Assembyman Sam Thompson told MoreMonmouthMusings that he is strongly considering a run for the Senate vacancy in the new 12 legislative district. He said the support of the county chairmen in Monmouth, Ocean and Burlington Counties, all of which have towns in the district, would weigh heavily upon his decision. Thompson is the the chairman of the Middlesex GOP.
Thompson noted that if he were in the Senate, the GOP would have senatorial courtesy privileges over Middlesex County appointments.
Monmouth County Freeholder Director Rob Clifton told MoreMonmouthMusings that he will seek the GOP nomination for the legislative vacancy in the new 12th district.
The district as comprised has no incumbent Senator. Sam Thompson of Old Bridge (Middlesex County) and Ronald Dancer of Plumsted (Ocean County) are incumbent Assemblymen.
Clifton is unsure if he will be seeking a Senate seat or an Assembly seat.
Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas is considering entering the fray in the new 12th. Lucas told MMM that he will make a decision within 24 hours.
New district 11: Comprised from parts of the old 11th and 12th. Jennifer Beck is the incumbent senator. Caroline Casagrande and Mary Pat Angelini are incumbent assemblywomen. A district with all female representatives! That is probably a historical first.
This district includes Asbury Park. Dan Jacobson’s political comeback is effectively over as he won’t challenge Jennifer Beck. Beck’s career is the creation of Jacobson’s newspaper….just ask him, he’ll swear to it.
New district 12: In addition to the Monmouth towns of Allentown, Englishtown, Manalapan, Matawan, Millstone, Roosevelt and Upper Freehold, this district includes Old Bridge of Middlesex County, the Ocean County towns of Jackson and Plumsted and the Burlington County towns of Chesterfield, North Hanover, New Hanover and Wrightstown.
Sam Thompson of Old Bridge and Ronald Dancer of Plumsted are the incumbent assembly members. There is no incumbent senator. This district creates an opportunity for Monmouth County Freeholder Director Rob Clifton, and Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas to run for the legislature. Dancer is also the Mayor of Plumsted. Thompson is Chairman of the Middlesex County GOP. It is unknown if either men have ambitions to move up to the Senate.
New district 13: Declan O’Scanlon of Little Silver joins Amy Handlin of Middletown in representing this district in the Assembly. Joe Kyrillos of Middletown is the incumbent Senator.
This district keeps the Bayshore from the old 13th, adds Atlantic Higlands, Highlands, Monmouth Beach, Rumson and Sea Bright from the old 11th and Fair Haven, Little Silver, Oceanport, Marlboro from the old 12th.
New 30th: Incumbent Senators Sean Kean (Wall) and Robert Singer (Lakewood)both live in this district. Singer represented both Lakewood and Howell in the old 30th. Singer has to be considered the favorite in a head to head match up with Kean in a primary.
In addition to Wall, Lakewood and Howell, the new district in comprised of the southern Monmouth coastal towns of Brielle, Bradley Beach, Avon by the Sea, Belmar, Lake Como, the Spring Lakes, Sea Girt, Manasquan. Farmingdale rounds out the Monmouth towns in the district. From Ocean County, Pt Pleasant and Pt. Pleasant Beach are in the district.
Dave Rible is the incumbent Assembly member from the new 30th and there is a vacancy. Former Howell Mayor Joe DiBella could be a contender for the Assembly vacancy. Would Kean consider going back to the Assembly? Stranger things have happened, but not very often. Running for Assembly might be the only way for Kean to continue his political career.
District 11 – Allenhurst, Asbury, Colts Neck, Deal, Eatontown, Freehold Boro, Freehold Twp, Interlaken, Loch Arbor, Long Branch, Neptune City, Neptune Twp, Ocean, Red Bank, Shrewsbury Boro, Shrewsbury Twp, Tinton Falls, West Long Branch
Multiple news outlets are reporting that Professor Alan Rosenthal, the 11th member of the Apportionment Commission will cast his vote for the Democratic map when the commission has its final meeting in Trenton at noon today.
Assemblyman Jay Webber, the Republican co-chair of the commission told Poltickernjthat his team was disappointed and believed they submitted a better map. Webber said the new map will be an improvement from the current map.
Democratic co-chair Assemblyman John Wisiewski, also the Democratic State Chairman, told Politickernjthat his side won by submitting a map the more closely complied with the standards Rosenthallaid out when he joined the commission a month ago. The Democratic map minimizes incumbency disruption and has a smaller population deviation among districts than the Republican map does.
Both sides expect that the Democrats will retain control of the legislature with the new map, but by smaller margins than their current representation.
MMM will report on the impact the new map will have on Monmouth County districts this afternoon after the map is released.
While politicians draw lines to save their jobs the People’s Map creates genuine competition
Middletown, NJ –Several articles have come out recently displaying the hysterics surrounding the possibility of a handful of legislators who may lose their jobs as a result of the Apportionment Commission’s final map. Meanwhile, an analysis of “The People’s Map” illustrates nicely how genuine competition between and among parties and incumbents can be easily achieved by simply drawing district lines according to the Constitution.
Below are some of the intra-party battles created as a result of the non-gerrymandered map produced by the Bayshore Tea Party Group:
·District 4: Sen. Steve Sweeney (D) v. Sen. Fred Madden (D)
·District 13: Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R) v. Sen. Jenifer Beck (R)
·District 21: Sen. Barbara Buono (D) v. Sen. Bob Smith (D)
·District 27: Sen. Anthony R. Bucco (R) v. Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R)
·District 31: Sen. Brian Stack (D) v. Sen. Nicholas Sacco (D)
·District 9: Asm. Ronald Dancer v. Asw. Diane Gove v. Asm. Brian Rumpf
There are 11 additional districts in which incumbents of the same party would be pitted against one another. This is what representative democracy should look like.
While politicians holed up in lavish accommodations at one of New Brunswick’s finest hotels wheel and deal for their own personal benefit, voters are left with the scraps from a rancid political meal. “The People’s Map” changes that dynamic and forces long-term incumbents, many of whom have benefited for a decade from our previously Gerrymandered districts, to defend their records with their constituents and actually campaign for reelection.
It is a uniquely American ideal that no man should be entitled to the benefit of another’s labor. This ideal is no more applicable than in the world of electoral politics.
Upon discovering the information, primary map-maker and Bayshore Tea Party Group Redistricting Committee Chairman Sean Spinello stated:
“One thing that struck me with all the attempts at manipulating the matchups and wanting easy victories was that it sounded like old time boxing promoters…except with less integrity.”
The Bayshore Tea Party Group was heartened recently by NJ Apportionment Commission Co-Chairman and Assemblyman John Wisniewski’s statement citing the importance of adhering to the NJ Constitution with regard to the legislative map drawing, as reported in The Star-Ledger on March 28.
As per Chairman Wisniewski’s admonition, we expect that the Commission will issue a map fully compliant with law and the New Jersey Constitution, such as “The People’s Map.”
Please visit our website at www.bayshoreteaparty.org for information on how you can become involved with the effort to restore American Exceptionalism and fix our broken government. [email protected] or call 732-842-6652 for more information.
The Bayshore Tea Party Group Headquarters is located at 275 Rt. 35N in Middleotwn,NJ. Please contact
Imagine if Rutgers announced they paid $32,000 to have a singer show up in Black Face, slur some drawl, shuffle through a few soft shoe steps and sing “Mammy” to the uproarious delight of white students. I’m betting the lot of you would have your magic sound-bite generating machines set on “I abhor racism” and cranked into overdrive. Someone, somewhere, would fire Don Imus.
Well, Rutgers did just that when they booked Chilean actress “Snooki” to speak last night, to deliver the uplifting and not dangerous message that the student body at Rutgers isn’t partying hard enough. Yes – pass me a Bud and a hypodermic needle.
MTV’s “Jersey Shore” Show is not a reality show with cameras turned on people living their lives. It is a scripted show with paid actors pretending to be someone else, and it involves racism.
Jersey Shore wanted the public to think this show was about Italian kids. That’s why they painted the Italian flag on their house. That’s why they scripted them to talk about “Italian family values” (in between all the casual sex and punching people). That’s why they are filming in Italy.
Know what else the producers did the first season? Never once mentioned any of the actors’ last names. Ever. Why? Because half the actors aren’t Italian. Snooki is Chilean. Others have last names like Ortiz, Farley and Pivarnik. What part of Italy are they from? MTV hid that these kids weren’t Italian. Black Face.
And that’s why it’s racist. MTV took a racist stereotype of a knuckleheaded, sexually uncontrolled, violent criminal, called him a quintessentially Italian name (Guido) and said “let’s make a show!” Being unable to find Italian kids who act that way, they hired actors who aren’t Italian to fill the rolls. Making a show out of a racist stereotype and hiring actors of a different persuasion to play the stereotype means you can only call it one thing: Black Face. It matters not that this time it is Italian Face. Black folks didn’t act that why when Jolsen sang, and Italians don’t act like Snooki. It’s a stereotype.
Don’t let MTV argue the popularity of the show. Stepin Fetchit was popular. Will MTV bring that back?
And don’t argue that the money only came from the mandatory student fee account (as if that’s not bad enough) and wasn’t taxpayer funds. That’s the same foolish point Planned Parenthood makes when they say, “We don’t pay for abortions with tax dollars – we pay for other stuff.” Money is fungible. Support for one end of a business supports another.
So Governor Christie, paesano, do you have anything to say about this?
The following is the methodology I employed to construct the Bayshore Tea Party Group’s “People’s Map.” Thank you to More Monmouth Musings for allowing me to address some of the confusion and misinformation that has been spread elsewhere.
1. The People’s Map was drawn solely based on federal legal requirements and New Jersey Constitutional requirements. No voter registration data or incumbent residency information whatsoever was known specifically so they could not cause intentional or even subconscious bias in the map drawing
2. The map was drawn using only US census data, a map of New Jersey, pencils, paper, calculators and a copy of the New Jersey Constitution. These items do not cost much. No computers or mapping programs were utilized. No “funding” or “support” was provided for the mapping “project”, which consisted of unpaid concerned citizens working for long hours to draw a map that meets federal legal and New Jersey Constitutional requirements.
3. “The People” for whom the map was drawn are all the people, regardless of party affiliation, who want the law followed and do not want the law disregarded in favor of ad hoc self-interested decision making by politicians. Admittedly, if someone wants a gerrymandered map that violates law and results in voter nullification and non-competitive elections, “The People’s Map” is not for you.
4. Some critics of our map are reading the wrong part of the State Constitution as the basis of their complaints, citing Article XI, rather than Article IV. It is no wonder that “no matter how many times I read this provision”(i.e., Article XI), the author did not find the New Jersey Constitutional districting requirements. Specifically, Article IV, Section II, Paragraph 3 of the New Jersey Constitution provides in relevant part:
“The Assembly districts shall be composed of contiguous territory, as nearly compact and equal in the number of their inhabitants as possible, and in no event shall each such district contain less than eighty per cent nor more than one hundred twenty per cent of one-fortieth of the total number of inhabitants of the State as reported in the last preceding decennial census of the United States. Unless necessary to meet the foregoing requirements, no county or municipality shall be divided among Assembly districts unless it shall contain more than one-fortieth of the total number of inhabitants of the State, and no county or municipality shall be divided among a number of Assembly districts larger than one plus the whole number obtained by dividing the number of inhabitants in the county or municipality by one-fortieth of the total number of inhabitants of the State.” (Emphasis Added).
5. Partisan gerrymandering is not one of the “foregoing requirements” that permits municipalities/counties to be split among more districts than prescribed by the New Jersey Constitution. The Commission does NOT have the discretion to gerrymander by manipulating districts as it chooses for partisan advantage at the expense of the REQUIRED New Jersey Constitutional criteria such as population equality and limitation on municipal/county splits among districts. Only when discretionary factors such as the odious practice of partisan gerrymandering do NOT cause non-compliance with required Constitutional and legal criteria may such discretionary factors be considered.Additionally, once we actually adopt a Constitutional map, there will be less dramatic district changes in the future.What the partisan interests seek to do presently is to perpetuate an unconstitutional map by arguing it is in the interest of The People, rather than themselves, to look backward and protect incumbents.
6. While we have not yet seen the final map, based on the press reports of horse-trading districts and attempts to fix match-ups like old time boxing promoters, it is hard to imagine a resulting map that will comply with the New Jersey Constitution’s limitations on splitting municipalities and counties. By way of comparison, the current legislative districting map has 26 additional municipal/county “over-splits”; while “The People’s Map” has 3 since only 3 were necessary to meet the district legal requirements of population equality, contiguousness and compactness. Three was the best I could do. If possible, a different map with either 2, 1, or 0 extra splits would be even better, and I would encourage anyone who may make such a map to offer it publicly prior to Sunday’s vote irrespective of impact on incumbent protection.If rather than the Constitutional limitation on municipal/county splitting, will the map be considered Constitutional if it violates the population requirements – NO.
7. A principle of conservatism is to want the law to be followed and if the law is not suitable, to follow the legal process to change the law. It is not conservative in any way to only want the law followed when it suits one’s personal interests, and to disregard the law when it does not. It is conservative to want our nation to be a nation of laws, not of men engaging in ad hoc lawless decision making while providing aristocratic handouts, such as tenured lifetime appointments as “elected” officials resulting from gerrymandered districts, “cleared primaries,” and no limitation on terms in office. It certainly is not conservative of any elected official to participate in or support lawless district mapping for their self-interest.
8. A government that is not accountable to the people at the ballot box will not be accountable to the people.
9. I will support any map that all meets legal and Constitutional requirements and continue to oppose any map that does not.
10. The Bayshore Tea Party Group fully supported drawing a map based solely on legal requirements (what else should be considered, really?) regardless of the outcome with respect to “incumbent protection” in either party. We have been accused through shameless innuendo, and without any basis whatsoever, of choosing a side in the mapping to further some partisan interest. Whose side are we on? – The side of the law. And we would hope that all Commission members, as well as every one of our current legislators – also known as “lawmakers” who have sworn to uphold the law – would be on the side of the law rather than on the side of legal disregard for self-interest. The partisan interests at stake are not Democrat and Republican; they are The People and the respective party establishments. The bi-partisanship we need now is not an 11th hour power sharing agreement between partisan Commission members, it is the establishment “crossing the aisle” to join The People. If Commission members truly represent the interests of The People, why wouldn’t they support the same map as a Commission member as they would if an independent voting member of the public? Over half of New Jersey voters are independent and neither Democrat nor Republican.
11. While others in the Bayshore Tea Party Group provided significant and time consuming help with the mapping effort, I drew the map’s districting, and re-drew it, and re-drew it until it was of unimpeachable Constitutionality. Others in the Bayshore Tea Party Group learned of the specific districting when the map was completed. I do not know Governor Christie nor any of his staff. No elected official, staff member, or other person related to any political party or agenda was consulted in any way or involved in any aspect of the mapping whatsoever. It is truly a map of People, not party.
12. Although I am concerned by the lack of elected officials and potential candidates seriously addressing the current problems of our great nation, I am not and will not be a candidate for any elected office. It is very clear the impact that a private citizen with a pencil, pad, calculator and desire to follow the law can have on the public arena. I will continue my efforts as a private citizen to advocate for lawful, principled government and leaders of uncompromising integrity. I, and the Bayshore Tea Party Group, encourage all citizens – whether Democrat, Republican, third-party or independent, to do the same to protect The People’s liberty and make a positive impact on our communities, states, and America, the greatest nation on God’s earth.
Most respectfully submitted to my fellow citizens,
James Hogan is considering switching parties in order to compete for the Democratic nomination for State Senator so he can run against Sean Kean in the general election.
Do the Democrats even have another candidate?
Hogan expressed his intentions in a letter to Democratic Chairman Vic Scudiery, which is also posted on his blog.
