Gov. Phil Murphy delivered a victory speech Nov. 3 that highlighted his accomplishment and looked forward to the next four years. While Murphy was declared the winner of New Jersey’s gubernatorial race by the Associated Press for a second term in an unexpectedly tight race, GOP challenger Jack Ciattarelli has yet to concede as his camp waits for all the votes to be counted. Murphy in his address said he will continue to make the Garden State stronger and fairer for all its residents and pledged “If you want to be governor of all of New Jersey, you must listen to all of New Jersey. And New Jersey, I hear you. I renew my promise to you, whether you voted for me or not, to….keep moving us forward for greater opportunities for all 9.3 million who call the Garden State home.” North-JerseyNews.com
Democrats pleaded with President Joe Biden and party lawmakers in Washington to address the quality-of-life issues that plagued their candidates in elections across the U.S. this past Tuesday. “People are fatigued and confused, and they want to get back to their normal lives, whatever that might be,” said State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-37). “They want their schools open, and they want their health care protected, and they want to have an option of working and operating businesses.” The New York Times
House Democrats released an updated version of the party’s Build Back Better Act that includes raising the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction and adding back a paid-leave program that had previously fallen out of the bill. The House plan would raise the $10,000 cap on the state and local deduction to $72,500, starting in tax year 2021. It would also extend that higher cap through 2031, beyond its scheduled expiration after 2025. That feature means that the higher taxes in future years would pay for the short-term tax cut, at least in congressional budgeting terms. The Wall Street Journal
A historically low share of New Jerseyans appear to have cast ballots in the 2021 election. As of Wednesday afternoon, fewer than 37% of eligible voters had been tallied, according to The Associated Press’ ongoing count. That percentage may increase since about 2% of precincts have yet to be included and an unknown number of mail-in ballots may trickle in over the coming days. “In the urban core areas, turnout dropped, and dropped pretty dramatically,” said Dan Cassino, a political science professor and pollster at Fairleigh Dickinson University. “Republicans were energized, they turned out to vote. Democrats weren’t that energized.” NJ.com
Teaneck approved a ballot question concerning moving council elections from May to November. Totals showed more than 6,000 people voting in favor of changing the nonpartisan elections to the Fall, with fewer than 2,700 opposed to the move. Teaneck joins Garfield and Ridgewood among other nonpartisan towns that have opted to move elections since former Gov. Chris Christie allowed them to do so. The Record
While Democrats appear to have their majorities tightened in the State Senate and Assembly, the races for both parties held to form in North Jersey. It was a historic night in the 37th Legislative district as the Democratic slate easily won the Nov. 3 election. Assemblyman Gordon Johnson received 67% of the vote to replace the retiring Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg with his running mates Ellen Park and Shama Haider garnering 34% and 33% of the vote respectively. Johnson becomes the first Black State Senator from Bergen County, Haider the first Pakistani American and Muslim woman and Park the first Korean American woman to serve in the State Legislature. North-JerseyNews.com
State Senate Republicans called on Democrats to listen to voters and focus on kitchen table issues. “While we may not know the results of every election for some time, voters in New Jersey…sent a clear message that they are tired of having their concerns dismissed by Democrat leaders who think they know better,” stated GOP Senators in an open letter. “After yesterday, it should be clear that whatever mandate Democrats thought they had to govern from the far left no longer exists. In its place, voters in New Jersey and elsewhere left a new mandate for all elected officials to get back to basics and start addressing their constituents’ important concerns.” New Jersey Globe
Sussex County voters gave the commissioners the go-ahead to seek information on the root of COVID-19 in nursing homes and to call for an investigation into the deaths of the elderly and veterans of those homes by voting yes on a county ballot question. Commissioner Director Dawn Fantasia, who won a second three-year term on the five-member board, said the COVID question vote was bipartisan and “strengthens” the board’s resolve to hold the Murphy administration and the New Jersey Department of Health “accountable for their actions that contributed to this tragedy.” New Jersey Herald
With a COVID-19 vaccine now available to children as young as five in New Jersey, state officials are hopeful this will boost health metrics to continue on a downward trend. Gov. Phil Murphy noted that with indoor gatherings increasing due to the weather turning colder and the holiday season ahead, anyone who is eligible should get the vaccine as well as a booster shot if eligible. “The vaccines work. Period. The report card, if we were to give one, based on real world experience bears this out—99% is an A+ any way you look at it, and the vaccines are cumulatively showing this and better across the board,” said Murphy at a press briefing Nov. 1. North-JerseyNews.com
Developer Pegasus Partners, which wants to construct 18- and 16-story buildings near the Palisade cliffs, sued Hoboken and Union City after the cities continued to push it to construct shorter buildings to preserve views of New York City. Meanwhile, a potential resolution proposed by Hoboken was determined to be unfeasible. The city had considered offering a government-owned lot on that side of town as an additional property that Pegasus Partners could work into the project, but the appraised value of $14.7 million was too high to consider, said Pegasus Partners CEO Mark Luis Villamar. The Jersey Journal
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled a $7 billion plan to rebuild New York’s Penn Station that features a 150 foot skylight and a public space as big as the concourses in Grand Central Terminal and the new Moynihan Train Hall across Eighth Avenue. The plan, which reduces the size and density of the surrounding development former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed that would have help finance the construction, would eliminate the low ceiling, claustrophobic feel of the existing station by creating a skylight on the east side of the station, and double the height of the ceiling on the west side. NJ.com
New Jersey restaurants will only be allowed to provide plastic straws upon request, beginning Nov. 4, under a new state law. Foodservice businesses affected by the restriction include all restaurants, convenience stores and fast-food businesses, said the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and the NJ Business Action Center. Consumers still may purchase packages of straws and beverages that are prepackaged with a straw, such as juice boxes. North-JerseyNews.com
Federal authorities are seeking a prison term of more than three years for the North Jersey gym owner who was caught on film storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and later punching a law enforcement officer in the face outside the government building. In asking a judge to sentence Hardyston Township resident Scott Fairlamb to 44 months in prison, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Fairlamb showed “an absolute disregard for the rule of law coupled with a willingness to incite and engage in violence” during the attempted insurrection. NJ.com
Even if police officers have a search warrant, they cannot use evidence obtained during the search if they violate a requirement that they first knock and announce themselves, a New Jersey appeals court ruled Wednesday. “It is simply objectively unreasonable—without justification—for police to ignore a knock-and-announce requirement contained in a warrant that they requested and obtained,” Judge Douglas M. Fasciale wrote for the three-judge appellate panel. “Ignoring the requirement contravenes the search and seizure rights of New Jersey residents.” In the case in question, Middlesex County detectives went to court to get a search warrant in a drug buy case but did not adhere to its first knock stipulations when they executed the warrant. New Jersey Monitor
And finally…The RAC is now Jersey Mike’s Subs Arena after Rutgers agreed to a naming rights deal for its home arena with the fast-casual sub sandwich company. ROI-NJ
