Lt. Governor Debate Tonight

The only debate between Lieutenant  Governor Kim Guadagno and her Democratic opponent, labor leader Milly Silva will take place this evening at 7PM.

News12 will broadcast and livestream the hour long debate.

Watch the debate live here.

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SHERIFF SHAUN GOLDEN PROMOTES CHILD SAFETY THROUGH BILINGUAL DANGERS OF STRANGERS PROGRAM

Press Release

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden continues to make the safety of children throughout Monmouth County a priority. The agency’s bilingual Dangers of Strangers program is being presented to elementary school students throughout Monmouth County in an effort to promote the safety of children and keep them out of harm’s way. On Oct. 11, the program which makes students aware of the Dangers of Strangers in their communities and elsewhere, was presented to approximately 150 elementary school students at the Midtown Community Elementary School in Neptune.

“The safety and security of our children remains a principle concern for my agency,” said Sheriff Shaun Golden. “That’s why it is vital that children are made aware, and often reminded, about the dangers of strangers.  Strangers have a way of luring children into harmful, or possibly fatal, situations through bribes and false claims such as a family emergency, a fake injury or a lost pet.”

The 45 minute program, which was presented in English and Spanish to students from kindergarten through second grade, teaches them what to do if a stranger tries to engage them in conversation, whether on the street, on the telephone, when home alone or on the internet.

In addition, students learn how to report suspicious activities to local law enforcement by using 9-1-1.

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Shutdown: N.J. Republicans mirror deepening divisions within national party

Shutdown: N.J. Republicans mirror deepening divisions within national party (via NJ.com)

WASHINGTON — Rep. Scott Garrett insists Democrats are to blame for the shutdown — now in its 11th day — saying it was them who “failed to fund the federal government” and must negotiate a rollback of the Affordable Care Act. Rep. Leonard Lance…

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Qarmout Endorses Lonegan

By Bader George Qarmout

This Wednesday, the good people of New Jersey will have an opportunity to vote in a special election for a U.S. Senator to fill the vacancy of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg.  New Jersey has a choice between 2 mayors, and that is about all they have in common. The Democrat’s candidate is the charismatic mayor of Newark and the darling of Hollywood. The Republicans have placed their confidence in Steve Lonegan, the former three time mayor of Bogota and Former state director of the conservative advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity.

 As a former candidate for the same office in the last campaign cycle, I say with confidence that Steve Lonegan is currently the best choice for U.S. Senate. I know Steve Lonegan and I am confident that he will represent our conservative principles in Washington. If you believe that this country should be energy independent, If you believe that we need to repeal and replace Obamacare, lower the corporate tax rate in order to create jobs, and if you believe that we need to cut spending and balance our budget, then Steve Lonegan is the only choice for U.S. Senate this Wednesday the 16^th. Please mark your calendar and cell phone reminder to vote in this special election on Wednesday. New Jersey has a real chance of electing a conservative Republican for the U.S. Senate for the first time in forty years. The Democrats have represented New Jersey in the Senate for 4 decades; I say it is time to give the Republicans a chance. I welcome our Democrat and Independent friends in joining us to elect a conservative who will protect liberty and defend the Constitution, so we may give a great and prosperous nation to our children and grandchildren.

See you at the poll this Wednesday the 16^th.

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Cary Booker, father of Newark Mayor Cory Booker, dead at 76

Cary Booker, father of Newark Mayor Cory Booker, dead at 76 (via NJ.com)

NEWARK — Cary Booker, the father of Newark Mayor Cory Booker, died Thursday after a long bout with Parkinson’s disease, the mayor’s Senate campaign said. He was 76. Cary Booker recently suffered a stroke and died in Las Vegas, where he was living…

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Too Many Empty Suits

By Matt Rooney, SaveJersey.com

If you watched last night’s final #njsen debate, Save Jerseyans, then you heard Cory Booker (D-Twitter) use the word “tea party” more often than his opponent’s name.

Booker is a lot of things but “stupid” isn’t one of them. He came to play this time after flubbing the first debate. and reading plenty of polls which suggest that both the Tea Party and the ongoing federal shutdown are losers for Steve Lonegan. His buddy (and occasional bully) Barack Obama shared a similar experience in 2012. Plenty of smart people think Booker carried the day (and probably the election along with it). And they might be right.

What stuck in my crawl was Booker’s dogged insistence that people like Steve Lonegan are the problem in Washington.

It’s a crock, folks.

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Lonegan to House Republicans: Wait For My Victory, Obama Will Fold

GOP nominee for U.S. Senate Steve Lonegan today urged Republicans in the House of Representatives not to give into President Barack Obama’s demands for re-opening the government and raising the federal debt ceiling, declaring, “When I win, Obama will fold.”

“Republicans need to hold firm because seven days from today when Bob Menendez escorts me down the Senate aisle for my swearing in, the message about what our party should do will be clear for all,” Lonegan maintained.

“I have come as far as I have in this campaign by ignoring the advice from all the pollsters and consultants who have told me to change what I think and change who I am,” Lonegan added. “New Jerseyans are looking for a leader who fights for working taxpayers, not a Hollywood wannabe like Cory Booker who will rubber stamp the President’s far-left wing agenda.”

Lonegan says his internal polling shows a neck-and-neck race in the U.S. Senate contest and that all the momentum is in his favor. “My victory in this election on Wednesday will send a message to Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi that the American people want an end to Obamacare and the rest of the President’s radical agenda.”

The former three-term Bogota mayor called on Republicans to stop listening to the same consultants and pollsters who blew the 2012 election and who are telling the GOP to fold and instead stand firm for seven more days.

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Greg’s List: Things to do in Monmouth County this weekend, October 11-13, 2013

SPONSORED BY SEASTREAK

By Greg Kelly

Sunday, October 13

• Belmar Fall Festival – MORE INFO

• Keyport Screamin’ Country Jamboree & Chili Contest – MORE INFO

• Craft Fair/Oktoberfest by Southern Monmouth C of C (Manasquan) – MORE INFO

• Blacksmith Demonstration (Holmdel) – MORE INFO

• Critters & Jitters (Middletown) – MORE INFO

• Monmouth University Open House (WLB) – MORE INFO

• Hudson River Fall Foliage Cruise via Seastreak (Highlands) – MORE INFO

• Oktoberfest at Bear Mountain via Seastreak (Highlands) – MORE INFO

• Brighton Beach Memoirs by Monmouth Players (Navesink) – MORE INFO

• Mammoths, Monsters & More (Howell) – MORE INFO

• Family Halloween Camping (Freehold Twp) – MORE INFO

• Book Swap Drop In (Lincroft) – MORE INFO

• Allentown Fall Festival – MORE INFO

• Run thru Deal 5k and 1-Mile – MORE INFO

• On Borrowed Time at TRT (Red Bank) – MORE INFO

• Apple Fest (Middletown) – MORE INFO

• Rummage Sale (Tinton Falls) – MORE INFO

• Pumpkin Carving & Painting Station (various county parks) – MORE INFO

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What were they thinking?

Ben Dworkin, Director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, introduces U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan. September 24, 2013

I don’t think Steve Lonegan and Rick Shaftan are stupid.

I don’t think they believed their own bs over the years that a “true conservative” could win a statewide election in New Jersey, if only given a chance.

Surprisingly to many, Lonegan’s campaign since August was working.  He substantially narrowed the gap between himself and Cory Booker.  He unquestionably weakened the electorate’s perception of Booker.  Lonegan never moderated his message, but he significantly moderated his delivery and demeanor.  He was not a scary angry conservative.

The Lonegan I witnessed at Rider University’s Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics last month was not a flame thrower.  He was an honest and concerned adult sharing his wisdom with college students.

I never got to the point where I thought Lonegan would win next week.  I did think that if he got into single digits, he would be the front runner for a rematch with Booker in 2014.   I thought, if he kept doing what he was doing, in the style he was doing it, his best shot at beating Booker was in November of 2014.

I don’t think that anymore.  With tonight’s debate performance, combined with scheduled appearances with Sarah Palin and Mark Levin this weekend, I think Lonegan and Shaftan concluded they aren’t going to win, so they might as well have fun for the last week of Lonegan’s political career.

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Booker wins on style

Cory Booker came to the second and final Senatorial debate prepared to portray Steve Lonegan as a Tea Party extremist, and Lonegan cooperated.

Lonegan came prepared with facts and punchlines.  Booker turned nearly every question into an opportunity to portray himself as a compromiser who will go to Washington to get things done and Lonegan as an extremist.

Early on in this campaign, Lonegan acknowledged he “lacked a filter” between what he really thinks and what he says.  He seems to have developed a filter over the last several weeks, but he left it at home tonight.

Lonegan’s hardest punchlines are likely to be used against him over the the final week of the campaign.  “You might not be able to swim in that river, but its probably because of all the bodies in it from shooting victims” and “you’ll abort a baby in its 8th month of delivery,” will very likely be used relentlessly by the Booker campaign and they ramp up their Get Out The Vote machine in the coming week.

With more substantive answers, Lonegan probably won on debating points.  But debating points don’t win elections. Both candidates were on message and their message was the same…Steve Lonegan is an antagonistic extremist.  At least he was tonight.

If the Lonegan/Shaftan strategy was to gin up their base, I’m sure it worked.  But it probably turned off moderate voters who were leaning towards coming out for Lonegan.  Booker’s money will make sure Lonegan rhetoric gins up his base in the coming week.

Sarah Palin and Mark Levin are coming to New Jersey to campaign for Lonegan at a Tea Party event in New Egypt on Saturday.  If you’re willing to bet on that as a winning strategy for a New Jersey election, you’re probably also willing to bet that the 0-5 Giants will have home field advantage at the Super Bowl in February.

If I were betting on the next Wednesday’s election, I’d take Booker and give 18 points.

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