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Fox News
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Dem mayor arrested for trespassing at ICE facility floated as pick for state's No 2 office
Print Close By Peter Pinedo Published June 16, 2025 Despite losing his bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination last week, progressive Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was recently arrested outside an ICE facility during a protest, is likely not finished in New Jersey politics, according to political strategists from both sides of the aisle. According to a New Jersey political insider, Baraka is likely to even be tapped by the now-Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mikie Sherrill for the lieutenant governor role, the No. 2 spot in the state. Mayor of Newark since 2014, Baraka has garnered a reputation as a progressive. It was his arrest outside an ICE detention facility in Newark on May 9, however, that propelled him to the national stage. Baraka filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba this month, accusing her of "false arrest and malicious prosecution" in connection with the incident. WHO IS THE DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING AT AN ICE DETENTION CENTER? He was one of several public officials, including Democratic Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver and Bonnie Watson Coleman, who allegedly rushed past security through the gates of the facility with a group of protesters, according to officials from the Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. attorney's office has since dismissed the case against Baraka "for the sake of moving forward." Kenny Gonzalez, executive director of the New Jersey Republican State Committee, told Fox News Digital that "the day that his arrest happened, [Baraka] really did become a hero of New Jersey's Democrat Party." Baraka's campaign took full advantage of the moment, even beginning to send fundraising messages to supporters while he was still incarcerated, according to Politico. Politico reporter Matt Friedman posted a screenshot of a text message from Baraka's campaign that reads in all caps "RAS BARAKA HAS BEEN ARRESTED" and "Ras was at Delaney Hall today demanding entry into the ICE detention center where Trump and MAGA extremists are illegally detaining people." The message went on to say, "Ras is ready to do whatever it takes to stop Trump and protect New Jerseyans from his extreme agenda. We need you with us now more than ever. Donate now." ICE BREAKOUT IN NEW JERSEY SYMPTOM OF DEMOCRATIC 'CHAOS' ACROSS THE COUNTRY, LOCAL GOP LEADER SAYS Gonzalez explained that "almost every Democrat elected official, including all of his primary opponents for governor, came out against what had happened, calling it some sort of injustice and saying that it was wrong." "I do believe that we were correct in predicting that this stunt would actually boost him, and it really did," said Gonzalez. He said that though early polling had Baraka in a distant third place, the Newark mayor's performance, coming in second with 20.6% of the vote, "was really the big news of the night." "Mikie Sherrill spent millions and millions more dollars than he did. So it's no surprise that she emerged as the primary winner. But Ras Baraka was a distant third place, and he came in second," said Gonzalez. "So the stunt definitely boosted him, and I think to this day he remains very, very popular among the Democrat Party." HOMELAND SECURITY REVEALS IDENTITIES OF THE 4 'PUBLIC SAFETY THREATS' WHO ESCAPED NEWARK ICE FACILITY "I wouldn't be surprised if Mikie Sherrill picks Ras Baraka to be her lieutenant governor candidate," he said. "He put up a formidable performance, and he's an African-American politician who has very deep ties to many urban communities," he went on. "Mikie Sherrill couldn't even win her own home county. So I think she should probably pick somebody who did." Gonzalez is optimistic that Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, can flip the New Jersey governorship back red. "What Ras Baraka did was he failed to fulfill his responsibility as mayor of Newark … he put illegal immigrants over Newark citizens," he said. "There are so many other issues that New Jerseyans face, such as high property taxes, unsafe neighborhoods, a school funding formula that hasn't worked in many years. So I believe that commonsense voters think that Ras Baraka should have focused his campaign a little bit more on that." US ATTORNEY ALINA HABBA ANNOUNCES REP MCIVER HIT WITH FEDERAL CHARGES OVER NEWARK ICE CLASH Meanwhile, Kevin Hagan, a New Jersey Democratic political strategist and advisor, told Fox News Digital that "Baraka certainly created a campaign that not only gained attention but earned an impressive result of votes on Election Day." Hagan credited Baraka's success not to the Delaney Hall protest and arrest but to "his willingness to take on President Trump and his policies but also bring to the forefront issues important to the Democratic Party on education, affordability and quality of life in the state." Hagan said that based on how well Baraka ran his campaign, he should "certainly" at least "be considered as a potential candidate." "But what's important now is the Sherrill campaign and the congresswoman deciding on who is best to be her partner, to see the campaign's way to victory in November, but more importantly, a partner to govern in January," he said. TRUMP NOT ON BALLOT, BUT PRESIDENT FRONT AND CENTER IN NEW JERSEY'S PRIMARY FOR GOVERNOR CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP On whether Democrats will be able to pull off a win in November, Hagan pointed out that over the last 32 years, New Jersey has been governed for 16 years by a Democrat and 16 years by a Republican. "So, from a partisan perspective," he said, "Democrats can take nothing for granted in their effort to maintain control of the governor's office." Print Close URL
New York Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Republicans Prep for an All-Out Race to Flip New Jersey, With Trump's Help
Democrats have held majority control of New Jersey's Legislature for 23 years. The state has had a Democratic governor since 2018. And Democrats enjoy an 800,000-voter registration advantage. So when Republicans talk about November's race for governor, they acknowledge that their sense of growing optimism can feel a bit unfamiliar. 'It's viewed, nationally, as not impossible,' said William Palatucci, one of New Jersey's two representatives on the Republican National Committee. 'And there's a lot of interest for that reason.' On Tuesday, Jack Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman, won the Republican nomination by a resounding 3-to-1 margin, further ratcheting up confidence among party leaders intent on making the most of an atmosphere that they believe offers the best shot for a win in years. He will run against Representative Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat who beat five opponents, decisively, after a bruising and expensive contest. 'It's the best opportunity, maybe, in a generation,' said Mike DuHaime, a political strategist who helped to run campaigns for former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who left office in 2018. Several factors are expected to boost Mr. Ciattarelli's odds. After competing for governor in 2017 and 2021, he has a sturdy level of name recognition and a deep understanding of the policy issues that are likeliest to motivate voters. He also has the world's biggest cheerleader — President Trump — in his corner and history on his side. Not since 1961 has either party managed to hold on to the governor's office for three consecutive terms, and Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, has had the job for two. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
5 takeaways from the New Jersey primaries
The matchup for New Jersey's gubernatorial race is set, with Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli having won their respective nominations Tuesday. Ciattarelli's victory, after having won the GOP nomination four years ago and gained President Trump's coveted endorsement, seemed all but assured heading into the primary. Sherrill was the slight favorite in a crowded six-person field, but she ultimately prevailed comfortably by a double-digit margin over her next closest competitor. Here are five early takeaways from the Garden State's primaries Tuesday: The Democratic race to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy (D) seemed wide open throughout most of the months-long primary battle. A half-dozen major candidates with extensive resumes had gotten in the race, and polls consistently showed Sherrill had a slight lead, though within the margin of error. That lead grew somewhat in the race's final weeks, albeit with many voters still undecided and the state's polling being at times shaky in recent years. But results quickly came in after polls closed. As of the latest vote count, Sherrill is on track to win with about 34 percent of the vote, while Newark Mayor Ras Baraka came in second with about 19.5 percent. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who came in third, had high hopes for an upset as he ran an outsider, grassroots campaign trying to buck the political establishment. He sat out each of the state's county nominating conventions, a plurality of which Sherrill won, as he sought to lean into the anti-establishment sentiment seen among the state's Democrats for the past year. But Fulop ultimately was unable to get close to Sherrill's percentage after running a policy-driven progressive campaign. Sherrill is also currently on track to win in most of the state's 21 counties. If there's one name that dominated the GOP primary, it was President Trump. Ciattarelli and his main opponent, former talk radio host Bill Spadea, engaged in a battle for months to prove who was more supportive of Trump's 'MAGA' agenda in order to gain the president's endorsement. A former state Assembly member who narrowly lost the 2021 election by three points to Murphy, Ciattarelli has undergone a significant evolution regarding Trump. He had denounced him when Trump first launched his campaign for the 2016 race, calling him a 'charlatan' and unfit to serve as president. But Ciattarelli moved much closer to Trump as he made another run for governor this year, a change numerous other once-skeptical Republicans have had since Trump first entered politics. He met with Trump at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., earlier this year before Trump endorsed him. Ciattarelli also went after Spadea on a similar argument that he had been critical of Trump and wanted the party to turn elsewhere for its nominee in 2024. Ciattarelli was already well on his way to winning the nomination before Trump's endorsement, having a big lead in the polls and a significant fundraising advantage. But Trump's support essentially clinched it, and the candidates' eagerness for his backing demonstrated the poignancy of his political influence. Ciattarelli is currently on track to win the nomination with about two-thirds of the vote. Beyond the results themselves, Tuesday's primaries were set to be an early test of the political establishment's power in New Jersey after a consequential year for the state in 2024. The longstanding ballot design that featured the 'county line,' in which candidates who received an endorsement from the county party were given a preferential location on the ballot, was struck down as unconstitutional. The federal judge in the case ruled it gave the endorsed candidates an unfair advantage. This happened as Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), who had been a relatively young House member, fended off New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy for the Democratic nomination for an open Senate seat. But the results demonstrated how the political establishment still wields considerable power despite the county line not being in place anymore. One big boost to Sherrill in the Democratic primary was her victory in 10 of the county conventions, all of them in the highly populated North Jersey. Former State Senate President Steve Sweeney is the only one who came close to that total with six, all in South Jersey. Along with the county endorsements, Sherrill enjoyed backing from numerous county officials in the north, as well as two former Democratic governors. Fulop tried to work outside the system, but Sherrill dominated with likely wins in all but two counties that endorsed her and even appears on track to win two or three counties that endorsed Sweeney. The same dynamic also played out on the Republican side, with Ciattarelli overwhelmingly receiving most endorsements from county parties and local officials. Controversy has surrounded Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. for over a year as he's faced a criminal indictment charging him with assault and witness tampering, among other charges. But he seems poised to fend off a primary challenge as he seeks a second full term in office. Prosecutors allege that he and his wife, Atlantic City School District Superintendent La'Quetta Small, physically and emotionally abused their teenage daughter. In one incident, they allege the mayor, who has served since 2019, hit his daughter on the head with a broom until she lost consciousness. Small and his wife have pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations, but faced a primary challenge from former casino workers union head Bob McDevitt. Small said ahead of the primary that he trusted that voters knew who he is as a person and didn't think the charges would be a major issue in the race. Issues of public safety and the cleanliness of the city took center stage. Small was on track to win comfortably, with more than 60 percent of the vote, as of the most recent vote count Tuesday evening. Observers' eyes were watching to see if New Jersey's primaries would yield any major surprises, but the results mirror what polling suggested would happen. Despite heavy scrutiny of the polls, having missed how close the 2021 governor's race was and Trump only losing New Jersey by 6 points last year, polling seemed to be mostly on top of where things stood. The most recent polls had Sherrill breaking into the 30s with the other candidates middling well behind her in the teens or lower, and that's roughly where the results seem to be. Ciattarelli led by as much as 30 points in polling with still up to a third undecided, and he's on track to win by even more than that. Now the question will be if Republicans can pull off a major upset in November. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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
New York Times
02-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
In the Age of Trump, National Politics Dominate a Republican Primary
When Donald J. Trump was in the thick of his first campaign for the White House, Jack Ciattarelli, then a Republican state assemblyman mulling a run for governor of New Jersey, called the soon-to-be commander in chief a 'charlatan' who was 'out of step with American values.' 'Sitting silently and allowing him to embarrass our country is unacceptable,' Mr. Ciattarelli said in a 2015 statement. 'He is not fit to be president of the United States.' Ten years later, Mr. Ciattarelli, the front-runner in the June 10 Republican primary for governor, has pivoted. He has praised Mr. Trump during the campaign and last month earned the president's coveted endorsement. Like many other Republican politicians across the country, including the vice president, JD Vance, Mr. Ciattarelli has worked to paper over his past criticism of the president as Mr. Trump has grown in popularity. That effort to appeal to the G.O.P.'s conservative base is seen more as a reflection of the realities of party primaries at a polarized moment in history than as a fundamental realignment of the Republican Party in New Jersey, a left-leaning state with a high percentage of affluent suburban voters. 'It's indicative of where Republicans are, but it's also indicative of where a lot of voters are,' said Peter J. McDonough Jr., a retired political strategist and former aide to Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican who was governor of New Jersey in the 1990s. 'People are mad. People are dissatisfied — whether they're Bernie Sanders or Trump voters.' Where Do the Candidates for New Jersey Governor Stand on the Issues? The New York Times sent a wide-ranging survey to candidates for governor of New Jersey about housing, immigration, abortion, transit, affordability, schools and climate. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
