Who’s Up and Who’s Down: Week of May 2nd
WHO’S UP
Ras Baraka
The Mayor of Newark heads into Tuesday’s reelection in a strong position to with a third term in office, as demonstrated this week by a Paterson fundraiser in which Baraka teased a 2025 guv run.
Terry Schuster
Governor Phil Murphy this week announced that he intends to appoint Schuster (former manager for The Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) Public Safety Performance Project) as the head of the New Jersey Office of the Corrections Ombudsperson.
Passaic Democrats
The Passaic County Democratic Committee has the most cash on hand of any party organization in the state, according to statistics released this week by the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). They’ll likely need it this year with the party preparing for midterm backlash against President Joe Biden.
Frank Pallotta
Schneiderman’s drop out of the CD-5 Republican Primary gives Pallotta a stronger edge as the alternative to frontrunner Nick De Gregorio.
Mike Crispi
Like Pallotta, the CD-4 Republican now faces the preferable prospect of a two-man primary with the drop out of Mike Blasi.
WHO’S DOWN
Paul Kennedy
Already facing charges of official misconduct and theft, Ocean Gate Mayor Kennedy now faces three more charges in connection with allegedly stealing money that supporters contributed to his re-election campaign as well as arranging for county workers to perform construction work at his home while they were on the clock.
Fred Schneiderman
He once thought he was the only 5th District Republican who could beat incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer. This week he dropped out of the race.
Dupre “DoItAll” Kelly
What happened to $13,400 from the rap star’s 2018 at-large council campaign has become an issue in this year’s May 10 municipal election in which Kelly is the West Ward council candidate running on Mayor Ras Baraka’s slate in a competitive race, according to TapInto Newark.
Tom Kean, Jr.
The leaked U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding abortion complicates the CD-7 challenge of Republican Kean in a battleground district where incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski needs galvanized allies.
Ryan Smith
The mad-as-hell Hopatcong councilman faces backlash for posting Facebook comments complaining about how Governor Phil Murphy’s state aid increase will help fund “crack heads” in urban areas.
How is it possible that a mayor who bought a house in another city is not even getting a report from InsiderNJ?
Donald Shaw is issuing vague, angry denials and threats against the people who have questions about his residency while documents show that he sold his home a couple weeks after his election & bought a house in Elizabeth in April 2021. The mortgage company required him to use the home as his primary residence in exchange for a $630,000 loan but Shaw says that he doesn’t live there.
I suppose you could ignore the potential scandal but it seems like that is the exact kind of report that this site features. The other explanation is that there is a reason to bury the story and that is a disservice to the readers.
What’s the deal?