If you checked out early for the holiday weekend, here are some stories you won’t want to miss:
MAYBE AL ALVAREZ IS THE NEW HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER AT JERSEY FREEDOM: Eric Peterson, the frontman for Jersey Freedom, won’t say who hired him, if anybody, to run the shady independent expenditure group that backed a phantom State Senate candidate in South Jersey in 2023. “The only thing I can say is you’re going to have to reach out to the lawyer,” Peterson told the New Jersey Globe after being reached on his cell phone. “I know what you’re asking, and I’m choosing to ask you to call the lawyer.” The attorney for Jersey Freedom, Bill Tambussi, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/campaigns/jersey-freedom-frontman-declines-to-say-who-hired-him/
BRAMNICK’S RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR: State Sen. Jon Bramick (R-Westfield), a moderate who has advocated for more civility in New Jersey politics and a staunch critic of former President Donald Trump, is expected to launch his bid for the Republican nomination for governor on January 27.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/governor/bramnick-likely-to-enter-governors-race-later-this-month/
VAN DREW OPPONENT BUILDS AN ALL-STAR TEAM: In his race to unseat Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), businessman Joe Salerno has assembled a strong team of consultants who have won House seats in districts that are more Republican than New Jersey’s 2nd district.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/salerno-builds-all-star-stable-of-consultants-in-bid-to-oust-van-drew/
MIKIE’S MONEY: Preparing for her congressional re-election bid this year and possibly a run for governor in 2025, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) raised a solid $464,000 during the fourth quarter of last year and has an impressive $1.3 million cash-on-hand. That brings Sherrill’s total 2023 fundraising haul to over $1.975 million.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/sherrill-has-1-3-million-banked-after-a-striking-464k-4th-quarter/
SWEENEY’S MONEY: Former Senate President Steve Sweeney raised over $200,000 during his first twenty days as a candidate for the 2025 Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/governor/in-bid-for-governor-sweeney-raises-200000-in-last-20-days-of-december/
BILL PASCRELL IS GOING TO “WORK HIS TAIL OFF” TO KEEP HIS SEAT: The New Jersey Globe’s Joey Fox interviewed Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-Paterson) in his Washington office last week. They talked about Congress, Biden and Trump, Gaza, and Pascrell’s political future.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/an-interview-with-bill-pascrell/
TOM KEAN DOES DRYWALL: Congress is back from its holiday recess, with most of the same problems that confronted them in 2023 still looming in the new year. But as usual, things are moving slowly, and both chambers went home having yet to take a major vote in 2024. Here’s some of what New Jersey’s 14 members of Congress did this week, including introducing new bills, testifying on flood prevention, and giving impassioned floor speeches related to their recent federal indictments. (Any guesses on who did that last one?)
https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/d-c-dispatch-what-n-j-s-members-of-congress-did-in-washington-this-week-9/
IF I WERE A CARPENTER: A Camden County commissioner has taken over the politics of one of New Jersey’s most politically efficacious labor unions in the state. The Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters has named Jonathan Young their new political director, giving him a significant platform to direct huge amounts of money and deploy a huge number of boots on the ground to candidates and party organizations around election time.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/labor/jon-young-tapped-for-major-carpenters-union-post/
VETERAN CLIFTON COUNCILWOMAN DIES: Lauren Murphy, a three-term Clifton city councilwoman, and the Democratic municipal chair, died on January 13 after a long battle with cancer. She was 69.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/in-memoriam/lauren-murphy-clifton-councilwoman-dies-at-69/
STOMPING GROUNDS: Alex Wilkes and Dan Bryan talk about Chris Christie, Phil Murphy, Bob Menendez, and the voting age in Newark.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/stomping-grounds/stomping-grounds-chris-christie-phil-murphy-bob-menendez-and-the-voting-age-in-newark/