2022 Battleground: CD-7 and CD-11 Chatter
MOUNT OLIVE – “Don’t forget where we came from.”
That’s what Tom Malinowski told about 100 supporters gathered Sunday afternoon at the township’s Turkey Brook Park.
He was talking about internal Democratic politics and the new map.
It was Democrats who won the map battle last December, but that win didn’t do Malinowski much good. In fact, it made his Seventh District more Republican, leading to speculation Dems were willing to sacrifice Malinowski in order to bolster Democratic chances in CD-5 and CD-11.
That didn’t stop Malinowski, which is the point he wanted to make.
Helped by what he said has been a massive volunteer turnout, CD-7 is now seen as a bellwether district nationally. The Malinowski camp says its polling shows the race to be tied, which may not sound all that good for an incumbent. Then again, there are about 17,000 more Republicans in the district than Democrats and even under the old map in 2020, Malinowski only won by about 5,000 voters.
Thomas H. Kean Jr., – his opponent in 2020 and again this year – is getting some national attention, which reinforces both the importance and the closeness of the race.
Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the National Republican Committee, is scheduled to highlight a rally for Kean this coming Saturday at the Belvidere, Warren County, American Legion Hall.
Kean hasn’t had many public events. It’s debatable, however, if that means anything to voters.
Malinowski hopes it does,
He said Sunday that “people keep reading about how he’s hiding and not answering questions. That doesn’t win you respect with anybody.”
Meanwhile, over in CD-11, SALT is on the table.
Of at least the $10,000 SALT cap. .
Recall that the $10,000 federal tax deduction cap on state and local taxes was part of the Trump tax reform package in 2017. It hurt residents in New Jersey – the land of high property taxes – more than just about any other state.
Democrats ran against the cap in 2018 with much success, but it’s now four years later and the $10,000 cap is still around. There are reasons for that, with the main one being many in Washington are not inclined to help a wealthy state like New Jersey.
Nonetheless, Republican candidates for the House this year have understandably blasted incumbent Democrats for failing to repeal the cap.
Which brings us to one of those Dems – Mikie Sherrill in CD-11.
Rather than ignore the issue, Sherrill has a campaign ad about SALT, thereby displaying creativity plus a bit of chutzpah.
It says that her GOP opponent, Paul DeGroot, wants to join the same Republican caucus that instituted the $10,000 cap in the first place.
Fair point.
Yet, DeGroot has opposed the SALT cap since the campaign began.
The ad faults DeGroot for criticizing the Inflation Reduction Act, which, among other things, strives to lower drug prices. That’s also a fair point,
However, that bill, most infamously, did not include eliminating the SALT cap.
With regard to Tom Kean, Jr. there has been a lot of hand-wringing by our Leftist-Communist press in NJ that he won’t talk to them. I wouldn’t talk to the NJ press either, even if I was running for dogcatcher. They provide nothing of substance other than nicely-worded personal ad hominem attacks on Republicans and Conservatives. The NJ Press, headed by the Left-wing Star-Ledger is pro-Democrat/pro-Communist. People like the Ledger’s Tom Moron say Kean, Jr. won’t talk to him. Why should he? Moran will twist his words and play to the Democrat-Socialist Party.
As for Mikie Sherrill, let’s not forget she voted 100% with Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats to pass a wasteful, pork-filled Inflation Reduction Act (more aptly, the Inflation Expansion Act). Sherrill continually whines about the SALT deduction cap. That issue is a non-starter because as the article above states that those in Washington are not inclined to help a wealthy state like New Jersey. Trump saw what was going on in NJ (he does have a Bedminster address) and got the SALT limited to $10,000 deductions. It’s because New Jersey’s property taxes are the highest in the Nation, and it’s time for the Democrat-controlled NJ Legislature to start cutting the property taxes at least by 50-75% as they’ve promised New Jerseyans for decades. The Democrats have lied about reducing property taxes in order to get elected, but when they get elected or re-elected, they ignore the pleas to lower property taxes because the Democrats are linked to the New Jersey Education Association Special Interest Group, and are beholden to allow education taxes that are linked to property taxes to keep rising in order to placate the Teachers’ Union.
It’s time for the Legislature to placate property taxpayers. We are, indeed, the biggest special interest group in NJ. Time for the Democrats to make it right, or step aside or get beaten.