photo courtesy of NJ Chamber of Commerce via facebook
In his keynote address to leaders of New Jersey’s business community and government at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s annual Congressional Diner in Washington, Congressman Chris Smith acknowledged his audience’s efforts in job creation and in combating the coronavirus outbreak before challenging the leaders to step up their efforts to combat human trafficking and to increase the civility of the political discourse in New Jersey and nationwide.
Smith’s remarks as prepared for delivery are below :
Governor Phil Murphy has a tumor on his left kidney and will have a partial nephrectomy in early March.
The governor announced his condition on twitter:
Friends – I’ve got a tumor on my left kidney and will undergo a partial nephrectomy in early March to remove it. The prognosis is very good and I’m profoundly grateful to my doctors for detecting the tumor early.
The pre-primary for the GOP nomination CD-3 has gotten ugly. Rightfully so.
David Richter, the former international construction executive who is vying for the 3rd district GOP nomination to take on Congressman Andy Kim, released an ad on facebook and youtube this afternoon that highlights his opponents’s arrest record and compares her, Kate Gibbs, to Snooki. The ad is hard hitting. Just like Andy Kim’s ads will be in October if Gibbs wins the primary on June 2.
Could Mike Bloomberg possibly be supporting Cory Booker’s opponent in the Democrat primary for U.S. Senate?
Larry Hamm, a civil rights activist from Newark, is challenging Booker in the June 2 primary. Hamm is also leading Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign in New Jersey. He does not have much nice to say about Bloomberg. Read the rest of this entry »
Statue of Gen. Philip Kearny in U.S. Captitol Hall National Statutory Hall. photo via Architect of the Capitol.
Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger (R-13) is not happy that Democrats in the New Jersey Senate passed legislation this week that could lead to replacing the statute of General Philip Kearny in the U.S. Capitol with a marble or bronze likeness of Alice Paul, a 20th century leader of the women’s suffrage movement which led to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Kearny’s monument has been in the Capitol since 1888. Each state has two statues. The other New Jersey statute is of Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the namesake of Stockton University. Read the rest of this entry »
Legislation sponsored by Senator Declan O’Scanlon that would allow senior citizens to continue to enjoy their “senior freeze” benefit if they downsize to a smaller home was advanced by the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee today.
“The Senior Freeze provides needed property tax relief for older homeowners, including many who are struggling to make ends meet on fixed incomes,” said O’Scanlon (R-13). “While the majority of senior citizens live in one- or two-person households, only a small percentage of them reap the savings provided by selling their family home and downsizing.
“This measure will ensure if an eligible homeowner does move to a smaller, more affordable home, it will not jeopardize their reimbursement,” O’Scanlon explained. Read the rest of this entry »
The U.S. Justice Department sued the State of New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy and NJ Attorney General Gurbir Grewal yesterday, seeking to halt the elements of Grewal’s Immigrant Trust Directive which 1) prohibit law enforcement officers from honoring ICE detention requests on illegal aliens in custody for other crimes and 2) require law enforcement officers to give those aliens written notice in their native language that ICE is looking for them.
“Jurisdictions that adopt sanctuary policies and instead release these criminals put all of Americans in harm’s way,” President Donald Trump said during remarks to the National Governors Association on Monday according to The Washington Post. “I know we have different policies, different feelings, different everything. But sanctuary cities are causing us a tremendous problem in this country. We have stone-cold killers that they don’t want to hand over to us and then they escape into communities and they cause, in some cases, tremendous havoc.” Read the rest of this entry »
Stephanie Schmid, the apparent establishment Democrat choice to run against Congressman Chris Smith, told a candidates forum sponsored by the Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative that she her nationwide cortege of ex-boyfriends are funding her congressional campaign. She implied that one of her opponents for the Democrat nomination in CD-4 is tapping her own exes for campaign cash as well.
Schmid was responding to her opponent, Christine Marie Conforti, informing the audience that 85% of Schmid’s donations over $1000 came from donors who do not live in New Jersey. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr. Rikin Mehta was endorsed by the Monmouth County Republican Committee for the GOP nomination to unseat Senator Cory Booker this morning at the committee’s annual nominating convention at iPlayAmerica in Freehold Township.
Mehta bested Natalie Rivera and Hirsh Singh, earning 56% (128) of the 230 votes cast. Rivera won the support of 32% (74) of the delegates and Singh 12% (28). 12 delegates present did not cast a vote in the U.S. Senate contest, according to parliamentarian John Lane.
The pharmaceutical entrepreneur/regulator and attorney is undefeated in County GOP contests after also winning Burlington County’s endorsement this morning. He has previously won the endorsements to the Union, Somerset, Hunterdon and Camden GOP organizations.
Facebook has shut down the controversial page Rise Up Ocean County, one the the page administrators confirmed.
The page which has a history of opposing development in Ocean County and of ridiculing the Orthodox Jewish community has been condemned as anti-Semitic by the Ocean County Board of Freeholders, Governor Phil Murphy Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and U.S. Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan S. Carr.
The U.S. Justice Department 
Dr. Rikin Mehta was endorsed by the Monmouth County Republican Committee for the GOP nomination to unseat Senator Cory Booker this morning at the committee’s annual nominating convention at iPlayAmerica in Freehold Township.