Buttigieg will be at Portal Bridge groundbreaking on Monday, with Murphy, others

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Gov. Phil Murphy will break ground on the new Portal North Bridge on Monday.

The replacement of the 111-year-old bridge offers an opportunity for Democrats to showcase infrastructure investments by the Biden administration in advance of the mid-term elections.

A press advisory from the governor’s office notes the presence of state and local officials at the groundbreaking but did specify the attendees.   Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes), who has championed the new bridge and the Gateway Tunnel Project, will be in attendance, his staff told the New Jersey Globe. So will Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff).

About two weeks before the 2021 gubernatorial election, President Joe Biden went to Kearny in support of the replacement bridge, which would end the bottleneck of rail service between New Jersey and New York as the “busiest rail span in the Western Hemisphere.

Biden used his remarks to praise Murphy, and three House members who are in competitive races this year: Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), Gottheimer and Malinowski.

“Tom Malinowski has done a hell of a job,” Biden said last October.