WHO’S UP

Michael Testa, Jr.

The Republican Senator from LD1 arrived in Trenton this week amid well wishes from people in both parties and riding considerable goodwill in his home district and statewide to his formal swearing-in ceremony.

Sandra Cunningham

Up against considerable opposition from special interests, the Democratic senator from Jersey City (pictured, above left, with Idida Rodriguez) managed to get her colleagues behind her to support the Liberty State Park Protection bill she co-prime sponsored with Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-37) and moved out of the Senate Budget Committee.

Sam Pesin

The leader of the Friends of Liberty State Park went to the State Capitol to stand with enviros in defense of the Liberty State Park Protection Bill, which the Senate Budget Committee moved Thursday behind Cunningham’s leadership.

Bob Smith

Just as Cunningham stared down opposition to her environmentally-friendly Liberty Park bill, the veteran chairman of the Senate Environmental Committee pressed down to get the Budget Committee to pass his platistic bag ban bill.

Mike Pappas

The former 12th District Republican Congressman resurfaced this week as Bridgewater Mayor-elect Matt Moench’s choice to serve as the business administrator of the sprawling Somerset County town.

M. Teresa Ruiz

In the face of a late push by Budget Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-36), the veteran Senator from Newark got Cunningham’s back on the Liberty State Park bill.

WHO’S DOWN

Independent Contractors

Writers, truckers, wedding photographers, and others who piece together work out from different sources attempted to stop Senate President Steve Sweeney’s (D-3) controversial S-4204 in the senate Labor Committee, but failed. All is not lost for their cause, however, as both Senator Linda Greenstein (D-14) and senator Joe Lagana (D-38) indicated misgivings about the bill. Her “yes” vote in committee won’t necessarily mean an “aye” on the floor, Greenstein said.

Adrienne Brown

The state Attorney General did not find her guilty, but in a preliminary look-see of the housing discrimination case found probable cause that the landlord rejected the rental application of prospective tenant Timothy Jenkins in December 2016 following a six-day series of email exchanges involving Brown, Brown’s real estate agent and would-be tenant Jenkins. The emails involved negotiations over Jenkins’ prospective rental of a Morristown property owned by Brown. One of the sticking points was Jenkins’ refusal to sign a lease addendum which, among other terms, barred children from occupying the rental unit. Brown’s own agent told Brown she would not sign the addendum, which would violate New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) by seeking to bar children.

Tiffany Kaszuba

The promising 3rd Congressional District candidate exited the Democratic Primary this week, leaving behind a field of hopefuls angling to take on U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4), which includes former state department offficial Stephanie Schmid and tavern owner Jim Keady.

Kamala Harris

Once seen as a fearsome candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, the California Senator spiraled out of the contest this week amid reports about lack of fundraising and campaign staff upheaval.

Bill de Blasio

A New York City Inspector General’s investigation of the city’s efforts to combat homelessness revealed the following: “Because of a lack of proper oversight and poorly designed paperwork, our investigation showed some SOTA families placed in housing outside of New York City were living in squalor under the roofs of unscrupulous landlords, who collected tens of thousands of dollars in rental payments upfront from the City to provide these subpar conditions with little risk of accountability for their actions.” News about New York shipping its homeless population to Newark prompted Mayor Ras Baraka to sue de Blasio.

Democrats at War with Themselves

According to a report filed by the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), “Republicans made gains this year despite the fact that Democratic candidates spent three times more statewide on the general election- $14.2 million versus $4.8 million. Democrats finished the race with $3.5 million that it can carry into future elections. Republicans reported $848,524 still in their tills.”