NJ AFL-CIO Endorses Congressman Chris Smith For Reelection

Congressman Chris Smith was endorsed for reelection by the New Jersey AFL-CIO at the union’s convention in Atlantic City this week.

Over 600 delegates from 1,000 NJ unions—representing more than one million members and their families— voted to endorse Smith.

New Jersey AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech said of the slate that includes Smith, “This year’s endorsed candidates… have the experience and dedication necessary to grow our communities prioritizing education, health care, jobs, infrastructure and investment in our future.”

Smith, the only Republican from New Jersey’s congressional delegation to win the endorsement, addressed the convention delegates on Tuesday morning. Read the rest of this entry »

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Menendez: Trump’s North Korea deal is the “weakest I’ve ever seen”

.@SenatorMenendez on U.S.-North Korea agreement: “This is the weakest statement I have ever seen come out of any engagement with North Korea.” pic.twitter.com/1bcPRvz91u

— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) June 12, 2018

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Tommy G Show this afternoon

MMM publisher Art Gallagher will be Tommy G’s guest on Tuesday afternoon, 4:06 PM, on the best afternoon drive time radio show in New Jersey.

Tommy and Art will be talking Jersey politics…specifically sports betting, the coming budget circus in Trenton and the divisions within the ruling Democratic party that could quite possibly lead to major state government fiscal reforms.  

Tommy’s show is always good for laughs and provocative conversation about local, state and national news.   Tune in!

The Tommy G Show is broadcast Monday through Friday from 3pm – 6pm in Central New Jersey on 1450 AM WCTC, on the Internet by clicking this link , on iHeartRadio, and via the TuneIn app on your smartphone.

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Murphy thanks Feds for FEMA aid without mentioning President Trump

Governor Phil Murphy issued a press release this afternoon in which he thanked the federal government for  disaster aid associated with the March 6 and 7 winter storm that impacted Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic and Somerset counties and kept much of the area in the dark with extended power outages.

Murphy did not mentioned President Donald Trump or FEMA administer Brock Long by name in the release.  Former Governor Chris Christie regularly mentioned President Obama when thanking Washington for disaster assistance.

It was nice of the governor to mention the Republicans in New Jersey’s congressional delegation while thanking them for help with “the Trump Administration.”

Murphy has yet to sign the sport betting bill.

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O’Scanlon: “The Murphy Delay” on sports betting is “a historic blunder”

Senator Declan O’Scanlon called Governor Phil Murphy’s delay of sports betting in New Jersey, “The Murphy Delay,” a policy blunder of historic proportions in a blistering post on facebook this morning:

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O’Scanlon slams Murphy for holding up Monmouth Park sport betting.

Senator Declan O’Scanlon

Senator Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, blasted Governor Phil Murphy and the New Jersey Racing Commission for standing in the way of Monmouth Park from taking sports bets this weekend.

“There are two aspects to the administration’s actions. The first is that they are taking their time to sign the legislation, and the second is that they are standing in the way of Monmouth Park opening while taking that time,” said O’Scanlon said in a press release this afternoon. “The Governor claims he needs to review this legislation before signing it, but there is no practical reason why Monmouth Park cannot start accepting wagers while that’s happening–the sky won’t fall, lions won’t roam the streets, locusts won’t ravage our fields. There is absolutely zero likelihood of any negative impact of Monmouth Park opening today. That being the case, one has to wonder about the motivation here. It’s disturbing.”

“The legislature came together in a bipartisan manner to get this done correctly and quickly. All of that bipartisan effort has been brought to a screeching and frankly irrational halt by the actions of the administration.”

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Snapchat with Governor Murphy

Moments ago Governor Phil Murphy invited the twitterverse to get updated on his behind the scenes activities via Snapchat.

Add me on Snapchat for a behind the scenes look at our state government. pic.twitter.com/CbAZIV3hms

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) June 8, 2018

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Murphy puts the brakes on sports betting at NJ racetracks despite legislature’s green light

Don’t count on placing a bet on the NBA Finals or the Yankees/Mets subway series games this weekend at Monmouth Park.  Governor Phil Murphy has not signed the bill regulating sports betting that passed the legislature unanimously yesterday and the New Jersey Racing Commission, which Murphy controls, warned the state’s three tracks not to take bets before he does, according to a NJ.com report.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the nationwide sports betting ban, except for Nevada, Dennis Drazin of Monmouth Park announced he was prepared to start taking bets at the William Hill Race and Sports Bar on Memorial Day. New Jersey already had a law on the books, and a state constitutional amendment, that allows sports betting, so with the federal ban overturned by SCOTUS, there was no legal barrier to accepting bets.

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400 + Enthusiastic Monmouth Republicans Rally At Bar A

Over 400 Monmouth County Republicans and guests from throughout New Jersey gathered at Bar A in Lake Como on Wednesday night for the 9th Annual Summer Kickoff hosted by Sheriff Shaun Golden, Freeholder Director Tom Arnone and County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon.

U.S Senate nominee Bob Hugin and NJ GOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt were on hand to celebrate Hugin’s decisive victory (and Senator Bob Menendez’s poor performance) in the primary the previous day.

Summer in Monmouth started with a bang at their 9th annual Kickoff to Summer Event. Great to be with you all last night! #SummerNights #NJSen pic.twitter.com/ri07wqfTc9

— Bob Hugin (@BobHugin) June 7, 2018

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Sports Betting Can Commence At Monmouth Park

O’Scanlon Praises Bi-partisan Cooperation

Legal barriers to sports betting at Monmouth Park were removed today thanks to a bi-partisan effort lead by Senator Declan O’Scanlon, according to an announcement by the NJ Senate Republicans.

The legislation to regulate sports betting was amended today to remove a provision which would have barred any entity that takes sports bets in NJ prior to the bill becoming law from getting a sports betting license. The amended bill passed both houses of the legislature and now goes to Governor Phil Murphy for his signature. Concerns were raised earlier this week that Murphy would hold up signing the bill as part of budget negotiations with the legislature.

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