OPINION: With Reservations, We Endorse Phil Murphy. Leadership matters and for nearly half of his four year term, Phil Murphy has held the ship steady in extremely choppy waters in comparison to others in his position. Please do not get us wrong—we have a lot of concerns about the incumbent. But GOP nominee Jack Ciattarelli’s reluctance to fully embrace the proven playbook to fight COVID featuring masks and vaccine mandates with the word salad of “personal choice” favored by anti-vaxxers is what ultimately leads us not choosing him. Murphy is the best candidate for North Jersey voters to cast their ballot for starting this weekend, to continue that proven leadership that will be needed over the next four years. North-JerseyNews.com
President Joe Biden will officially kick off construction of the new Portal North Bridge when he visits New Jersey today. President Biden will announce that construction will get underway to replace the aging structure without the traditional ceremonial groundbreaking with shovels in the ground. On Oct. 12, NJ Transit’s board officially approved a $1.6 billion contract to replace the bridge, which often got stuck and delayed tens of thousands of commuters and is key competent to the Gateway Tunnel Project. NJ.com
President Joe Biden met with key Democrats on Oct. 24 to iron out crucial spending and tax provisions as they race to wrap up their reconciliation budget. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Democrats “have 90% of the bill agreed to and written. We just have some of the last decisions to be made. We’re pretty much there now.” Her comments came as President Biden met with Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) to find agreement on issues such as paid leave, tax increases and Medicare benefits. The New York Times
A new annual tax on billionaires’ unrealized capital gains is likely to be included to help pay for the social policy and climate package lawmakers hope to finalize this week. The proposal under consideration from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) would impose an annual tax on unrealized capital gains on liquid assets held by billionaires, raising money from likely fewer than 1,000 taxpayers. The Wall Street Journal
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Moderna and Johnson & Johnson booster shots are available beginning today across Hoboken for those who are eligible. Those who are eligible must bring their vaccine card but will not need an appointment at one of the many locations offering the shots through a partnership with the Hoboken Health Department and local providers. They will be available at pop-up clinics in the community rooms of senior buildings. Hudson Reporter
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky offered parents reassurance about taking unvaccinated kids trick-or-treating for Halloween. “I wouldn’t gather in large settings outside and do screaming like you are seeing in those football games…but if you are spread out doing your doing or trick-or-treating, that should be very safe for your children,” commented Dr. Walensky during a Sunday morning show appearance. News12 New Jersey
The state’s seven-day average for new positive tests continues to drop as New Jersey on Oct. 24 reported another 870 COVID-19 cases and three confirmed deaths. The state’s seven-day average for confirmed positive tests dropped to 1,161, 10% from a week ago and 36% from a month ago. It’s also the lowest seven-day average since Aug. 6, when New Jersey was in the early stages of a delta variant surge. The statewide rate of transmission remained at 0.83 for a second day. NJ.com
The state has clarified some of the COVID-19 protocols to be adhered to on Election Day. The administrative order established that on Nov. 2, the definition of “the indoor portion of school district premises” which requires mandatory use of face masks by staff, students, and visitors will temporarily be excluded. Rooms within a school district premises that are used exclusively to conduct the General Election will not have to follow the face mask mandate. For those districts that are serving as polling locations while simultaneously delivering in-person instruction, the order requires temporarily-excluded locations to be secured by a door or barrier from the rest of the building. North-JerseyNews.com
Former President Barack Obama joined Gov. Phil Murphy for a rally in Newark Oct. 23, the latest and most high-profile in a series of visits from national Democrats hosted by Murphy’s re-election campaign. “I’m here today, New Jersey, because I believe you will make the right choice,” Obama said. “I believe you’re going to show the rest of the country and the world that we’re not going to indulge our worst instincts… We’re going to move forward.” The Record
Gov. Phil Murphy, joined by First Lady Tammy Murphy and their four children, cast his vote Oct. 23 in Long Branch, near his home of Middletown. The state’s new early voting period began today at 10 a.m., meaning the Murphy family’s votes were among the first early votes cast in state history. Emerging from the polling location, Murphy said that voting went smoothly, and that he was impressed with how well integrated the state’s new early voting systems and electronic poll books were. NJ1015.com
A Democratic pollster has Gov. Phil Murphy leading by nine points, 50%-41%, over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, but finds that the New Jersey governor’s race might be closer than it appears if turnout doesn’t extend beyond high propensity odd-year voters. The poll, conducted by Schoen Cooperman, finds among voters who vote in all gubernatorial elections, Murphy leads 49%-45%; among those who are certain to vote this year, Murphy is up only 48%-46%. New Jersey Globe
The 26th Legislative District featured one of the most hotly contested GOP primary races, resulting in Republican incumbent State Sen. Joe Pennacchio seeking a fifth term and Assemblyman Jay Webber his eight running with newcomer Christian Barranco. The Democrats all-female slate consists of environmental activist Christine Clarke for State Senate along with Pamela Fadden and Melissa Brown Blaeuer in their bid for an Assembly seat. North-JerseyNews.com
A tally of both vote by mail and early voting as of Oct. 23 show approximately 370,000 votes have been cast, 237,000 by Democrats, 77,000 by Republicans and 56,000 by Independents. On the first day of early voting, people who actually voted in polls yesterday appear to be about 20,000 statewide with 9,400 Democrats, 6,300 Republicans, and 3,500 Independents going to their local polling station. InsiderNJ
New Jersey’s Black churches are ready to take their members’ Souls to the Polls. Black faith organizations around the state began sending congregants to early voting sites en masse Saturday, joining churches in other states in a long-standing tradition that seeks to boost the influence of Black communities by leveraging existing organizations and worshippers’ trust of community leaders. In coordination with the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, more than a dozen Black churches around the state planned “Souls to the Polls” events on the first and last Sundays of the early voting period, which began on Oct. 23 and ends Oct. 31. New Jersey Monitor
Rep. Tom Malinowski is pushing for a resolution to the investigation he improperly reported stock trades while a member of Congress. The call for action comes after the the release of a report from the the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) on Oct. 21 that confirmed Malinowski “knowingly failed” to enter reportable Periodic Transaction Reports (PTR) transactions into the online reporting system in accordance with STOCK Act deadlines. After the report was published, the Malinowski camp stressed “contrary to the partisan attacks, there is no allegation before the Committee of any abuse of office. The only matter that has been recommended for review is a failure to properly file some of his disclosures, an oversight which he has always acknowledged, and fully corrected.” North-JerseyNews.com
Newark has been formally designated as a Transit Village, making it the 34th municipality to be recognized since the program began in 1999 in New Jersey. Transit Village designation provides three things: the state’s commitment to the municipality’s redevelopment vision; coordination and technical assistance among state agencies that comprise the Transit Village Task Force; and priority consideration for certain funding opportunities. ROI-NJ.com
And finally…A coastal storm is set to bring significant impacts, including heavy rain, gusty winds, and possible flash flooding, to New Jersey this week. News12 New Jersey
