Good Monday morning!
Republican Senate candidate Christine Serrano Glassner has some good opposition research behind her, even if her timing of its release Friday was not ideal.
At around 4:30 on Friday afternoon, Glassner announced in a press release that she’s calling for an ethics investigation into Tammy Murphy’s Senate campaign citing “taxpayer-funded ads for Nurture NJ that function as de facto campaign ads.” That’s a “Friday news dump hour.” Nevertheless, the story made the rounds quite a bit over the weekend after David Wildstein published it just before midnight Friday, followed by Brent Johnson on Saturday morning.
According to Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration, before First Lady Tammy Murphy kicked off her Senate campaign, New Jersey began airing some radio ads with her voice promoting Nurture NJ. That’s long been Tammy Murphy’s top issue as first lady, and she highlighted it when she kicked off her campaign.
“There is no legitimate reason for Nurture NJ to continue using the governor’s wife as a spokesperson now that she’s officially declared herself as a candidate,” Serrano Glassner said.
The conflicts here are obvious. But the Murphy administration says this was an innocent mistake. “Out of an abundance of caution and to avoid even the slightest appearance of impropriety, we have decided that any radio ads featuring the First Lady’s voice will be discontinued effective immediately and instead replaced with ads featuring other voices,” Tyler Jones, a spokesperson for the Murphy administration, said in a statement.
While I think this gives more than the “slightest” appearance of impropriety, their explanation seems reasonable. The marketing campaign is in its second year, the administration said, and this phase of it was approved in August and September — before Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted. (Though anyone paying attention to New Jersey politics knew by then that Menendez was under investigation.) The administration says they spent $17,000 to $20,000 on the ads before pulling them. That’s very little in terms of statewide ad spending.
But this episode, even as an innocent mistake, underscores the criticism from some progressives and Republicans about Tammy Murphy’s candidacy being top-down. And the appearance of getting campaign help from her husband’s administration is ironic considering the quote of the day below.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: ‘I’ll be there right by her side as she’s been on my side. But she’s on her own two feet and she’s gonna earn this thing and she’s gonna go all over this state. You will not see any candidate in the history of any office statewide who’s worked as hard as she’s gonna work.’” — Gov. Phil Murphy
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PROGRAMMING NOTE: I’ll be off for Thanksgiving this Thursday and Friday but back to our normal schedule on Monday, Nov. 27.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Joe Biden, a politician from the suburbs of Penns Grove
WHERE’S MURPHY? No public schedule
I WANT TO RAISE YOU (CBT) — “Could the NJ corporate business tax surcharge survive to fund NJ Transit?” by The Record’s Coleen Wilson: “Perhaps New Jersey’s corporate business tax surcharge won’t be dead on arrival this December after all. New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari, D-Linden, said keeping that extra fee — enacted five years ago on businesses that have profits over $1 million and set to sunset Dec. 31 — to help fund NJ Transit is something he ‘could support.’ Scutari expressed that view to NJ Spotlight in an interview at the League of Municipalities conference this week. This puts Scutari at odds with Gov. Phil Murphy, also a Democrat, who has adamantly opposed reinstating the surcharge, saying ‘a deal is a deal’ because the extra fee was intended to be temporary …The senate president also floated in the spring the idea of using the surcharge to support Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin’s signature program, StayNJ.”
12 ANGRY POLICEMEN — “Cops can’t be automatically excluded from juries, N.J. court rules,” by NJ Advance Media’s S.P. Sullivan: “Police officers who work in the county where a crime occurred can’t automatically be removed from jury pools because of the nature of their work, a state appeals court held this week. In a unanimous decision, the three-judge panel held there should be no “categorical bar” for cops, who often work with prosecutors on cases, to serve on juries. Longstanding N.J. Supreme Court rules already limit the circumstances in which police officers can be jurors, the decision noted, but the high court has declined to enact “‘ strict policy to remove them for cause.’ The ruling came in the case of William J. Silvers III, who was accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend and throwing her off of his docked boat in Hoboken into the Hudson River in 2018. … Silvers’ public defenders appealed, arguing police conducted a ‘shoddy investigation’ and the judge in the case erred by allowing two police officers from Hudson County on the jury.”
IN THE YEAR 2025, IF REPUBLICANS CAN SURVIVE — “Close Assembly results In suburban districts may augur GOP difficulties in 2025,” by New Jersey Globe’s Joey Fox: “New Jersey Assembly Republicans didn’t have a great Election Night this year, losing six of their own seats and failing to make any headway in Democratic-controlled districts. But if they aren’t careful, 2025 could be a whole lot worse. In several suburban districts around the state, voters elected Republicans to the Assembly last week by relatively narrow margins, even though in most cases Democrats had not made significant investments into their races. Republicans in the 21st, 25th, and 39th districts all won by modest single-digit margins, and in the 8th district, one Republican assemblyman lost while the other was only re-elected by 461 votes. The GOP Senate contender at the top of the ticket in all four districts did better than their Assembly running mates, likely aided by their higher name recognition among voters. But in 2025, those senators won’t be on the ballot, and assemblymembers will instead have to deal with running solo under the shadow of a gubernatorial election – perhaps with a newly elected President Donald Trump hanging over their heads as well.”
—“Staffing agencies continue fighting New Jersey’s temporary worker protections”
—“New Jersey to allow beer, wine deliveries by third parties”
—“Commission to review century-old state law on windshields, window tinting”
OPRA — Jersey City mayor and 2025 gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop said he opposes overhauling New Jersey’s public records law. Read his thoughts here.
CARTOON BREAK — “Politics shouldn’t be a family business,” by Drew Sheneman
R.I.P. — Former first lady Rosalynn Carter dies at 96, by POLITICO’s David Cohen: Rosalynn Carter, one-half of the longest-lived presidential couple in American history and perhaps the most egalitarian as well, died on Sunday, the Carter Center announced. She was 96. “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” former President Jimmy Carter said in a statement on Sunday. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.” In May, her family reported that she was living with dementia; last week, they said that she had entered hospice care. The Carter Center said she “died peacefully, with family by her side.” Her husband, who turned 99 last month, has been in hospice care since February.
NEP JERSEY — She’s a former Republican from Virginia. And she could be New Jersey’s first female senator, by POLITICO’s Dustin Racioppi and Matt Friedman: Tammy Murphy was always viewed as a candidate in waiting. Her husband, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, had made it clear when he took office in 2018 that voters were getting a package deal whether they liked it or not. She’d taken on a policy portfolio, kept up a brisk schedule that mirrored her husband’s and, at times, was more publicly visible than Murphy’s lieutenant governor. (The installation of a $13,000 office door installed down the hall from her husband also stoked suspicions in Trenton further.) But no one knew where the first lady might find an opening. … The wealthy former Republican has spent the last six years helping lead New Jersey, benefiting greatly from her profile with a fraction of the scrutiny her husband receives. Now she’s using her perch to leverage the state’s unique and increasingly condemned political boss system that all-but elects candidates before voters have a say. A victory would cement the Murphy name as one of New Jersey’s most enduring after her husband leaves office in 2026 following two terms.
—“Why Tammy Murphy wants to succeed Menendez: Chat Box”
— “Menendez bribery defense may lean on ‘subtle’ pitch to NJ AG”
—“Menendez splits with longtime defense lawyer Abbe Lowell’s firm”
—“The crux of CD-9 amid a raging Israel-Hamas war”
—“NJ doctors decry Al-Shifa Gaza hospital turmoil, slam lack of medical community support”
—“‘Nonexplosive device’ found near N.J. synagogue”
THE AIRING OF THE MCGRIEVANCES — “Bill O’Dea, the ‘outsider’s insider’ in Hudson politics, ready to make his case to be next Jersey City mayor,” by The Jersey Journal’s Mark Koosau and Joshua Rosario: “Bill O’Dea has a vision for Jersey City: a place where developers provide affordable housing to the less affluent; where local businesses and contractors, including women and minorities, get opportunities to work with the city; and where the beleaguered 911 dispatch system finally works. It’s also where the city works hand in hand with the school board to open more schools, instead of pointing fingers at each other, where rent control in a city with sky-high housing costs is supported, and services are up and running for those who experience mental health crises. Pitching himself as a man who isn’t afraid to question ‘the powers that be’ and a lifelong resident who knows the city’s diverse communities, O’Dea is finally doing what others have urged him to do throughout his political career — run for Jersey City mayor in 2025.”
NEWARK — “Deadly N.J. ship fire prompts calls for action and creation of training facility,’ by NJ Advance Media’s Ted Sherman: “Amid mounting criticism over the Newark Fire Department’s response to the tragic shipboard blaze that killed two veteran firefighters, officials are proposing the creation of a special joint task force to consider legislative and other changes in response to the deadly fire at Port Newark in July. At the same time, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the city is considering a marine firefighting training facility that would be located at the port.”
TAX FOUNDATION: NJ LEAST FRIENDLY STATE TO SMALL FAMILY-OWNED SEX BUSINESSES — “Members of ‘family-operated prostitution ring’ at N.J. strip club face new charges, authorities say,” by NJ Advance Media’s S.P. Sullivan: “A husband, wife and their two sons accused of running a ‘longstanding family-operated prostitution ring’ out of a Middlesex County strip club face new charges after a grand jury handed up a superseding indictment. … Husband and wife Anthony Acciardi Sr. and Doreen Acciardi and their adult children, Anthony Acciardi Jr. and Stephen Acciardi, now face charges including racketeering, conspiracy and various offenses related to prostitution and tax crimes. They were previously arrested in June 2022 on initial charges of money laundering and prostitution.”
—“Big changes coming for [Burlington] mall after voters OK unusual ballot question”
—“How can Asbury Park, Neptune stop ferocious lake flooding? Options under consideration”
—“Passaic County election update results in two lead changes and one deadlock”
—“Montclair apartment building can’t raise rents by nearly 40%, local board says”
DON’T HIT — “New Jersey State trooper charged after allegedly punching handcuffed woman in Cumberland County,” by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Nick Vadala: “A New Jersey State trooper is facing charges after allegedly punching a handcuffed woman in the face as she awaited a medical evaluation in the back of a police cruiser in Cumberland County last year. Trooper Nicolas J. Hogan, 28, is being charged with aggravated assault in the 2022 incident, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office announced Friday. Hogan, of Gibbstown, Gloucester County, was charged by complaint-summons Wednesday following an investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. ‘This alleged use of force appears to have been completely avoidable, and the degree of force used was unreasonable,’ said OPIA executive director Thomas Eicher in a statement.”
DEATH: SO HOT RIGHT NOW — “N.J. designer’s wake goes viral with model’s runway walk. Vernest Moore wanted to go out in style,” by NJ Advance Media’s Amy Kuperinsky: “Erica, a model who wears a long silver headpiece, delicately sashays down the stairs at the Newark Museum of Art, then turns and walks backward before turning again to look straight ahead, past the crowd of people seated on either side of the runway. But Erica’s strut alone isn’t why the video clip of her walk drew 750,000 views when the model posted the clip on Instagram this week — and 36.6 million views when someone shared part of her video on X (formerly known as Twitter). When she reaches the end of the carpet, the camera follows her to a man lying in a casket. She puts her hands on her hips again, then blows a kiss to the man. This was no ordinary fashion show. It was a wake, a memorial for Newark fashion designer Vernest Moore.”
TCNJ POLL: LEPIDOTARPHIUS PERORNATELLA LEADS MENENDEZ 92%-8% IN DEM PRIMARY — “N.J. student stumbled on a winged insect, put it in a jar and then made history,” by NJ Advance Media’s Steven Rodas: “Suspecting on a warm fall day that temperatures would soon dip (she was right), Sarah Knapik ventured to the small Lake Ceva on the campus of The College of New Jersey in early September. … to fulfill a class assignment: find 15 ‘orders,’ a taxonomic rank that classifies different organisms. … In about two weeks, Knapik would learn she haphazardly stumbled upon a moth species classified as Lepidotarphius perornatella — native to Asia and never before recorded in the state of New Jersey. Entomologists at the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, which confirmed in a statement that it was a first, said the moth species Knapik found is a member of the ‘Family Glyphipterigidae,’’ an East Asian species known to frequent Europe in garden centers.”
R.I.P. —“Beloved N.J. bartender, fuzzy navel inventor leaves a lasting legacy”
R.I.P. — “Actor Suzanne Shepherd, who played mothers in ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘Goodfellas,’ dead at 89”
R.I.P. — “George ‘Funky’ Brown, of Jersey City soul band Kool & The Gang, dies at 74“
—“Ringwood business finds itself at center of viral debate over treatment of dogs”
