In seven weeks New Jersey voters will have the opportunity to elect an entirely new state legislature.
Patrick Murray’s Monmouth University/Neptune Nudniks poll conducted in August indicates that New Jersey voters disapprove of their legislature by a 48%-35% margin. Democrats disapprove by 45%-38%. Independents, the majority, disapprove by a whopping 50%-28%. Surprisingly, Republicans approve of the legislature by a 45%-41% margin. Public workers disapprove by 55%-26%.
Based solely on those poll results, one might expect that we’d be in the middle of a spirited campaign with Democrats and public workers rallying to throw the Republicans out of office. Obviously that is not the case. Democrats control the legislature that their base and Independents disapprove of strongly.
Due to Dr. Alan Rosenthal’s decision that New Jersey voters are better off being continuously represented by legislators they don’t know, there are only a handful of competitive legislative races. The Democrats will continue to control the legislature for the next two years. Probably the next ten years.
13th Legislative District
This district keeps the Bayshore towns of Aberdeen, Hazlet, Holmdel, Keansburg, Keyport, Middletown, and Union Beach 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.
The Republican incumbents are Senator Joe Kyrillos and Assembly Members Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon. O’Scanlon previously represented the old 12th.
On paper this should be a competitive district. Democrats actually have a voter registration edge. According to Labels and Lists Inc there are 34,193 registered Democrats, 33,758 registered Republicans and 74,492 unaffiliated (Independent) voters in the district.
Despite the slight registration edge for Democrats, the district generally votes Republican. John McCain won the district in 2008, Chris Christie beat Jon Corzine here by a wide margin, and Anna Little beat Frank Pallone here in 2010.
Of the 16 municipalities in the 13th, 9 of the are comfortably controlled by Republicans. 6 are competitive towns with a local governing body that shifts from R to D on occasion. Aberdeen is the only reliably Democratic town on the municpal level.
With 31% of the registered voters in the district, Middletown dominates. Even though their registration edge is less than 2000 voters, Republicans dominate Middletown. Middletown voters love their hometown office holders, Joe Kyrillos and Amy Handlin who they have elected time after time over the last two decades plus; Kyrillos served two terms in the Assembly from 1988 through 1991 and has been a Senator since 1992. Handlin was a Monmouth County Freeholder from 1990 through 2006 when she entered the Assembly.
Roughly 73% of the district is new for O’Scanlon. Yet, that 27% from his old district, Fair Haven, Little Silver, Oceanport and Marlboro knows O’Scanlon well. They elected him to two terms in the Assembly after he lost to Michael Panter by only 73 votes in 2005.
The Democrats are running two former Hazlet mayors and a former Middletown township committee member.
Christopher Cullen is the former Hazlet Mayor challenging Kyrillos for Senate. Cullen, who served one term on the Hazlet Township Committee, won the nomination for Senate as a write-in candidate in the primary after failing to submit his petitions after being tabbed at the nominating convention in the spring. He is the director of facilities maintenance and custodial services at MAST High School. He is a member of Operating Engineers Local 68 and was previously a member of the teamsters.
Hazlet’s Community Center is named for Cullen’s father, James J. Cullen, who served the community for many years as a Republican office holder.
Both Democratic Assembly candidates won their first municipal elections in the wake of Operation Bid Rig. Lavan was elected to the Hazlet Township Committee in 2005 and served through 2010 when he lost his reelection bid. Like Cullen, his union roots are deep. He has been a member of the International Longshoreman’s Association for 46 years. He is making his support of unions, and the Right to Work legislation that Handlin and O’Scanlon have sponsored, the center piece of his campaign.
Short, a former Republican and a West Point graduate was the first Democrat elected to the Middletown Township Committee in 2006 in the wake of Bid Rig. He was swept out of office with Jon Corzine in 2009 as Chris Christie and the GOP swept Middletownoverwhelmingly. Short was ambivalent about seeking a second term, but ultimately ignored MMM’s advise that he take the plaque.
Based on the early inactivity of the campaign, I was wondering if the feisty Constitution Party slate of Steve Boracchia for Senate, Bill Lawton and Frank Cottone might actually garner more votes than the Democrats in this race. However, a volunteer from the Democratic campaign reached out to me to optimistic declare that the Democrats will produce a shocking victory on election day. The volunteer said that Cullen, Lavan and Short are going in 20 different directions knocking on doors and that they are marshalling their scare resources for a last minute sprint into office.
While the 13th districts candidates don’t have the state Democratic support that the 11th district candidates have enjoyed….a paid staff and high profile fund raisers hosted by Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Senate President Stephen Sweeney…the volunteer said that the campaign is expecting an influx of union money and that Assembly Majority Leader Joe Cryan is coming to the district next week to raise money for the slate.
Political newcomer Ian Linker, the only declared candidate for the GOP nomination to challenge Senator Robert Menendez in 2012, terminated his candidacy due to his wife’s health.
In a statement posted on the Ridgewood Blog this evening, Linker said:
I launched my campaign for the U.S. Senate because America is on an unsustainable course. And for the future of our country I could not sit idly by and allow politicians to destroy the last best hope for freedom on earth. Without bold, principled leadership in Washington, America could become, in the not-to-distant future, a second-rate power along the lines of a half dozen European countries now facing severe crises. Career politicians more concerned about their own reelection have failed to solve our problems and have in many cases actually caused them. They have brought America to the brink.
My family inspired me to run for the U.S. Senate. Now, I must exit this race for them as well.
About eight years ago my wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Over the years, her illness has been relatively under control until very recently when it began to rapidly progress. I have been dedicating as much time as possible to my family, which has been to the detriment of my campaign. My family must be my priority and to run an effective U.S. Senate campaign I would be neglecting my duties as a father and as a husband given my wife’s current condition. With two young children at home, I have a moral obligation to take care of my family before anything else and must put off running for political office at this time.
I hope, and pray, that Republicans in New Jersey nominate a principled conservative for the U.S. Senate in 2012 who cares about making a positive difference for our future. I would look forward to supporting this individual to the fullest extent possible.
I want to thank all the wonderful folks who supported me during my brief campaign and I look forward to seeing and working with you all in the future
State Senator Joe Kyrillos, a potential candidate for the NJ GOP 2012 U.S. Senate nomination said, ” I had a nice lunch with Ian over the summer and found him to be a bright and good man. I am sorry to hear about his wife’s condition.”
Kyrillos and Handlin Appeal For Monmouth County Relief
Governor Chris Christie requested that President Obama declare all of New Jersey eligible for federal disaster relief as a result of Hurricane Irene. Obama responded by declaring a “major” disaster in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic and Somerset counties.
Individuals affected by Hurricane Irene in those counties are eligible for grants and loans to cover temporary housing, home repairs, and other programs for individuals and businesses.
Governments and non-profits in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties can apply for cost sharing funding to repair or replace facilities damages by Irene.
Federal funding is available for hazard mitigation throughout the state.
FEMA said that damage assessments would continue throughout New Jersey and that other counties could become eligible for federal relief as the surveys are completed.
Senator Joe Kyrillos and Assemblywoman Amy Handlin both dispatched letters to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate urging that Monmouth County be added to the list of New Jersey counties eligble for federal funding.
“Last weekend’s storm wreaked havoc on the entire state, including Monmouth County, causing power outages, sever flooding and extensive property damage,” Kyrillos stated. “Public infrastructure such as roads and bridges were closed for days, families and businesses were without power and the extensive damage to trees, buildings and power lines will be a huge cost to the public. We need the same federal assistance that other New Jersey counties are receiving.
Published reports indicated that Monmouth Countysheltered 2,200 people in the Colts Neck, Holmdel and Wall high schools, and provided 4,500 meals. Governor Christie has also called on the President to declare that a major disaster area exists statewide in order to provide federal financial assistance to governments, residents and businesses.
“I urge in the strongest possible terms that the Administrator of FEMA add Monmouth County to the list of New Jersey’s disaster areas,” Kyrillos continued. “This is an accurate designation given what residents, business owners and municipalities endured during this devastating storm.”
“Hurricane Irene’s damage was not limited to five counties in New Jersey,” Handlin, R-Monmouth, said. “Communities in Monmouth County suffered extensive damage to their roads and infrastructure. And, it has been quite costly to area residents and businesses who have gone several days without power.”
County roads also sustained major damage, including a sinkhole on Hubbard Avenue in Middletown that took out a portion of the southbound lane near the Shadow Lake dam.
Governor Christie requested a federal disaster declaration for the entire state on Tuesday and on Wednesday President Obama approved the declaration, and relief, for Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic and Somerset counties.
“Governor Christie has shown tremendous leadership throughout this catastrophe and the federal government has been willing to work with New Jersey as we recover,” Handlin said. “Federal officials have indicated they could include more counties in the disaster declaration and I urge them to add Monmouth County because our local communities cannot fix the damage inflicted by Hurricane Irene on their own.”
This website consolidates the application process across several Federal agencies, including FEMA and the Small Business Administration. The website also reduces the number of forms you will ultimately have to fill out, shortens the time it takes to apply and allows you to check the progress of your applications online.
If you want to apply by phone rather than the Internet, you can call 1-800-621-FEMA (1-800-621-3362).
Ian Linker is the only declared candidate for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate race against Senator Robert Menendez next year. If Linker gets enough signatures to get on the primary ballot he is likely to face State Senators Joe Kyrillos and Mike Doherty in a race for the nomination. Former Roxbury Mayor Tim Smith is also acting like a potential candidate.
We had a good conversation with Ian, challenging him on why he is starting his political career at such a high level and on his fund raising ability. I’ll say this for Linker, the $3950 he’s raised so far is more money than Anna Little has raised in her fledgling quest for a rematch against Frank Pallone.
I don’t believe that Linker has a remote chance to be the nominee, and I told him so. I even bet him dinner at any restaurant in the country, including travel expenses, that he would not win the party line from any county in the state for the primary. He took the bet (after the show via facebook), which proves to me he’s gotten in over his head. I’m looking forward to dinner at Latitudes in Sunset Key on Linker.
Yet, I give Ian a great deal of credit for entering the arena and fighting to make a difference. I hope his passion survives the ordeal he has chosen.
Listen to the first half hour of the show. Maybe I’m wrong about Linker.
During the second half hour Oceanport Councilman Joe Irace joined us with an enlightening and informative conservation that included comments on the utter lack of representation Monmouth County gets in the House of Representation from Frank Pallone and Rush Holt, the difference Irace and his colleagues on the Oceanport governing body were able to make, with the help of Senator Jennifer Beck, regarding the establishment of the Fort Monmouth Redevelopment Authority, and the predicament New Jersey’s Horse Racing Industry and Monmouth Park in particular face in these challenging economic times.
Irace makes a compelling case for VLT’s, slots, in the Meadowlands.
Enjoy the show.
Next week, Tuesday the 30th between 5PM and 6PM, our guest will be political strategist Mike DuHaime. DuHaime is to Governor Christie as Karl Rove was to President George W. Bush and David Axlerod is to President Barack Obama.
We’ll be talking about the 2012 presidential race. You won’t want to miss that show which will be broadcast on WIFI AM 1460 and on the Internet here.
The LaRossa and Gallagher: Real Jersey Guys On The Radio Show featuring former Senator Dick LaRossa and Art Gallagher is sponsored by Repatriot Radio.
The once mighty New Jersey Education Association announced their endorsements for the upcoming legislative elections over the weekend. All 120 seats in the State Legislature are up for grabs this November. 40 Senate seats and 80 Assembly seats. The NJEA only endorsed 68 candidates. 66 Democrats and 2 Republicans.
In many districts the teachers’ union did not endorse for all three offices, 1 Senator and 2 Assembly Members. In 11 out of 40 districts they announced they were not endorsing any candidate.
But in the 13th legislative district their endorsements are “pending screening.”
The new 13th is comprised of northeastern Monmouth County; the bayshore towns from Aberdeen east to Highlands, the Two River towns of Rumson, Fair Haven, Little Silver and Oceanport, and the coastal towns of Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach, and Marlboro.
No one would expect the NJEA to endorse the Republicans, Senator Joe Kyrillos, Assemblywoman Amy Handlin and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon. Why wouldn’t the Democrats screen? If the the screening in “pending” as the NJEA says, why didn’t the 13th district Democrats screen before the rest of the endorsements were announced?
NJEA endorsements come with lots of money and organizational support. Pending the pending screening and the pending endorsement or lack thereof, the LD 13 Democrats are raising money and support with a comedy night next week in Keasnburg.
I imagine the night going like this:
Funny Master of Ceremonies: “Thank you all for coming out tonight. We’re here to help Chris Cullen defeat Joe Kyrillos and to help Kevin Laven and Patrick Short defeat Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon.”
Middletown– Senator Joe Kyrillos, co-prime sponsor of the original legislation establishing New Jersey’s landmark Environmental Infrastructure Trust (EIT), is pleased to announce that special financing for the cleanup of Middletown’s Shadow Lake has been signed into law by Governor Christie this afternoon:
“The Environmental Infrastructure trust was created to help communities finance costly remediation projects just like Shadow Lake in order to improve and preserve our state’s natural treasures,” said Kyrillos. “The remediation of Shadow Lake is a project has been in the making for more than a decade. Thanks to the bill signed today authorizing the latest round of EIT financing, the residents in and around Shadow Lake and Middletown will secure the necessary resources to begin its cleanup. Middletown Township will use $2.7 million in low-interest loans to dredge the lake and deposit the spoil in a licensed facility approved by the DEP. I look forward to working together to ensure that this project is completed.”
The primary election for the Republican nomination for United States Senate in 2012 now appears to be a contest between two members of the New Jersey State Senate, Joe Kyrillos of Monmouth County and Mike Doherty of Warren County. Kyrillos served in the State Assembly from 1988 until 1991 and in the state senate since then. Doherty served in the State Assembly from 2002 until 2009 and in the State Senate from 2009 until the present.The contest has been depicted in the media and in some political quarters as a race between a conservative Doherty and a moderate Kyrillos. This is, however, a most inaccurate portrayal.
Joe Kyrillos is a solid Reaganite conservative. By contrast, Mike Doherty is a Ron Paul conservative. Doherty supported Ron Paul for President in the 2008 election.
Senator Doherty has emphasized as his defining conservative issue his Fair School Funding plan, which he has introduced in the State Senate in the form of a bill. Under this legislation, each school district would receive state aid based upon a per pupil amount, multiplied by the number of its students.
The Doherty plan would clearly be held to be unconstitutional by the New Jersey Supreme Court. Under its Abbott v. Burke line of cases, the court has shifted a disproportionate amount of state aid from suburban districts to the state urban “special needs” districts. Senator Doherty’s legislation is effective in making a point, but ineffective in making change.
By contrast, in 1992, Senator Kyrillos proposed a constitutional amendment which would have been far more effective in preserving suburban state school aid. This measure would have effectively superseded Abbott v. Burke and limited the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Supreme Court to intervene in state school funding matters.
Specifically, the Kyrillos amendment would have prohibited the New Jersey Supreme Court from requiring that any school district be funded in an amount in excess of 120 percent of the state per pupil average. The amendment was considered at a joint Assembly-Senate public hearing in July, 1992.
The liberal media in New Jersey harshly criticized the Kyrillos amendment as having an anti-minority impact. At the public hearing, urban school officials and activists denounced the amendment as racist. In the face of these attacks, the amendment failed to get the necessary support of 24 Senators and 48 Assembly members for placement on the November, 1992 ballot.
In sponsoring and advocating this amendment however, Joe Kyrillos demonstrated both his judicial conservatism and political courage. In the election of that same year of 1992, Kyrillos ran against incumbent Frank Pallone for the U.S. House of Representatives. Yet he still sponsored the amendment, refusing to sacrifice his judicial conservatism as an expediency of the election.
The judicial conservatism of Joe Kyrillos was also much in evidence on November 14, 2006. On that day, he was the only member of the State Senate to vote against granting tenure to New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Jaynee LaVecchia.
Earlier in 2011, Justice LaVecchia issued the court opinion requiring the state to give the urban 31 districts an additional $500 million. In assessing the Kyrillos vote on Justice LaVecchia’s tenure back in 2006, one must understand that he would oppose the granting of tenure to any justice he perceived to be legislating from the bench rather than strictly interpreting the law.
Joe Kyrillos has a connection to the presidency of Ronald Reagan deeper than that of any other current elected official in New Jersey. He began his career as a special assistant to the then Secretary of the Interior Don Hodel during the second term of the Reagan administration.
After the completion of the Reagan administration, Hodel later served as president of the Christian Coalition from 1997 until 1999 and as president of Focus on the Family from 2003 until 2005. The social conservatism of his mentor, Don Hodel influenced Joe Kyrillos as well. It was much in evidence during the second term of the Whitman administration, when Kyrillos sponsored a constitutional amendment banning all third trimester abortions.
The tax reduction and pro-business ideology of Ronald Reagan has constituted the core of the conservative, free market philosophy of Senator Joe Kyrillos. He was a leading advocate of the Whitman income tax cuts. Most significantly, Kyrillos made history by his authorship and sponsorship of the New Jersey Business Employment Incentive Program, which gives rebates to companies who create a substantial number of new jobs.
Kyrillos also demonstrates his appreciation of the Reagan style by his effectiveness in securing the passage of legislation. While he is loyal to his conservative principles, he works well with senators of different political parties and divergent ideologies. Joe Kyrillos has demonstrated the ability to not only talk conservative change, but make it as well.
In writing this column, I do not mean to imply in any way that Mike Doherty is not a conservative. I simply want to correct any misperceptions about Joe Kyrillos. Far from being a moderate, he is the ultimate Reaganite conservative.
I must make a full disclosure, however. Joe Kyrillos is a good friend of mine. That is something of which I am most proud.
Alan J. Steinberg served as Regional Administrator of Region 2 EPA during the administration of former President George W. Bush. Region 2 EPA consists of the states of New York and New Jersey, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and eight federally recognized Indian nations. Under former New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman, he served as Executive Director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission. He currently serves on the political science faculty of Monmouth University.
…and special guests Senator Joe Kyrillos and Congressman Chris Smith
Despite some technical difficulties and a shortage of phone lines (sorry if you tried to call in and got a busy signal) we managed to have an informative and entertaining show.
Thanks to Mike Halfacre who kept the show going when I got flustered with the technical glitches.
For those who missed the live show or would like to hear it again, here is a recording:
Highlights: Kyrillos referring to a Chris Christie presidential candidacy as “when” not “if” (though it won’t be in 2012) and Smith speaking about the budget negotiations going on in Washington as a fiscal conservative, overriding his reputation as a fiscal moderate.
Congressman Chris Smith’s office just confirmed that Smith will be calling into the LaRossa and Gallagher: Read Jersey Guys On The Radio this afternoon.
Senator Joe Kyrillos, the dean of the Monmouth County legislative delegation, Governor Chris Christie’s confidant, and a possible U.S. Senate candidate will also be our guest.
You can call in too at 609-447-0236.
The House will be voting on the Cut, Cap and Balance Act this afternoon. Smith wants our listeners to understand if he has to get off the show suddenly to vote.
Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre will be the guest co-host today, as former Senator Richard LaRossa is undergoing a minor medical procedure.
Majority’s Rhetoric Ignores Increased Funding for Vulnerable New Jerseyans
Trenton– At the close of Day Two of the Senate Majority’s attempt to hoodwink New Jersey taxpayers ahead of the November elections, Senator Joe Kyrillos (R- Monmouth/Middlesex) said that only to a Trenton Democrat could funding increases in key programs for vulnerable and needy New Jerseyans constitute “cruel” funding reductions:
Democrats still have not given us a source of funding for all of the added spending they’ve voted on in the last two days that doesn’t require taxpayers to close their eyes and make believe.
After all, it’s far more effective on the campaign trail for the Democrats to make outlandish promises the taxpayers cannot possibly keep, pass a budget that is nearly $1 billion in the red, and then all anyone who dare be responsible and support balancing that budget cruel and mean-spirited.
Despite having to clean up the Democrats’ mess, Governor Christie increased funding over Governor Corzine’s last budget for schools by $804 million, Medicaid by $982 million, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families by $47 million, hospitals by $31 million, senior property tax relief by $58 million, adoption subsidies by $16 million, and the list goes on and on.
The only people who put funding for those in need in jeopardy were the members of the Majority by supporting a budget that spent hundreds of millions of dollars more than the state takes in. A fantasy budget that promises the world but cannot deliver is the cruelest act of all.
