Good Thursday morning!

If there’s bad news for Democrats in New York, there’s probably bad news in New Jersey as well.

Our cross-river cousins at POLITICO New York published this report on how Democrats in the Empire State fear it could be a presidential battleground, and they’re “so worried they’ve been trying to convince the Biden team to pour resources into New York to shore up his campaign and boost Democrats running in a half-dozen swing districts that could determine control of the House.”

I’ve yet to hear of or read reports about New Jersey Democrats being so panicked. But Biden’s 23-point win over Trump in New York was 7 points higher than it was in New Jersey. And really, if New York and New Jersey are actually battlegrounds come November, the presidential race is over.

There have been two recent New Jersey polls that show a neck-and-neck presidential race here, but I’ve been hesitant to take them too seriously because they’re from a Republican super PAC or a pollster that FiveThirtyEight ranked ranked one of the last accurate in 2022.

In New Jersey, Rep. Mikie Sherrill remains the only Democratic federal elected official to call for the president to drop his reelection bid. She’s gotten pushback on that from Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, a likely 2025 gubernatorial rival, and Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage. But the drumbeat continues, including from George Clooney, whose opinion is about as valid as any pundit’s. U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan of New York’s Hudson Valley, who gets credibility points because he represents my original hometown, called for Biden to step down, shortly before Lt. Gov. Anthony Delgado did.

And for all the expressions of support for Biden from New Jersey’s political class, there are plenty of politicians hedging with more carefully worded statements. If states like New Jersey and New York really are in play, I don’t think Mikie Sherrill is going to remain the sole member of the state’s Democratic congressional delegation calling for him to go.

TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at [email protected].

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Richie Sambora. Missed yesterday: Antoinette Miles, Dan Smith

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I got in knowing that this would probably end my political career.” — Andy Kim on running for U.S. Senate

WHERE’S MURPHY? — Utah for the NGA

MENENDEZ CORRUPTION TRIAL

 
THE PRIZE IS A GOLD BAR — ‘The United States wins’ if Menendez is acquitted, his attorney says, by POLITICO’s Daniel Han: A legal victory for Sen. Bob Menendez is a victory for the country, the senator’s attorney said at the end of his closing arguments on Wednesday. “When you acquit Senator Menendez, the United States wins,” Menendez attorney Adam Fee told jurors at the end of a five-hour closing argument that began Tuesday afternoon. Federal prosecutors accuse Menendez of accepting bribes to disrupt state and federal criminal cases and acting as an agent of Egypt. While his lawyer argues an acquittal would equate to success for America, a guilty verdict brought by “overzealous or mistaken prosecutors” would certainly mean the worst for 70-year-old Menendez. He faces decades in prison on the 18 counts against him. Jurors are expected to begin deliberations later this week. They are expected to hear closing arguments on Wednesday afternoon from an attorney for Wael “Will” Hana, an Egyptian businessperson accused of bribing the senator. That will be followed, likely Thursday morning, by closing arguments from an attorney for Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer also accused of bribing the senator, his long-time friend, with cash and gold bars.

WHAT TRENTON MADE

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL — NJ public workers likely to face double-digit health insurance rate hikes, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: New Jersey public workers will likely be hit with double-digit increases in health benefit costs next year, two years after other dramatic rate hikes caused an uproar. At its meeting Wednesday morning, the State Health Benefits Commission heard actuarial recommendations to increase health care plan premiums by about 16 percent for active local employees and about 10 percent for active state employees. The local government increases are driven in part by what commissioner Dudley Burdge described as a “death spiral," borrowing a term used in prior years by AON — the consultant for the state that makes the recommendations. … To take effect, the actuarial recommendations must be approved at a future meeting. The commission has another rate renewal meeting scheduled for July 29.

RIP — “SCI Chief Chadd Lackey dies in car crash,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein: “Chadd W. Lackey, the executive director of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, was killed today in a multiple motor vehicle accident on Route 130 in Hamilton Township around 8 AM this morning. He was 55. A veteran member of the SCI staff, Lackey had served as deputy director and general counsel before assuming the top staff post in 2020 as the first Black executive director. He had directed investigations into organized crime, prescription pill abuse, and a critical report of state-run veterans homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. He served as a prosecutor in Miami-Dade County, Florida, before moving to New Jersey.”

FLAT COLA — “No COLA increase for retired NJ public workers this year,” by NJ Spotlight News’ John Reitmeyer: "Among the biggest-ticket items in the record-high state budget enacted by Gov. Phil Murphy earlier this month is another significant payment into New Jersey’s beleaguered public-worker pension system. More than $7 billion collected from taxes and dedicated revenues from the state Lottery will be put toward funding worker retirement benefits during the fiscal year that began July 1, according to the latest budget documents. For context, that’s more than double the amount of funding set aside in the nearly $57 billion budget for the state’s popular direct property-tax relief programs, such as Anchor and Senior Freeze. Yet despite the significant cash infusion for pensions, retired government workers in New Jersey will continue to go without cost-of-living adjustments for at least another year. And that comes as inflation has soared in recent years, putting a strain on those retired workers and others living on fixed incomes in New Jersey."

AT LEAST HOT SANDWICHES ARE WIDELY AVAILABLE AT NJ PHARMACIES — “Pharmacies slow to sign up for no-prescription birth control,” by New Jersey Monitor’s Sophie Nieto-Munoz: “Nearly two months after Gov. Phil Murphy announced newly adopted rules that allow pharmacies to dispense hormonal birth control without a prescription, only about four dozen pharmacies statewide have been approved to do so, state data shows. … The rules have been in place since late May. … Lawmakers and advocates wonder whether the law is working as intended, with a fraction of the state’s roughly 2,200 pharmacies participating. Assemblywoman Nancy Muñoz, a nurse, said this could signal that health care providers have concerns about the law. ‘Broadly, we as a Legislature pass these bills, and it sounds great. It’s about reproductive rights, everybody gets a headline, and then the professionals push back,’ said Muñoz (R-Union). ‘Clearly, if they thought it was a great idea, they’d be signing up.’”

SHOULD’VE USED SHERLOCK HOLMES FOR OPPO RESEARCH — “See you in court: N.J. senator still angry over 2023 attack mailer,” by The Courier-Post’s Joseph P. Smith: “A campaign incident in the final week of last year’s statewide elections continues to rankle freshman state Sen. Paul D. Moriarty, and now voters can read all about it in a recently filed lawsuit. Moriarty, D-4, is alleging in the lawsuit that his reputation was purposely and maliciously damaged in a political mailer that labeled him a ‘drunk driver.’ The mailer was sent out about a week before Election Day 2023. The lawsuit lays responsibility for the mailer on the Camden County GOP, based in Haddon Heights, and Thomas W. Crone Jr., a Gloucester Township resident who until recently was the county's GOP chairman. … Cherry Hill attorney John A. Zohlman III, who is representing Moriarty, says the lawsuit could have been avoided. A letter was sent in December 2023 to Crone asking for a published retraction and correction, in return for Moriarty not taking legal action. ‘We wrote to him and said, ‘Listen. This is false. Simply retract the statement and correct the record, and we’ll move on,’ Zohlman said on Monday. ‘And they wouldn’t do it. And pretty much, he didn’t deny that they published it and disseminated it.’”

— “Our schools are more segregated than Alabama’s. So why are NJ voters so blind? | A Q&A”

—“NJ Supreme Court rules tenants can’t file class-action lawsuit in Weehawken high-rise case” 

—“Bill aligning N.J. tax sales with U.S. Supreme Court decision becomes law” 

BIDEN TIME

—“Fulop still backing Biden: ‘One of the most successful presidents in modern history’” 

—“Elizabeth mayor backs Biden, smacks Sherrill” 

—“Altman leaves decision about Biden’s future up to Biden” 

—Snowflack: “Altman: ‘Yup, that’s me’” 

LOCAL

 
ICK CITY — “The strange but true reason this city is always hotter than everywhere else in N.J.,” by NJ Advance Media’s Steven Rodas: “Reading that the forecast calls for 90 degrees is one thing. Standing in Newark at midday on a summer Tuesday is another — sun beaming down, a heat advisory pinging on your phone (which keeps overheating), sweat dripping down your forehead so much that wiping it away with a towel provides only seconds of relief. Brick City residents live in a place that new climate findings say will not only suffer from hotter days — worsened by human-caused climate change — but will be at the epicenter of the worst heat effects nationwide. … Newark is among 12 cities in the U.S. where ‘more than eight out of every 10 people experience at least 8 degrees Fahrenheit more heat due to the ‘urban heat island effect,’ nonprofit Climate Central said in new temperature data findings released Wednesday.”

—“June was NJ's second warmest in 129 years. Will summer heat break records?” 

PROBLEMS WITH AUTHORITY — “Turnpike expansion project gets a mixed — and very loud — reception at public forum,” by NJ Advance Media’s Larry Higgs: “The New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s proposed $6.2 billion replacement of the Newark Bay Bridge got a mixed reception — with objectors chanting their disapproval — at a public forum about it on Tuesday. The vocal demonstration was to protest the ‘total lack of public engagement,’ with the project, said John Reichman, an organizer of the Turnpike Trap coalition. … Tuesday’s event was billed as a public listening session, where attendees could ask questions of engineers and other project officials and fill out comment forms. But they were not able to testify or make public statements in front of the audience, which is typical of other types of government hearings. The collected comments have been or will be responded to individually, officials said. As objectors chanted as they left the building, some union members and family members yelled back — the project means jobs. They applauded when officials said 25,000 construction jobs would be created. Unlike the Bayonne forum, where an enthusiastic Mayor Jimmy Davis introduced the project presentation with a whole-hearted endorsement of replacing the bridge, Jersey City Mayor Fulop and four city council members spoke at a rally across the street against the expansion before the forum.”

STACEY CAN’T YOU SEE? YOU’RE JUST NOT THE CHIEF FOR ME— “N.J. police chief fired after accusations he used homophobic slurs,” by NJ Advance Media’s Riley Yates: “Roselle’s police chief has been fired by the borough, 10 months after he was relieved of duty after accusations he made graphic homophobic remarks to his officers. An attorney for Chief Stacey Williams called the termination ‘despicable’ on Wednesday, saying his client was notified last week and has already filed an appeal with the Civil Service Commission challenging the decision. Williams, a 31-year veteran of the police force, was suspended in August, with a lawyer for the local Policemen’s Benevolent Association, the union representing rank-and-file officers, saying he was accused of ‘reprehensible conduct’ that included ‘homophobic terminology.’”

— “Neptune public works boss suspended without pay after Facebook comments brought to light”

THE GAZEBO EFFECT —  “Why was Newton Green gazebo torn down? County cites crime, homeless for surprise move,” by The New Jersey Herald’s Bruce A. Scruton: “The crowd showed up for the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence on the Newton Green last week. … But this year's reading was different. Instead of gathering around the gazebo that's been the focal point of the park for decades, the crowd was forced to move to a nearby hillside to celebrate Independence Day. Just days earlier, the gazebo was dismantled and its parts and pieces carted off to a landfill. … The gazebo, which doubles as a bandstand for outdoor concerts, is owned by Sussex County, along with the surrounding park. On Monday, county Administrator Ron Tappan said officials had determined the structure was a nuisance that attracted the homeless and that there were ‘too many police calls there.’ … ‘The problems just wouldn't go away,’ the administrator continued. Most troubling, he said, was a reported rape earlier this year.”

—“New zoning to allow Ironbound high rises heads to Newark City Council” 

—“Leaders at embattled school placed on leave, officials’ salaries slashed after NJ.com reports” 

EVERYTHING ELSE

VA FANDUELO! — “No fooling: FanDuel fined for taking bets on April Fool’s Day on events that happened a week before,” by The APs Wayne Parry: “FanDuel accepted 34 bets on the fights that were promoted by the sports book as live events scheduled to take place on April 1, 2022. But the fights had actually taken place a week earlier, on March 25. New Jersey gambling regulators fined FanDuel $2,000 for the mistake, and the company paid out over $230,000 to settle the bets. FanDuel declined comment Wednesday on the fine, which it agreed to pay.”

SEIS MATTERS — “Seismometers are popping up all over North Jersey. What are they for?” by The Record’s Andrew McBride: “A group of Rutgers University seismologists have installed more than 100 seismometers around North Jersey to gather data on ground vibrations and better understand the subsurface faults that likely caused a magnitude 4.8 earthquake that shook the Garden State this spring. … ‘By analyzing this earthquake and the aftershocks, we have the opportunity to explore in more detail the Ramapo Fault,’ said Roberto Masis Arce, a lead researcher on the team and a doctoral candidate at Rutgers' earth and planetary sciences department. ‘By using further seismic techniques, we can determine the type of fault and expected motion for future events.’”

PhDOPE — “Studying weed is the newest way to get a higher education degree in N.J.,” by NJ Advance Media’s Jelani Gibson: “With legal weed becoming a billion dollar business in New Jersey, Stockton University will this fall become the state’s first four-year institution to offer a cannabis-focused undergraduate degree. The Bachelor of Science in Hemp and Cannabis Business Management will be under Stockton’s School of Business, the university announced Wednesday. … Courses will focus on cultivation, social justice and medical cannabis with a core curriculum on business policy and marketing.”

R.I.P. — “N.J. woman who received second-ever pig kidney transplant dies” 

R.I.P. — “Jon Bon Jovi’s mother, Carol Bongiovi, dead at 83”