Loretta Weinberg is retired – but not really.

Weinberg just taped an ad condemning Senator Ed Durr, or if you prefer, Ed the Trucker, for his social media posts about abortion.

Durr, who became a conservative hero in 2021 when he beat then Senate President Steve Sweeney, is now embroiled in a nasty, and presumably, tough reelection battle with Democrat John Burzichelli, who himself was beaten two years ago as an assemblyman.

This is LD-3 covering Salem and parts of Cumberland and Gloucester counties.

In the ad, Weinberg says:

“I was thirteen when I was sexually assaulted.  My legs were closed, but I had no choice.  Senator Ed Durr tells women how to behave?  Durr even endorsed the idea of spaying women like dogs.  Shame on you, Ed Durr.  My generation fought for Roe v Wade.  Now men like Ed Durr want to turn back the clock?  We won’t give them that power.”

The reference was to a social media post in his pre-Senate days in which Durr said a woman’s choice is keeping her legs closed.

Republicans say they’re on the offense this year, but in this stretch of south Jersey along the Delaware, they’re playing defense.

While Weinberg is a major figure in New Jersey politics, many average folk probably don’t know who she is, especially those living in the opposite end of the state from Weinberg’s home county of Bergen.

That’s irrelevant.

The point here is the message of rights and respect for women, no matter who’s giving it.

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In LD-16, which ranges over parts of four counties – Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset – Republican Senate candidate Michael Pappas is getting some help from Tom Kean Jr.

The CD-7 congressman, who has been preoccupied of late voting for a Speaker, is scheduled to be the special guest at a Pappas fundraiser this Saturday in Branchburg.

Pappas, a former congressman himself, is trying to oust incumbent Democrat Andrew Zwicker after failing to do so two years ago.

Kean’s scheduled appearance has drawn criticism from some on the left, most notably Sue Altman who is seeking the district’s Democratic congressional nomination. She points out that Pappas is strongly anti-abortion, so why is Kean, a professed moderate, helping him raise money?

That, of course, is an issue for next year

As for this year, the Kean-Pappas event is closed to the press. No surprise there.

* * *’

Bill Spadea, the radio host and possible 2025 gubernatorial candidate, is working hard to elect conservatives to school boards this year.

This right-wing goal in some cases supersedes a desire to win seats in the state Legislature. The not-so-crazy thinking, apparently, is to influence the young.

Tonight, Wednesday, Spadea is scheduled to appear at a “Meet and Greet” for a three-person school board slate in Roxbury, Morris County, that is stressing “back to basics.”

The venue for this soiree is a pub in Mount Arlington, a town that sends its high school students to Roxbury High.

The Spadea-backed slate is running against a three-person group sporting the label, Kids 1st!

A backdrop to the school board race is a pending suit by the high school librarian against four residents. The librarian says the residents defamed her during a battle over books in the library.

Spadea’s conservative credentials, notwithstanding, he’s not a fan of the Morris County Republican Committee, and that feeling is mutual.

The radio host last June campaigned and endorsed candidates running “off-line” in the GOP primary. They all lost.

That may not be the best omen for the “back to basics” slate.