Winners and Losers: Week of September 29th
WINNERS Cory Booker A Quinnipiac University poll for the first time showed the incumbent U.S. Senator getting over 50% in his showdown with Republican challenger Jeff Bell. Booker is running for a full, six-year term. The poll showed Booker with 51 percent support to Jeff Bell’s 40 percent among 1,056 likely voters surveyed. (Politicker Staff)
http://www.politickernj.com/83336/winners-and-losers-week-september-29th
Fight of the Week: Prieto v. Bramnick (or, Christie v. the Assembly)
One stood dressed in formal evening wear, clutching a glass of some nondescript liquor in one hand and bemoaning Gov. Chris Christie’s chokehold on Republicans in the Assembly’s lower house and its ability to stunt bi-partisan legislation. The other was in casual wear, still picking the straw out of his back pockets following an afternoon hayride and granting that there were “some mistakes, some missteps,” but maintaining the he couldn’t “see why anyone would get mad” over using prudence when it comes to the legislative process. (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
http://www.politickernj.com/83356/fight-week-prieto-v-bramnick-or-christie-v-assembly
The Continuing Journey of Chris Christie: Week of Sept. 29th
As nascent 2016 presidential contender Governor Chris Christie circulates in the national spotlight with hopes of regaining stamina after a politically unsound 2014, the following considerations arose this week…(Swain/PolitickerNJ)
http://www.politickernj.com/83366/continuing-journey-chris-christie-week-sept-29th
At State Hispanic Parade, Booker says Bell’s Ronald Reagan quote ‘insulting’ to Latinos
HUDSON COUNTY – Old timers tramping this New Jersey State Hispanic parade say this one was bigger than in years past. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Stack and Fulop march together in State Hispanic Parade
HUDSON COUNTY – Two U.S. senators led the caravan, but local dynamo state Sen. Brian P. Stack (D-33) received the most shouts from the sidewalks as the crowd passed. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
http://www.politickernj.com/83396/stack-and-fulop-march-together-state-hispanic-parade
Avery, Republican Bergen County freeholder candidate, learned about politics at home
Politics came naturally to Robert Avery, a Ridgefield lawyer and Republican candidate for Bergen County Freeholder. Avery’s late father, Henry, was once editor of the Hudson Dispatch, a now-defunct daily newspaper in Union City. (Ensslin/The Bergen Record)
Chris Christie’s quest to legalize sports gambling could destroy professional athletics
Decried as puritanical, hypocritical, or simply absurd, sports gambling regulations in the U.S. are among the strictest in the world. Under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992, also known as the Bradley Act, state-sanctioned sports gambling is prohibited in all U.S. states except for the ones that had operated betting schemes at any time between 1976 and 1990. This explains why a fan can legally place a bet nowadays only in Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon. Throwing an extra legal spanner in the works, the federal government even banned online gambling, under the aptly named Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. But to the satisfaction of frustrated gamblers everywhere, all that could soon change. (Varga/The New Republic)
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie returning to Connecticut for Foley campaign
TRUMBULL >> New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is making another campaign appearance in Connecticut on behalf of Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley. (Associated Press)
Jersey City terminates contract with George Norcross’ brother’s law firm
TRENTON — New Jersey’s second largest city has terminated a business arrangement with the law firm run by the brother of New Jersey’s most powerful Democrat, less than 10 months after hiring it as bond counsel. (Friedman/New Jersey Advance Media for NJ.com)
Son of Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo lands $92K job on N.J. payroll
TRENTON — The son of a key Democratic ally of Gov. Chris Christie is now on the state’s payroll. Joseph G. DiVincenzo — whose father is Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo — was hired in July as an “education program development specialist” by the New Jersey Department of Education at a salary of $92,528. (Friedman/New Jersey Advance Media for NJ.com)
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/10/joe_divincenzos_son_lands_92k_job_on_nj_payroll.html
New Jersey’s Lt. Gov. Guadagno released from hospital
Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who is serving as acting governor, was released from the hospital this morning after being treated for a broken elbow and wrist following a bicycle accident yesterday. (Hayes/The Bergen Record)
http://www.northjersey.com/news/new-jersey-s-lt-gov-guadagno-released-from-hospital-1.1102168
Rogue donors not ready for Hillary?
Hillary Clinton is facing the beginnings of a backlash from rich liberals unhappy with her positions on litmus test issues and her team’s efforts to lock up the Democratic presidential nomination before the contest starts. (Vogel/Politico)
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/hillary-clinton-donors-2016-elections-111622.html?hp=t1
Hispanics won’t turn Texas blue
You don’t have to live in Texas to hear the incessant reminders by demographers and political pundits that the Lone Star State is on track to become majority Hispanic. By the time of the 2010 census, Texas had already become a “majority-minority” state, with minorities outnumbering Anglos by some two million—and with Hispanics alone accounting for 37.6 percent of residents. Although projections vary, within the next 10 to 20 years, Texas will likely have a Hispanic majority. (Thorburn/Politico)
As Ebola patient in Texas fights for his life, his family copes with stigma and isolation
DALLAS — As a Liberian man diagnosed with Ebola was fighting to survive Sunday in a Texas hospital, his worried family members and others who were in contact with him said they are being ostracized by the local Liberian community, which is struggling to cope with fear, isolation and the stigma associated with the deadly disease. (Brown, Phillip, Sullivan/The Washington Post)
Opinion
Stile: Democratic governor hopefuls back unions on pension issue
Amid the pie charts and projections packed into the latest report card on the health of New Jersey’s pension system, perhaps the most crucial figure was missing: 2017, the year of the next scheduled gubernatorial election. (Stile/The Bergen Record)
Jackson: Booker running for center while voting leans left
Public disapproval of the gridlocked Congress is at a record high. President Obama’s approval rating in New Jersey is at a record low. For Cory Booker, the Democratic senator up for reelection in November, that means he must convince voters he can work with conservatives and liberals. (Jackson/The Bergen Record)
http://www.northjersey.com/news/jackson-booker-running-for-center-while-voting-leans-left-1.1103030
Political Insider: Jeff Bell, a U.S. Senate underdog candidate who’s closing the gap
At 70, Republican Jeff Bell is looking to knock off freshman Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker — and he’s feeling pretty feisty. Bell looks at the slowly shrinking polling numbers favoring the incumbent and former ex-mayor of Newark and sees someone who is vulnerable. (Torres/The Jersey Journal)
Christie’s dominance over his obedient GOP flock: Moran
When Jon Corzine was governor, his fellow Democrats mutinied against his plan to raise the sales tax and forced a showdown that closed the government for several days. (Moran/New Jersey Advance Media for NJ.com)
Growing uncertainty of Christie’s plans and performance
TRENTON – Gov. Christie’s poll numbers aren’t in the toilet, but there is a growing uncertainty about him. That same uncertainty is reflected in my mail, typical of which was a fellow named Lou who told me “Christie started out like ‘Gang Busters’ but hasn’t done much since.” (Ingle/Gannet)
Why Democrats aren’t getting credit for the economy
As Ken Burns’s superb documentary on the Roosevelts reminded us, “Happy Days Are Here Again” is one of the most evocative anthems in the history of the Democratic Party. You have to ask: Why aren’t the Democrats, and the country, singing it loudly now? (Dionne/The Washington Post)
The Backroom
Details for Tuesday’s memorial service for John and Joyce Sheridan
The family of Joyce and John Sheridan invite family and friends to a Memorial Service on Tuesday, October 7 at the Patriots Theatre at the War Memorial in Trenton. (Editor/PolitickerNJ)
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ttp://www.politickernj.com/back_room/details-tuesdays-memorial-service-john-and-joyce-sheridan
Danielsen wins Dems’ nod for 17th District Assembly seat
Franklin Twp. Democratic Committee Chairman Joe Danielsen won the support of the Democratic Committee in the 17th Legislative District earlier today in a special convention. (Politicker Staff)
http://www.politickernj.com/back_room/danielson-wins-dems-nod-17th-district-assembly-seat
Lesniak wants to change ‘Garden State’ to ‘Humane State’
At his speech today as part of a march for elephants in Washington D.C., state Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-20) intends to make an appeal to change New Jersey’s nickname from “The Garden State” to “The Humane State.” (Politicker Staff)
http://www.politickernj.com/back_room/lesniak-wants-change-garden-state-humane-state
