Latest news with #JonBramnick
New York Post
03-08-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Here's Jersey's chance to let drivers pump their own gas — like the rest of America
Two years ago today, the state of Oregon kicked its commonsense gear into overdrive and left New Jersey in the dust — by rescinding its ban on self-serve gas. That made the Garden State the only state in America still clinging to this outdated prohibition. It's long past time New Jersey follow suit. To that end, state Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, Union) recently introduced legislation, the Motorist Fueling Choice and Convenience Act. While the bill would still require gas stations with four or more pumps to provide attendant service between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., it would also let station owners offer self-pump terminals — and discounted gas — to the customers who choose to use them. Now, all you folks who enjoy being waited on, hear me out. Bramnick is not advocating that every gas station switch to self-serve. He's merely arguing that New Jersey should stop making it illegal for businesses to open self-pump stations, if that's what residents want. Why can't Jersey drivers make this decision themselves? For the last 76 years, the answer has been drive-by corporate cronyism. It was not always this way. As The Star-Ledger has reported, in the late 1940s, Irving Reingold, a hardworking Jersey entrepreneur, opened a 24-pump gas station on Route 17 in Hackensack. His gas was nearly 14% cheaper than anywhere else in the state — because his customers pumped it themselves, and he saved on labor costs. Drivers loved it. Reingold's competition, which quietly coordinated to keep prices inflated, didn't. The hard-nosed entrepreneur was Jersey Strong and stood his ground, so one of his enemies went so far as to shoot up his station. Reingold responded not by closing shop but by installing bulletproof glass. So, his rivals went hat in hand to their friends in the government. The resulting legislation, the Retail Gasoline Dispensing Safety Act and Regulations, banned self-pump gas altogether. As radio personality Lyle Van said at the time, 'Chalk up another victory for the organized pressure groups.' And New Jersey has been stuck with that crony handout ever since. It's time to make a U-turn. (Yes, Jersey — I know: That means a jug-handle three exits past where we want to go.) Per a New Jersey Gasoline-Convenience-Automotive Association survey, stations could afford to lower pump prices by seven to 23 cents a gallon if self-service became legal again. That's as much as $154 a year, based on an estimated 671.6 gallons per average driver. Sure, that may not seem like much to some residents, and many may still prefer the convenience of attendant-pumped gas. But why not let your Jersey brothers and sisters pump, and save, if they want to? Giving them this choice wouldn't just help them — it would help everyone. When lower-cost self-pump stations sprout up, even full-service retailers would face pressure to cut costs and keep customers from driving away. They may not match the rock-bottom prices of self-serve, but they would still have more of an incentive to please their client base. Plus, a station can offer both self- or attendant-served. What's not to like about that? It's 2025. We have decades of data and evidence proving that the 'safety concerns' peddled to advance the self-pump gas ban were nothing more than blown smoke. So why don't we do something about it? New Jersey residents don't take kindly to getting played. Many of us routinely flip the bird when we have been wronged. I learned that from my dad (Thanks, Dad!). Then we act. So let's do the same to this crony baloney ban on self-serve gas. Every other state has ditched this ridiculous corporate giveaway. The time has come for New Jersey to do the same. Bramnick's Motorist Fueling Choice and Convenience Act is the right vehicle to make this happen. The New Jersey legislature should pass it pronto — and full speed ahead. Tommy Behnke is the president of Point Made PR, a full-service public affairs firm
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Jersey governor primary results in Republican and Democratic races
The polls close at 8 p.m. on June 10 primary day in New Jersey as voters went to the polls to select a candidate to represent the Democratic and Republican parties in the fall gubernatorial election. On the Republican side, the candidates are state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former Assemblyman and previous Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, and former radio personality Bill Spadea. Two other Republican candidates, former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac and Justin Barbera, are also on the June 10 primary ballot but did not qualify to participate in spring debates. The Democratic candidates are Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, NJSEA President and former Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller and former state Senate President Steve Sweeney. Voting has been underway since mail-in ballots were sent out in April. Early in-person voting was held from June 3 through June is a look at the unofficial totals from the 21 county board of election websites. The vote totals reflect the data that was current as of the latest time stamp on this story and may not include early voting and vote-by-mail totals. Check back as the vote totals will be updated This article originally appeared on New Jersey governor primary results in Republican and Democratic races
CBS News
10-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidates fighting until polls close in primary election
The race to become New Jersey's next governor is heating up as voters headed to the polls Tuesday for the primary election. With Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy term-limited, six Democrats and five Republicans are now vying for the state's top job. President Trump determined to turn New Jersey Republican Jack Ciattarelli was at a local pizza restaurant earlier in the day, talking to voters. He has been leading in the polls on the GOP side and has President Trump's endorsement. Two other candidates are also bringing in some numbers, and they told CBS News New York's Christine Sloan they are fighting until the polls close at 8 p.m. President Trump is determined to turn New Jersey Republican after losing to Kamala Harris in the last election by just six points. "New Jersey's ready to pop out of that blue horror show," Trump said during a tele-rally with Ciattarelli. The president endorsed Ciattarelli over more conservative candidate Bill Spadea, a former radio and TV show host. Spadea told Sloan he spoke to Mr. Trump before the endorsement. "Our conversation was about some of the disagreements we've had in the past, and clearly the president is not interested in someone disagreeing with him on any issue," he said. Moderate Republican Jon Bramnick, known for speaking out against Trump, told Sloan he's fighting for the soul of the Republican Party. "You tell people that you're a traditional Republican. You believe in three things, which is lower taxes, law and order, and smaller government. And you treat people with respect," he said. Ciattarelli running after previously losing to Gov. Murphy Ciattarelli ran against Murphy in the 2021, losing by only a few percentage points. Polls have shown him leading all the other candidates. He spoke to CBS News New York political reporter Marcia Kramer on "The Point," saying if elected, he'd seek a new school funding formula to cut property taxes and give seniors and first-time home buyers a break. The other candidates also have plans to cut property taxes, one of the big issues in the state.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Republican NJ governor candidates focus on budget waste, immigration, Trump
New Jersey voters in both parties have begun to vote to select their nominees for governor in the June 10 primary election. This spring, the USA TODAY Network New Jersey Editorial Board convened conversations with nearly all of the major candidates. We talked broadly about their campaigns, their agendas if nominated and elected and about the impact of the administration of President Donald Trump. Here are thoughts and impressions about candidates in the Republican field, presented alphabetically: State Sen Jon Bramnick, first elected to the Assembly in 2003 and its longtime Republican leader, was elected to the upper chamber in 2021. Bramnick, 72, is a Plainfield attorney and was the first Republican to enter the race for governor. An avowed Never-Trumper, Bramnick said that, when appropriate, he would continue some of the state's ongoing legal challenges that seek to block parts of the administration's policy agenda. He also said he would call on the New Jersey congressional delegation to protect Medicaid coverage for the state's most vulnerable residents. Bramnick's campaign is designed to appeal to moderates in both parties who are concerned about New Jersey's tax burden and want to see the Garden State's economy grow. 'My feeling is we need balance. I don't believe in this one-party system. Now, you've had the Democrats control the Legislature for 20 years. And now you've had a Democratic governor for seven years. It doesn't work. What you want is balance because most people in New Jersey are in the middle.' Bramnick is focused, too, on fixing New Jersey's housing crisis and suggested to the USA TODAY Network New Jersey Editorial Board that he would work with developers across the state to locate large tracts of land on which to construct affordable single-family and multi-family units to meet market demand. Bramnick also outlined positions on reconfiguring the state budget to better fund NJ Transit, said he would work to reconfigure the state's complex school funding formula and suggested that he would regularly take questions from the public and from members of the Legislature if elected. Jack Ciattarelli, a former state Assemblyman who lives in Somerville, nearly ousted Gov. Phil Murphy in the 2021 election. It was immediately clear that Ciattarelli, a sometime contributor to the opinion pages of the USA TODAY Network New Jersey, would seek his party's nomination again this year. Ciattarelli, who once dismissed President Donald Trump as a "charlatan," earned the president's endorsement earlier this month. While Ciattarelli has positioned himself as a right-of-center moderate in earlier campaigns, this year, he has embraced the MAGA mood that holds grip over large swaths of the Republican primary electorate. "The president's trying to hit the reset button," Ciattarelli said, pointing to Trump's efforts to stem the federal deficit and rebalance global trade. In conversations with the USA TODAY Network New Jersey Editorial Board, Ciattarelli said New Jersey faced "an affordability crisis, a public safety crisis, a public education crisis" and also expressed deep concern about overdevelopment and housing affordability. To address affordability, Ciattarelli outlined specific proposals to tackle the school funding formula and said the state, on his watch, would fund special education across the state. He also called for a unified state department to oversee all of the state's transportation infrastructure, including NJ Transit, the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. Ciattarelli said he would also conduct a broad review of state spending with an eye toward trimming the budget as broadly as possible. On energy, Ciattarelli put the blame for forthcoming utility rate hikes squarely on Gov. Phil Murphy and the Democratic Legislature and said he would work quickly to stand up natural gas generation. He also said he would explore expanding the state's existing nuclear footprint. Bill Spadea, the longtime NJ 101.5 radio personality who lives in Princeton, is a stalwart supporter of President Donald Trump. Spadea and his campaign did not respond to invitations to sit with the USA TODAY Network New Jersey Editorial Board. Spadea has said his campaign is aimed at stemming New Jersey's affordability crisis, addressing what he calls an epidemic of illegal immigration and slowing down housing development that he says imperils New Jersey's suburban communities. Immigration, he has said, is his top priority. 'We're going to rescind the 2018 executive order and get rid of the sanctuary state. We're going to rescind the 2019 Immigrant Trust Directive,' he said. 'We're going to issue a series of executive orders … to stop phase four of this high-density housing nonsense that is crushing our suburban communities." Former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac and Justin Barbera, a Burlington County contractor, are also on the June 10 primary ballot but did not meet various qualifications to participate in debates this spring. This article originally appeared on NJ governor 2025: Republican candidates focus on waste, immigration
CBS News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Newark Airport, NJ Transit issues discussed at New Jersey Republican gubernatorial debate
Three top Republican candidates for New Jersey governor participated in a fiery debate Wednesday. The contenders sparred on hot-button issues, including immigration, affordability, fixing NJ Transit and the recent problems at Newark Liberty International Airport. Candidates support Trump's agenda Former gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, and former radio and TV host Bill Spadea each fought for GOP support and welcomed the backing of President Trump. "Two million people voted for Donald Trump. He's done right by New Jersey with the wind farms, congestion pricing. Yes," Ciattarelli said. "If the president of the United States decides that Jon Bramnick's his man, hey, thank you very much," Bramnick said. "As the only guy here who's been with Trump, supporting him since the escalator in 2015, absolutely," Spadea said. President Trump had a strong showing in New Jersey in November, losing the state by just 6 points, and that had the candidates explaining what they would do regarding the administration's agenda on immigration. "I will follow the lead of what Tom Homan and the president have set out, and yes, we'll use the state police and the National Guard if necessary to deport criminal aliens," Spadea said. When asked if there was a middle ground, Spadea said, "There's always a middle ground." "Bad guys, they should be deported. There are people that have to be deported ... I'm not getting in front of ICE, but I'll tell you this, everyone deserves a hearing," Bramnick said. "The president's first goal is to make the country safe again. He's gotta do that by securing the border," Ciattarelli said. Gubernatorial candidates address mass transit issues The debate came as NJ Transit is negotiating to try to avert a possible labor strike, and Newark Airport is facing flight chaos. Each candidate was asked what a governor could do. "Apparently for many years, the FAA has allowed the infrastructure at Newark not to keep up with modern technology," Bramnick said. "Why don't we have our air traffic controllers working 12-hour shifts? Our cops and our nurses both work 12-hour shifts. Right now, these guys are limited to 10 hours," Spadea said. "I believe leadership makes a difference. With competent leadership, we can fix our mass transit systems," Ciattarelli said. New Jersey voters will have only a few more weeks to make up their minds. The Democratic gubernatorial debate will be held on Sunday, May 18, in Newark. Both the Republican and Democratic primaries will be held June 10.
