Welcome to InsiderNJ’s Year in Advance, where we distill the key coming political narratives, challenges, personalities, and campaigns and elections of 2018.

We’re excited.

If 2017 at times had a moribund quality, the consequence of Governor Chris Christie all but blowing up his party on his way out of office and a gubernatorial contest that looked over before it started, 2018 intrigues. The tenure of President Donald J. Trump has enlivened progressives, who want to send a message nationwide by weakening Republicans in federal contests. We have outlined the key races to watch in the pages that follow. We have also noted those collisions at the local level, in a year defined by several very interesting contests, starting with Paterson, Bayonne and Newark. Paterson, in particular, entices, because no clear favorite defines the early terrain. Scene of a 2017 corruption-bagged former Mayor Jose “Joey’ Torres, Paterson collects 52 languages and multiple ethnic groups, and no clear organizations that translate to automatic citywide wins…

Download Insider NJ’s 2018 Advance publication.