Robin Gurin may be in Kenya, but no matter where she is, the vice chair of the Morris County Democratic Committee wants people to know she is not resigning.

“I did not and will not resign as vice-chair … and I will speak with our (executive) board upon my return Sunday evening,” Gurin said in a message today that began with this line – “Greetings from Kenya.”

On one hand, this shows how swift political news travels these days. Gurin said she’s been in Kenya since April 6 working with a group dedicated to protecting elephants and other endangered animals.

More importantly, Gurin’s emailed message is another distraction for Morris Dems.

On Friday, Chip Robinson, the chair of the county Democratic party, said he was resigning and that he expected the party’s executive board to do the same.

Robinson apparently didn’t reach out to East Africa.

Gurin’s message said, “It was presumptuous and disrespectful of Chip to speak for me and, quite frankly, flat out wrong.”

What happens to the board remains to be seen, but it’s clear county Dems need a new chair.

One name popping up already is Amalia Duarte,  a committee member in Mendham Township. Robinson said in his resignation note that he thinks a woman should replace him.

This, obviously, is a midterm election year and to that end, Tom Malinowski held a campaign event Saturday afternoon at a bar in Mount Olive.

He acknowledged that redistricting has made CD-7 a very, very competitive district. Just how competitive?

Malinowski said recent data says the district in western Jersey is the “median” district for the entire country. In other words, of the 435 districts in the nation, half of them are more Republican than CD-7 and half are more Democratic.

The congressman has had a number of these events around the district and the format is generally the same.

Malinowski says Democrats should talk more about their successes, referring to low unemployment, the passage of the billion dollar-plus infrastructure bill and saving the Affordable Care Act.

But beyond that, he is prone to describe the election as something greater than a clash of well-intentioned ideas.

“This is a fight between democracy and authoritarianism,” Malinowski said as he condemned many Republicans for falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen and for calling Jan. 6 routine political activity.

There are exceptions, of course, one of whom is named Cheney.

Despite their philosophical differences, Malinowski said that he and Liz Cheney are “on the same team” when it comes to embracing American democracy.

Malinowski won reelection in 2020 by about 5,000 votes. But redistricting has given Republicans a slight advantage on the registration rolls.

The congressman said a recent poll was even – both he and likely GOP candidate Tom Kean Jr. were at 46 percent.

He promised that with the pandemic ebbing, his campaign will be out in force knocking on doors throughout the district.

Traveling around GOP terrain in Hunterdon and Warren counties, Malinowski said he saw a good sign.

“I saw more Ukraine flags than Trump flags,” he said.

After a pause, Malinowski added, “It was close.”