As we get closer to the Nov. 3 general election, North-JerseyNews.com will post a weekly notebook of actions of the candidates.
Presidential
The most recent national Monmouth University Poll finds Joe Biden with a 9-point lead over President Donald Trump among registered voters and a 7-point lead among likely voters. The registered voter result is similar to where the race stood a month ago, while this is the first time Monmouth is using a national likely voter model. Biden is currently supported by 51% of registered voters and Trump by 42%. Biden continues to have more firm support – 43% of all registered voters and 45% of likely voters say they are certain to vote for him – than Trump does, at 37% and 41%, respectively. Monmouth University Poll
New Jersey State Sen. Joe Pennacchio challenged Gov. Phil Murphy’s recent criticism of President Trump as an effort to obscure his own costly errors dealing with the coronavirus. Pennacchio, the New Jersey co-chair of the President’s re-election campaign, said “Murphy’s criticism is specious and selective,” Pennacchio said. “When the pandemic hit, the Governor granted himself limitless powers during the emergency. There was nothing the Governor asked for that the President didn’t provide, and some of the assistance from Washington was un-utilized and wasted.” Press Release
Nabila Baptiste will take a leave from her post as deputy executive director of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee to serve as state director of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign in New Jersey. Baptiste will head up an organization aimed at mobilizing and engaging voters and volunteers in New Jersey, the Biden campaign said. New Jersey Globe
Gov. Phil Murphy and his wife, First Lady Tammy Murphy, hosted a virtual online fundraiser for the Democratic presidential nominee. Guests who paid to log on were treated to a private performance from Jon Bon Jovi, a longtime friend and neighbor of the Murphys in Middletown. The final haul was $2.5 million for the Biden Action Fund, according to the New Jersey Democratic State Committee said. NJ.com
Rep. Josh Gottheimer raised more than $100,000 last night at a virtual fundraiser for Joe Biden with Steve Ricchetti, Biden’s campaign chairman and a longtime confidante of the Democratic presidential candidate. Ricchetti served as Bill Clinton’s deputy White House Chief of Staff during the same time Gottheimer was a White House speechwriter. He’s a former executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and served as Biden’s chief of staff from 2013 to 2016. New Jersey Globe
Congress
Rep. Josh Gottheimer talks about protecting families during a national health crisis and about reaching across party lines to help people get their lives and jobs in the first TV ad of his re-election campaign. Gottheimer narrates his own ad, “Fighter,” which talks about how the coronavirus has affected his constituents in New Jersey’s 5th district.
Republican candidate for Congress, Frank Pallotta, called on the Freeholder Boards of Bergen, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren Counties to pass resolutions opposing Gov. Murphy and Senator Smith’s Farmland and Forest Destruction Act (S-2605). Pallotta asked incumbent Democrat Josh Gottheimer to stand up for the environment and join him in calling for bipartisan united opposition to replacing farmland and forests with solar power plants of 800 or more acres. Press Release
Rosemary Becchi, Republican candidate for New Jersey’s 11th congressional district, releases the first tv ad of the election cycle entitled, Comeback Kid. “The pandemic has had a devastating effect on businesses and with no plan for re-opening,” said Becchi. “It’s time to put people over politics and stop the dysfunction in Washington. I fought for my family. In Congress, I will fight for New Jersey families.”
Becchi recently unveiled her Bill of Rights for All Individuals with Disabilities policy initiative. The Bill of Rights for All Individuals with Disabilities focuses on seven major pillars: Community, Accessibility, Employment, Education, Healthcare, Advocacy and Awareness. Press Release
The Bergen County Board of Elections announced that there will be 18 such drop boxes throughout the county for the November elections. The boxes will be located in Bergenfield, Demarest, Englewood, Fair Lawn, Fort Lee, Hackensack, Hasbrouck Heights, Hillsdale, North Arlington, Oakland, Old Tappan, Paramus, Ramsey, Ridgefield, Ridgewood, Rutherford, Teaneck and Wyckoff. Press Release
