News: POLITICO New Jersey Playbook: As media writes Christie 2024 stories, he makes no dent at CPAC

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

POLITICO New Jersey Playbook: As media writes Christie 2024 stories, he makes no dent at CPAC

Jul 13, 2021

Good Tuesday morning!

Did you miss me? I got some rest and adopted a new kitten , whose name my wife and I haven't yet settled on. Right now it's between Fizz and Thomas, but that could change as we get to know his "felinality."

As I was slowly getting back into it yesterday, a CPAC straw poll came out. Unsurprisingly, former President Donald Trump still dominates. And Ron DeSantis is the only other potential candidate with a substantial showing.

But what about former Gov. Chris Christie? I've seen item after item about him teasing a 2024 presidential run, mostly in the national media. And there's that new two-book deal. Well, he wasn't mentioned among the contenders. I couldn't tell from the coverage I read whether he was even offered as a choice.

You've read my rants about how Christie's continued hold on the Acela crowd shows up in news coverage despite little evidence of voter appeal. And while I know a CPAC straw poll is not scientific, you'd expect someone who had caught the attention of GOP voters to at least be mentioned.

And I already expended too much annoyance on that article claiming that Portland, Ore. is the best pizza city in the country. So I'll just let this tweet by NJ Advance Media's Sophie Nieto Munoz speak for me: "And yet the national media will always, without fail, find some reason to write about Chris Christie."

QUOTE OF THE DAY : "Some people, when they find themselves in a hole, climb out of it. Other people continue to dig deeper and deeper. Anybody who watches the videos and hears (Lisa Smurro) scream 'She's a man! She's a man!' can make their own judgment about whether she's talking about seeing someone she thought was a man as opposed to a transgender woman." — Attorney David Shanies, who represents four people suing Neptune Middle School Vice Principal Michael Smurro, who is conter-suing the people he threw beer at after an argument about a transgender woman using a women's bathroom.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Columbia's Steve Stirling, Washington Post's Josh Dawsey

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WHAT TRENTON MADE

THE APP IS POWERED BY THE MICROCHIPS IN YOUR BLOOD — Murphy says new app for vaccine records is 'not a passport,' by POLITICO's Katherine Landergan: New Jersey residents can access their Covid-19 vaccination records through a smartphone app, Gov. Phil Murphy said on Monday. "To be absolutely clear this is not a [vaccine] passport," Murphy said. "[It] is intended to solely give residents easy access to their Covid vaccination record, especially if their vaccination card has been damaged or lost." The so-called docket app is a CDC-approved application being used in Utah and "planned for rollout in additional states," according to Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli. Individuals who were vaccinated in the state who have an email or phone number on file with the New Jersey immunization system can access their Covid-19 vaccination records using the app, she said. It's intended to help residents who have lost their vaccination card or want quick access to the records.

SACCO'S BOAT TO BE CALLED 'OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT' — "School district retirement is smooth sailing for state legislator with $270K 'boat check' and $220K pension," by The Jersey Journal's Peter D'Auria: " Retirement has proven quite profitable for Nicholas Sacco, the state senator and North Bergen mayor who retired from the township's school district in 2017. The 74-year-old Sacco has received $269,730 for unused sick days from the North Bergen School District spread over the past five years, documents obtained through a public records request show. Before he retired, Sacco was making $269,060 a year as the district's director of elementary and secondary education. According to the records, Sacco cashed in 601.5 sick days at his retirement. Per district policy, he was eligible for one half-day's pay — roughly $450 — for each sick day he took. The figure, not wildly outrageous by Hudson County standards, is in addition to the $220,000 he receives annually in his teacher's pension payments."

COMMA, HALF MEASURE — "'Sanctuary state'? You won't hear that from candidate Phil Murphy this time around," by The Record's Charles Stile: "In his shift from progressive to a pragmatic center-left Democrat, Murphy appears more concerned about providing sanctuary to legislative Democrats, skittish of having to debate a hot-button issue in a handful of competitive contests … One major reason? The outcome of the 2017 races. Some party operatives believe that Murphy's sanctuary promise and his high-flying progressive rhetoric may have depressed turnout among moderate, independent voters the last time around. What should have been a landslide for Murphy became a more modest 13-point win over Republican Kim Guadagno."

HIGH EXPECTATIONS — "NJ legal weed deadlines are approaching. What will the next year bring?" by The Asbury Park Press' Mike Davis: "The next six weeks will set the tone for the next year of legal weed in New Jersey. The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission is set to meet Tuesday, at a time when marijuana is at the forefront of municipal government meetings as local officials try to figure out if and how deep they want to get involved in the cannabis industry. Towns have until Aug. 21 to pass ordinances opting out of the industry — banning marijuana sales and businesses — or altering their zoning laws to regulate where such businesses, like dispensaries, could be located. That same date is a deadline for the state commission to publish its rules and regulations for the legal weed industry, the first step before accepting proposals for issuing licenses for recreational marijuana businesses. 'There's a very high level of expectation. People who are interested are already developing their businesses — reaching out to the service providers they need, the real estate market, the attorneys — all in hopes of getting the infrastructure they need to submit a successful application,' DeVeaux said. 'People are getting ready.'"

REMEMBER WHEN THIS WAS CONTROVERSIAL? — " One of NJ's most controversial driving laws: How effective is the red decal after 11 years?" by The Record's Jessica Langer: "Kyleigh's Law, the decal requirement of the 2001 Graduated Driver License Law, requires those under age 21 with a permit or probationary license to have two red, removable and reflective decals — $4 a pair — on the top-left corner of both the front and rear license plates, according to the March 22, 2010, Motor Vehicle Advisory. Since its enactment on May 1, 2010, Kyleigh's Law and other laws included in New Jersey's Graduated Driver License program have decreased crash fatalities involving teen drivers by more than 47% from 2008 to 2018, according to a 2020 Office of the Attorney General analysis. During that period, the number of passengers under 20 years old killed while riding in a teen-driven car dropped nearly 60%. Even though it has proved effective, officers and teenage drivers said a lack of compliance impedes the law's impact."

THEY TRIED TO MAKE ME PAY NJ TAX THE COURT SAID 'NO, NO, NO' — "The court said no, but will NJ try again in tax fight?" by NJ Spotlight News' John Reitmeyer: "Despite a recent setback in the courts, Gov. Phil Murphy said the fight for residents whose income has been taxed by New York despite working from home in New Jersey during the coronavirus pandemic is still a priority. But what exactly happens next — and how aggressive New Jersey ends up getting with its neighbor across the Hudson River — remains to be seen … some state lawmakers appear to be bruising for a more immediate and direct fight with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who has come under fire after a flood of sexual-harassment allegations. The lawmakers have argued that the current shift to remote work is likely to last, at least in some form, well after the pandemic wanes, and that the stakes for New Jersey are too high to ignore … 'This situation will never be resolved to the benefit of New Jerseyans if Governor Murphy continues to roll over and play dead,' said Sen. Steve Oroho (R-Sussex). 'Until we fight back, this unfair taxation by New York will never end,' Oroho said."

—"NYC Needs the Commuting Crowds That Have Yet to Fully Return," by Bloomberg's Elise Young and Raeedah Wahid: "At least twice in the past two weeks, Lincoln Tunnel traffic was so light that the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey cut operating hours for the 2.5-mile bus-only lane, a rush-hour necessity since 1970. Swaths of New Jersey Transit train seats are unoccupied, while New York City's subway breezes around town with less than half its typical passenger load. Sixteen months into a pandemic-fueled remote-work revolution, New York City's famously cutthroat commute remains a relative joyride. While the thinner crowds can be an upside for riders, mass-transit operators face a harsh truth: Packed trains and buses are the systems' lifeblood, and they need the masses to return before billions of dollars in federal budget aid run out around 2024."

—"Aging rail tunnels into NYC wreaked havoc for commuters last year with 210 hours of delays"

—"N.J. and N.Y.'s summer assignment — write a Gateway Tunnel financing plan"

— "Is allowing gamblers to wager on NJ college sports a safe bet?"

—RWJBarnabas persuades health financing authority to loosen borrowing requirements

—"New Jersey's budget is $46 billion. It also includes these pet projects for lawmakers"

—"Will Murphy reinstate school masks after CDC urges unvaccinated students to wear them?"

— "Delta variant surges to predominant COVID-19 strain in N.J."

RESPONSE OF THE DAY TO PREVIOUS TWEET OF THE DAY: In response to @OneJerseyShore's tweet featured Thursday, Murphy spox Mahen Gunaratna said this: "The Saturday scheduling of the clinics in Lakewood was intentional. The backstory is that the Hispanic community in Lakewood specifically asked us to do vaccination events on Saturdays because that is when many of them have the day off. We have had many other clinics geared towards Lakewood's Orthodox community on days other than Saturdays."

HAPPENING TODAY: THE ROAD TO TOKYO 2020 – A CONVERSATION WITH FIRST VICE PRESIDENT OF THE IOC ANITA DEFRANTZ: The Tokyo Olympics kick off July 23, 15 months after being postponed. One problem … Japan's capital city is in a Covid state of emergency and has prohibited fans from attending. With financial pressure to push forward and potential punishment for any athletes involved in protests or demonstrations during the sporting event, these Olympics Games will be unlike any other. Join Global Translations author Ryan Heath for a POLITICO Live conversation with Anita DeFrantz, First Vice President, International Olympic Committee, on what's at stake in the Tokyo Olympics, as a global health crisis, sports and politics all come to a head. REGISTER HERE.

BIDEN TIME

HOWARD MISHANDLER — Lawyers retreat from pro-Trump election suit, by POLITICO's Josh Gerstein: "The legal reckoning for attorneys who pushed former President Donald Trump's spurious claims of election fraud advanced Monday as a federal court in Detroit held a hearing on whether to impose sanctions over a suit filed last year seeking to decertify Joe Biden's victory in Michigan. Two of the most prominent attorneys in the pro-Trump camp — Dallas-based Sidney Powell and Atlanta-based L. Lin Wood — are among the lawyers who brought the unsuccessful suit and whose conduct is under scrutiny by U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker … Last December, Parker rejected the temporary restraining order the suit sought to decertify the presidential election. The case was formally dismissed in mid-January. At Monday's hearing, Parker sparred with Donald Campbell, an attorney representing most of the pro-Trump lawyers involved, and with Howard Kleinhendler , one of those lawyers. The judge continued to sound deeply skeptical about the pro-Trump lawyers' case, referring to some of the witnesses they relied upon as 'purported experts' and arguing that their filings contained obvious flaws. 'The court is concerned that these affidavits were submitted in bad faith,' Parker said. 'The question is is there anything there on the face of these submissions that would give counsel pause.'"

BETTER CHECK FOR STRAW DONORS — " 'They think very highly of Nikki': the Kushner family is cozying up to Nikki Haley," by Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman: "According to two sources briefed on the event, Jared Kushner's parents invited about 20 friends to meet former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley at the Kushners' beach house on the Jersey Shore. The Kushners' chef prepared a meal of salad and salmon. At the event, Jared's father Charles Kushner predicted that Haley would be 'the first woman president,' one of the sources said. Some attendees made donations to Haley's Stand for America PAC … If she runs, as many suspect, it will force Jared and Ivanka to choose between Trump family loyalty and one of their closest political allies."

—"Sires: 'We don't want the same thing that happened in Venezuela to happen here in Cuba'"

— Steinberg:"Memo to Tom Kean, Jr: Invite Liz Cheney, not Kevin McCarthy, as the Special Guest to your campaign kickoff"

—"New poll shows most in NJ want $10K SALT cap lifted"

LOCAL

IF OASIS CLOSES, RESIDENTS URGED NOT TO LOOK BACK IN ANGER — "Atlantic City is poised to shut down its syringe exchange — amid warnings of dire public health consequences," by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Aubrey Whelan: "Long before anyone had even heard of COVID-19, Atlantic City — like Philadelphia and other metro areas — was battling the twin epidemics of HIV infections and injection drug use. Now, health advocates warn, the seaside resort's desire to make its storied Boardwalk and the surrounding neighborhood more appealing to tourists is imperiling the very service that helped abate the HIV crisis and has saved the lives of people in addiction. Later this month, most of the City Council is expected to vote in favor of an ordinance to close Atlantic City's syringe exchange. 'I think all public health people understand how important syringe access is,' said Carol Harney, the head of the South Jersey AIDS Alliance, which runs the city's Oasis syringe exchange. 'How folks, when they're using clean syringes, don't transmit [HIV]. It's the first step for people who are taking care of their health — the first step of harm reduction is recognizing you want a future.'"

—"[Trenton] Councilman Jerell Blakeley, once a Trenton mayoral hopeful, will not seek second term"

— "Garfield deputy mayor resigns after four years in office"

—"In Atlantic City, rising seas threaten an already struggling industry"

—" Lambertville may allow four marijuana stores within the city limits"

—"NJ legal weed ban planned in Howell; no dispensaries 'until we can figure out the zoning'"

—" Paterson cop accused of assault is getting paid again. But the city wants to fire him"

—"The old Bears Stadium site has been vacant for years. There's a new development plan"

—" Jersey City Council discusses establishing Cannabis Control Board during caucus meeting"

—"Tenafly school board may make decision on teacher, principal involved in Hitler assignment"

—" Avalon closes beaches and boardwalk at night to control crowds of young people"

EVERYTHING ELSE

THAT RACIST GUY — "Mt. Laurel mayor and N.J. assemblywoman say they were threatened by resident charged in racist rant against Black neighbors," by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Melanie Burney: " The latest allegations come as the Mount Laurel Township Council is scheduled to hold its first meeting since Edward Cagney Mathews was charged in a bias case that captured national attention … [Mayor Stephen] Steglik disclosed that he was threatened by resident Edward Cagney Mathews, about a week before the incident with a Black resident went viral. Steglik said Mathews left a message at the township office demanding to see him. I perceived it as a threat,' Steglik said in an interview Monday … Assemblywoman Carol Murphy, (D., Burlington), said Mathews began contacting her Cinnaminson office last year when she was planning a legislative hearing about homeowners' associations. Mathews became frustrated when the hearing was postponed because of COVID-19, she said. Murphy said e-mails from Mathews escalated over the past month. Mathews warned her that 'he knew where she lived,' she said. She said she notified police when Mathews informed her that: 'It's time that we meet in person or he was going to come and see me.' 'I took it seriously,' said Murphy, adding that she spent $2,000 to install security cameras at her Mount Laurel home."

— " New [Montclair State] president gets $475K salary, chance for big bonus"

—"Cardi B's daughter Kulture's fairytale birthday party comes to life at Englewood venue"

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