Nutley Township mayor set to be deployed to Iraq

Power & Politics: State Rep. Josh Elliot is the first Democrat to enter the race for Governor

New York agrees to settle lawsuit with ex-aide who accused Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment

Metro-North breaks ground on new Naugatuck train station. The mayor says it could revitalize his city

Connecticut remembers Fairfield First Selectman Bill Gerber

Fairfield community mourns First Selectman Bill Gerber

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News 12 Staff

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Less than 4 months till voters go to the polls to elect our next governor, and that prompted a visit by DNC chair Ken Martin. I had the chance to catch up with him recently as he joined local candidates in Neptune. Hey, thanks for having me, Eric. It's great to be here in New Jersey. Ken, listen, I, I, I want to talk about the state of the Democratic Party right now. Uh, there, there's certainly unity in the party against the president, but otherwise it certainly has seemed in recent months that the party has never been more fractured in some respects, more people going independent. Here in New Jersey, the Republican rolls are growing, which is expected to make for a nail biter in the gubernatorial election in November. So what's the strategy? What's your strategy now? You're here to tackle voter disillusionment. Hey, look, I mean, I, I'm gonna be really honest with you. One thing that's unifying the Democratic Party right now is what Donald Trump and the Republicans have been doing in Washington DC there's no doubt that this big beautiful betrayal of a bill that just passed is gonna really make an impact, uh, a devastating impact on communities throughout New Jersey and of course on the lives of so many uh folks in this in this state and so look. To say that our party is not unified would be a giant mistake as I've traveled the country, our party is more energized than ever, and that is to stand up and protect many of the vulnerable communities who are being impacted by these devastating policies that Trump and the Republicans in Washington continue to push. And so you know we have an amazing ticket uh from the top to the bottom, local candidates running on the. Here in New Jersey, I have no doubt that we're going to be successful here in 2025 if everyone rolls up their sleeves and gets to work, and that's why I'm here. We're knocking on doors. We're talking to voters, and the response we've gotten so far has been great. I want to zero in on the gubernatorial election very quickly. The last time New Jersey voted for governor, the same party, three terms in a row, was back in 1961. So I mean if you look at history, history is against you uh members of your party do concede that Jack Cttarelli is is a tough opponent. What do you think Mikey Sherrill needs to do to win this? Well, I think she needs to do what she's already been doing and it's one of the reasons she won the primary. She focused on the needs of hardworking New Jerseyans with a message around economic opportunity, making sure that hardworking people who are struggling just to get by can actually get ahead and delivering on the opportunity of America. That's what Mikey Sherrill ran on and that's what these great Democrats here running for local office are running on, making sure that. No one falls behind that. Everyone has an opportunity to get ahead and to build a better life for their families and for their communities. That's why she'll win because as one party is actually taking away that American dream, one party is actually making it harder for people to live their lives. It's the Democratic Party led by these candidates and many others throughout New Jersey who are focused on making their lives more affordable, focused on, uh, actually helping them achieve their dreams for their families and their communities, and that. Mikey will win. Ken, I want to turn our attention across the river right now because New Jersey, as well as the gubernatorial candidates are watching what's happening in New York City with the mayoral race there. This region, as you well know, has the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel, and you have a candidate who won the primaries, Oran Mamdani, who will not condemn the phrase globalize the Intifada. Do you condemn him for not denouncing that phrase? Well, what I would say is, um, I, I, I think it's shameful anyone that actually uses that phrase because what that phrase essentially does is it, uh it's hateful and uh you know we've seen an alarming rise of anti-Semitism, not just here in New Jersey but throughout the country and the reality is is anyone who's using that phrase which is essentially a green light for terror is essentially contributing to the hate and violence that we're seeing in our communities right now we don't. Need any more of that and so you know I want to be as clear as possible, right? Anyone who is saying that we should support a global intifada is inciting more terror and hate in a country that doesn't need any more of that right now. And so look, you know, I don't want to speak specifically to Mamdani, but I do want to say specifically to anyone who thinks that a call to a global intifada is some sort of righteous cause. It's not. It's a Just a call to more violence, to more hate, and to more division. It's definitely stuff we don't need any more of in this country or throughout the world at a time when hate and violent speech are so high. Look, I'm from Minnesota. Two of my friends were just assassinated a few weeks ago because of their political beliefs. We don't need this type of rhetoric in our party, in any party, or in this country. Ken, to your 0.1100 people were murdered, 8000 others were. Wounded in the second Intifada through suicide bombings on buses in pizza shops, restaurants, a hotel, a disco, that's Intifada. So considering Zoran Mamdani's refusal to condemn the phrase globalizing the Intifada, is he the right person to be at the helm in New York City and to bring people under the Democrats' big tent, as you like to call it, because if he is a candidate isn't condemning the phrase. Isn't the message that he's sending that there is no room in that tent for Jews? Well, here's what I would say again, um, I, I hope he'll clarify what his position is on this. Um, the reality is anyone who's using that again is inciting violence and a call to violence in this country which we don't need at this point. So, uh, my hope is that he'll clarify his statement on that and what he actually means. I, I already told you what I think about that. Right, we have a responsibility to create safe and inclusive spaces in this country and make sure that people throughout this country, whether they're Jewish or not, actually can feel safe in their own communities. If he doesn't clarify that, do you, will you endorse him, or would you rather see somebody like Andrew Cuomo or the current mayor Adams as the mayor of New York City again? Well, look, here's the reality at the end of the day, um, I'm the chair of the Democratic Party. He is our Democratic nominee right now, and I certainly hope that he will clarify his statements on this, uh, at the end of the day it's important that he does because as you mentioned, uh, uh, there are many people in this big tent coalition including, you know, uh, millions of Jewish Americans who find comments like that, uh, hateful, uh, uh, completely insensitive, and anti-Semitic. That was DNC chair Ken. By the way, Madani, since that interview and under intense public backlash has now said that he is willing to discourage the use of that phrase, but his failure to condemn such calls wasn't grounds for Martin to support another candidate. It wasn't a red line. Meantime, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill penned an op ed this week in which she strongly condemned the phrase globalize the intifada. No mention of Mamdani. In June, Sheryl told another news outlet while she has a lot of differences with Mamdani. If he's the candidate, she assumes she'll support him. Power and politics continues right after the break.

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New poll out on the race for governor. The poll by Kellyanne Conway for the super PAC Change NJ finds Democratic Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill leading Republican Jack Cttarelli by 5 points, 47% to 42%, 11% undecided. A recent Rutgers Eagleton poll showed Sherrill ahead by 20 points, but the Celli campaign slammed that poll's accuracy and methodology. The man who escaped a Newark immigration detention facility is back in custody. He was on the run for about a month. The FBI says the 25 year old was captured in Los Angeles on Thursday. He was originally being held at the facility after being arrested for petty larceny and burglary. Again, the 25-year-old from Colombia is one of 4 who broke out of Delaney Hall last month. The others were already back in custody. It was chaos at that immigration center that the men broke through a second story wall and then used bed sheets to cover barbed wire to jump the fence. Another immigration detention facility is set to open in New Jersey. The federal government planning to use Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirming that it would quote house illegal aliens. He says that it will not interfere with military operations. Now he said the letter to Congressman Herb Conaway. Conaway and the rest of the Democrats in Congress for New Jersey slammed the idea. They put out a joint statement on Friday. Writing using our country's military to detain and hold undocumented immigrants jeopardizes military preparedness and paves the way for ICE immigration raids in every New Jersey community. Family members of the detained workers in Edison say that their employer isn't helping them. 25 people were arrested last week at the Alba Wine and Spirits warehouse, and they now face deportation. Loved ones using photos right here to try to put faces to the detainees. Many only had work permits. They would need to show their documentation and a reference from Alba We at a court hearing Monday. So far families telling News 12 their bosses are not willing to help. These are not violent people. These are not criminals, these are your neighbors, these are your friends, and let's make sure that all these warehouse owners are accountable to the employees they hire every day who they profit and make millions of on their backs. Some of the detained employees are being held at Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, others in Elizabeth. A spokesperson for Alba Wine and Spirits telling News 12 those arrested were temporary workers assigned through a staffing agency. And that'll do it for this week's show. I'm Eric Landskroner. As always, we thank you for watching New Jersey Power and Politics. We'll see you again next time.

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On this week's Power & Politics, News 12's Erik Landskroner is joined by Union County Commissioner Al Mirabella and Watchung Mayor Ronald Jubin, who both discuss where the recovery process stands after this week's deadly flash flooding.

Power & Politics: Officials focus on recovery following deadly flash flooding

On this week's Power & Politics, News 12's Erik Landskroner is joined by Union County Commissioner Al Mirabella and Watchung Mayor Ronald Jubin, who both discuss where the recovery process stands after this week's deadly flash flooding.

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