The Jaffe Briefing - November 4, 2021
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – The Associated Press is in the hot seat, the first to call the election in favor of Gov. Phil Murphy, and prompting the governor to make a big victory speech last night. But Jack Ciattarelli believes that a private media outlet doesn’t exactly carry the same authority as, say, the New Jersey Secretary of State, who oversees our elections. And since the state reportedly still does not know the total number of uncounted votes, the GOP challenger is not conceding anything. Yes, we need to quickly get past this election, as CNN has also projected Murphy the winner, up by a little more than 35,000 votes, and capturing 50.3% of the vote. But it also needs to be done right, as the state works through 2.4 million votes cast in what was one of the lowest voter turnouts for the governor’s race in a century.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – New Jersey now has a new household name: Edward Durr. And who's that? He’s a furniture delivery man for Raymour & Flanigan in South Jersey, and a guy who spent $153 of his own cash to make a Hail Mary run for State Senate. And it looks as if he somehow toppled one of the strongest Democrats in New Jersey – Steve Sweeney – who has been the senate president for the past 12 years and appeared to be the Democratic frontrunner in the 2025 governor’s race. Even Durr can’t believe he’s been struck by all this lightning, and isn’t ready to declare victory just yet, telling Politico he’s “walking on eggshells” until the results are official. It doesn’t look good for Sweeney, at all, with – dare we say – Senator-elect Durr up by about 2,000 votes in what appears to be a resounding victory. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are now lining up, with some salivation, to compete for the big seat.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Voters can’t help but wonder: What was with the polls? All the political experts seem blindsided. The very reputable Monmouth University had Murphy up by 11 points. A Rutgers-Eagleton survey released Monday had Murphy with an 8-point lead. The Fairleigh Dickinson University survey projected 9 percentage points, the same margin as a Stockton University survey. College/PIX 11 survey released late last month gave a 6-point advantage for Murphy and the Republican-leaning Trafalgar Group showed the closest margin — 4 percentage points. So what gives? Some pollsters point to the Trump era, which has thrown traditional modeling into a tizzy. Rutgers-Eagleton tells NJ.com: “No. 1, they aren’t crystal balls. No. 2, they are snapshots in time. No. 3, they’re based on human behavior and perceptions. And people can lie.” Polling will always happen, but perhaps it’s no longer as relevant.
STATEWIDE – With all these crazy election results, it is going to take a little while longer for lawmakers to restart all the bill-churning. There were high hopes that Murphy would be back at his desk early this morning, working through the heaps of unsigned legislation that has been sitting there since June. But with Murphy dealing with an unsettled election and Senate President Sweeney facing one or two of his own problems at the moment, the Senate decided to cancel today’s quorum and Leadership caucus meeting, extending any action on more than 40 bills until Monday. Perhaps there will be more clarity then.
BRIEFING BREATHER
It’s impossible to tickle yourself.
STAFFORD – Local residents are being asked if the kids seem a bit glassy-eyed today, after someone handed out marijuana edibles to trick-or-treaters. Unclear what this resident was possibly thinking – especially as the “Nerdy Bears” looked like any other fun candy and kids could easily eat them. Nerdy Bears contain Delta 8 THC, a psychoactive substance. It’s legal stuff for adults in New Jersey, typically used for all those marijuana gummies, chocolates, cookies and candies that make PTA budget meetings slightly palatable. Nerdy Bears – featuring happy, stoned cartoon characters on the packaging – were handed out in the Oaks neighborhood of the Ocean Acres section of town. A friendly “FYI.”
STATEWIDE – Skip the Straw. That’s the message of the day from the New Jersey Clean Communities Council, as a new law goes into effect today to help stop plastic pollution. No longer can you walk into a restaurant with your pals, order some drinks and have the waitress drop a bunch of plastic straws in the middle of the table as she runs from one place to the next. Instead you need to politely ask, “Excuse me, may I have a straw?” And then be prepared for the entire restaurant to stare at you in disgust, as you slurp your diet Dr. Pepper with your disposable straw and help in destroying the planet. Bring a reusable straw, if you really, truly need one, or just drink out of the cup, which seemed to work perfectly fine for centuries.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
PORTLAND, Maine – Luckily, the New Jersey governors’ race was settled at the voting booth. But that is not the case in Portland, where a computer tallied up a tie for city council on Election Day. Both candidates had 8,529 votes after the votes were calculated in a four-way race. So, what to do? City officials have decided on a very low-tech solution, in which the candidates will draw straws in front of Portland City Hall. The big event will take place tomorrow for any resident who may be captivated by this post-election drama. Or they may opt to Skip the Straw.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1989 that the Orlando Magic plays its first game ever – surprisingly losing to the New Jersey Nets, 111-106.
WORD OF THE DAY
Ad-lib – [AD-LIB] – verb
Definition: To improvise
Example: Rutgers will need to ad-lib plenty of touchdown passes to beat Wisconsin on Saturday.
WIT OF THE DAY
“A rising tide doesn't raise people who don't have a boat.”
-Rahul Gandhi
BIDEN BLURB
“Somewhere along the way, we stopped investing in ourselves, investing in our people. America is still the largest economy in the world. We still have the most productive workers and the most innovative minds in the world. But we’ve risked losing our edge as a nation.”
-Joe Biden
WEATHER IN A WORD
Clear