Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Category: Elections

Governor Murphy Delivers His Fifth State of the State Address

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Posted in Elections

On January 11, 2023

For the first time since 2020, Governor Murphy delivered his State of the State address yesterday in person at a joint session of the New Jersey Legislature. Unlike his prior State of the State addresses, which focused on his first-term theme of a “stronger and fairer” New Jersey, this fifth address brought a new refrain – New Jersey as a State of Opportunity. A significant portion of the Governor’s speech focused on the areas where the state is providing opportunities or leading. He identified areas such as economic development, criminal justice reform, reproductive freedom, youth mental health, opioid use recovery, and clean energy as major policy initiatives in this regard. The Governor painted New Jersey as a “business friendly” state, highlighting New Jersey’s job growth over the past two years and the current unemployment rate, which is below the national average. The Governor also touted New Jersey’s growing gross domestic product, asserting that the state’s third quarter 2022 growth was the highest in the northeast region and 10th highest in the nation. Governor Murphy stated that New Jersey is a leader in new and emerging industries, such as wind energy, cannabis, online gaming, and financial technology, while continuing to cultivate legacy industries, such as life sciences, that have long had a presence here. In his...

2022 Elections Result in Close Races but Less Turnover Than Expected

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Posted in Elections

On November 10, 2022

With mid-term elections serving as a referendum on the party-in-power, Democrats braced for losses and Republicans sought to catch a “red wave” both in New Jersey and nationwide. Although votes are still being counted in some races, both sides can claim victory, as Republicans were able to pick up some seats and Democrats were able to blunt significant Republican gains. New Jersey’s congressional delegation will remain a Democratic majority, as only one of the hotly contested races resulted in an incumbent Democrat’s loss. In New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, Republican Tom Kean, Jr. and Democrat Tom Malinowski faced off in a rematch of the 2020 election to represent Central Jersey residents. Mr. Malinowski defeated Mr. Kean then by less than 1 percent, but redistricting made the 7th District more Republican. With a more favorable map, Mr. Kean was able to defeat Congressman Malinowski by about 4 percentage points. In the 3rd Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Andy Kim won nearly 55 percent of the vote against Republican challenger Bob Healey. It was unclear if the newly redrawn district would present a challenge for the sitting congressman; however, by midnight, the election returns demonstrated that Mr. Kim was safely re-elected. Other congressional races, such as the contests in the 5th and 11th Districts, were also viewed as...

2019 Election Results Bring Little Change to State Legislature

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Posted in Elections

On November 8, 2019

Democrats billed the 2019 elections as a referendum on President Trump. Republicans dubbed the off-year contests as the “Murphy Mid-Term” and a chance to stall Democratic attempts to build on the “blue wave” of 2018. Who was right? It looks like both sides can declare victory. With the 80 seats of New Jersey General Assembly up for election, along with a Special Election for the Senate seat in the First Legislative District (Cumberland, Cape May and Atlantic Counties), the election returns produced mostly a status quo result. Democrats will continue to control both the General Assembly and State Senate, but with majorities slightly smaller than in the past session. All three Democratic incumbents in the First Legislative District lost to their respective Republican challengers. The race for the two Assembly seats in the Second Legislative District was extremely close, but it appears the Democratic incumbents will be victorious. Even with the loss in the First Legislative District, Democrats still retain a wide majority in the Assembly (52-28) and the Senate (25-15). Republican incumbents were able to hang onto victory in District 8 (Burlington County), District 21 (Morris, Somerset, and Union Counties), and District 25 (Morris and Somerset), where Democrats ran particularly hard in all three districts. Democrats did show strength at the local and county...

2018 Primary Yields (Mostly) Anticipated Results

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Posted in Elections

On June 7, 2018

New Jerseyans went to the polls on June 5th to select their party’s nominees for the November elections. The most closely watched races were the primaries for the upcoming Congressional races. Nationally, Democrats see a path to gain control of the House of Representatives and possibly the U.S. Senate, but it requires that the party hold their current seats while picking up enough open seats and defeating incumbent Republicans to gain the majority. U.S. Senate As expected, incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Menendez will face Republican Bob Hugin, the former CEO of Celgene. In addition to holding Senator Menendez’s seat, Democrats must win at least two Senate seats held by Republicans in order to flip control of the Senate. House of Representatives Democrats must flip 25 seats nationally to gain control of the House. Democrats believe three of those seats could be in New Jersey, which has a delegation of seven Democrats and five Republicans. In the 2nd Congressional District, State Senator Jeff Van Drew won a contested primary to earn the Democratic nomination. He will face Republican Seth Grossman, an attorney and former local and county office holder. While Senator Van Drew was expected to win the primary, Mr. Grossman faced an uphill battle defeating frontrunner Hirsh Singh, former Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi, and former FBI...

James R. Zazzali Named Ethics Counsel to Gubernatorial Transition

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Posted in Elections

On November 15, 2017

Governor-elect Phil Murphy today announced his appointment of James R. Zazzali, Of Counsel at Gibbons P.C. and former Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, to serve as ethics counsel to Transition2018. In this role, Mr. Zazzali will ensure transparency in the transitional campaign’s operations and compliance with state ethics laws on the part of all gubernatorial transition staff, committees, and volunteers. Gary Stein, a former Associate Justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court, was also appointed as ethics counsel to Transition2018. “James Zazzali has a lengthy and highly regarded history of civic engagement and dedicated service to the state of New Jersey,” says Patrick C. Dunican Jr., Chairman and Managing Director of Gibbons. “Those of us at the firm are well aware of the exceptional qualifications that Governor-elect Murphy clearly recognized in appointing him to the transition team.” “I am honored that Justices Zazzali and Stein will be ensuring that my transition lives up to the highest standards of ethics and transparency, and will set the tone for my administration,” said Murphy. “They are giants in the law community and are respected statewide. Their leadership and guidance will be invaluable.” Mr. Zazzali joined Gibbons in 2007, after retiring from the bench. He had served on the Supreme Court for over six years, and...

Murphy Announces Transition Team Chairs and Co-Chairs

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Posted in Elections

On November 13, 2017

This morning, Governor-elect Murphy released his transition committees and the committees’ chairs and co-chairs. In announcing the specific policy committees and their leadership, the Governor-elect stated that the “co-chairs boast a rich diversity of both background and experiences, of valuable government experience and unique outside perspectives.” The Governor-elect’s full press release with the list of transition leaders can be found here.

Murphy Wins Governor’s Race, Democrats Pick Up Seats in the Legislature

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Posted in Elections

On November 8, 2017

On Tuesday, November 7th, New Jersey voters elected Democrat Phil Murphy as the next Governor of New Jersey. Mr. Murphy defeated the State’s Republican Lieutenant Governor, Kim Guadagno, by a margin of 56% to 42%. All 120 seats in the State Legislature were also on the ballot, and the Democrats retained their majority in both houses. Democrats will pick up one Senate seat and two Assembly seats, bringing their control to 25 seats in the Senate, and 54 seats in the Assembly. Lastly, voters approved two ballot questions related to borrowing for library improvements and the dedication of funds for environmental cleanups. Governor’s Race Phil Murphy was the favored candidate from the start of the general election, having outpolled Lieutenant Governor Guadagno by as much as 20 percent in some surveys. This campaign marked Governor-Elect Murphy’s first time running for public office. He is a former Goldman Sachs executive, and the former Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Murphy also served as Ambassador to Germany during President Obama’s first term. The Murphy campaign focused on three main issues: growing the economy, economic fairness, and investing in New Jersey. Governor-Elect Murphy’s platform included raising new tax revenues through closing corporate loopholes, increasing the income tax on millionaires, and legalizing and taxing marijuana. He also...

With the 2017 Primary Over, It’s Murphy versus Guadagno for Governor

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Posted in Elections

On June 8, 2017

On Tuesday, June 6, 2017, New Jersey voters went to the polls to select their party’s nominees for Governor and all 120 seats in the Legislature. After a 2016 election cycle full of surprises, New Jersey’s 2017 primary resulted in wins for the gubernatorial front-runners, Democrat Phil Murphy and Republican Kim Guadagno. Those legislative districts with contested primaries also resulted in no major upsets and saw the expected candidates emerge with victories. Governor’s Race Former Ambassador Phil Murphy won the Democratic primary with 48 percent of the vote (241,353). His next closest competitor, former U.S. Treasury official Jim Johnson, garnered 22 percent (109,260), followed by Assemblyman John Wisniewski who also received 22 percent (107,872). Senator Raymond Lesniak came in fourth with 5 percent (24,136). Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno won the Republican primary with 47 percent of the vote (113,404). Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli tallied 31 percent (75,275). In both contests, turnout was low. About one-quarter of Democratic voters, and only 20 percent of Republicans, participated in the primary. With New Jersey and Virginia being only states to hold a gubernatorial election in 2017, national groups are expected to make these two elections a referendum on President Trump and his agenda. Legislative Races Of the 40 legislative districts, only a handful saw competitive primary contests. In Legislative...

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