n_5617727.html
Community leaders say federal monitors will be watched closely
Ordinary Newarkers, allegedly targeted by city cops over decades of systematic targeting of minorities, confirmed this week by a blockbuster report from the federal Department of Justice. Today, a call to action by leaders of a community that has been calling for protection from the police since the 1960s. (Cruz/NJTV)
http://www.njtvonline.org/news/video/community-leaders-say-federal-monitors-will-be-watched-closely/
Trenton on track to match last year’s high murder rate
In the middle of a funeral for a young murder victim in April at a full to capacity Galilee Baptist Church — bang, bang, bang. (Hill/NJTV)
http://www.njtvonline.org/news/video/trenton-on-track-to-match-last-years-high-murder-rate/
Killer snake in Lake Hopatcong? State says it’s unlikely
Traps were set. Sunbathers and boaters were asked to keep a wary eye. The waters and shoreline were searched and searched again. And again. (Hinchliffe/The Bergen Record)
http://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-officials-end-hunt-for-snake-in-lake-hopatcong-1.1056875
Ramadan gathering in Paterson collects relief funds for Gaza Palestinians
PATERSON — North Jersey residents on Thursday night held an iftar — a breaking of the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan — to raise money for humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza. (Adely/The Bergen Record)
Bridge traffic too much for Chris Christie, takes helicopter instead
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took the “upper level” — helicoptering over the George Washington Bridge — to beat rush hour traffic from his home state to a recent GOP fundraiser with Connecticut gubernatorial contender Tom Foley. (Vigdor/CTPost)
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Bridge-traffic-too-much-for-Chris-Christie-take-5644338.php
Backroom
The four toss-up states, the two R to D states, according to Sabato – and Colorado
As Gov. Chris Christie barnstorms the country as head of the Republican Governors’ Association (RGA), four states have his absolute attention, confirmed as toss-ups by veteran political scientist Larry Sabato. (Politicker Staff)
http://www.politickernj.com/back_room/four-toss-states-two-r-d-states-according-sabato-and-colorado
