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News 12 Staff

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Welcome back. I'm Eric Lanz Kerner. We're continuing our primary debrief now with a deeper dive into the results on the Democratic side. I'd like to welcome Bill Pascrell the 3rd, or BP3 with Princeton Public Affairs Group. Uh, Bill, it's great to see you. Eric, thank you so much for having me. It's been a while and I love being with you on the show. So happy to have you back on, Bill. Uh, listen, uh, our political panel in studio the other night did a double take at how quickly this race was called for Congresswoman Sheryl. Were you surprised at how fast, uh, this race was called? I, I was watching your show. Uh, I, I, I wish I could have been on it, but, uh, uh, I'm here today. I was, uh, very surprised. Um, I was also surprised at how early. Uh, the Republican, uh, nominee was announced, uh, you know, like 1015 minutes after the polls closed. I think it's a tribute. Uh, hopefully to lessons learned about elections past and also I think it's a tribute to both nominees. They ran great campaigns. It wasn't close. It wasn't a nail biter. I talked to a couple of journalists who thought we'd be going into Wednesday morning on the Democratic side, and that certainly didn't happen. Mikey Shero had a decisive victory after a very tumultuous campaign. Listen, after 8 years under Democratic control, how difficult do you think it's going to be for the congresswoman to win in November and add another 4 years to the Democratic reign in the governor's office? Eric, we haven't had a 3, same party governor since 1961, OK? And that's, uh, believe it or not, before I was born, um, not much, but a little bit. I, you know, I am not, uh, one of those Democrats that get overly exuberant 23 days after the election, although I was very happy for Mikey Sherri. She's a good person. She's my congresswoman. And she was very close friends with my dad. That means a lot. However, I think this is gonna be a very difficult campaign. I think it will be a nail biter, and I think we have two good fighters in the race. Mayor Phillip, uh, was, was very adamant in the primary, uh, run up that that the congresswoman couldn't beat Jack Cttarelli in the general. What what does she need to do at this point and for the next 5 months to really connect with the independents out there? Well, we saw that that argument that Mayor Phillip made, uh, didn't pan out. We also saw a similar argument. On the Republican side that John Bramlich made, OK, so you know that's sort of uh I'm gonna let you because you don't think this other one can't beat the other. I think that, um, Congresswoman Sheryl has to really focus on getting out of the Washington aura, getting into state government. She's a good campaigner, but she is not as adept. Right now, as Jack Chitarelli is with state issues, whether you agree with him or not, he knows state policy he's been living and breathing it for most of his adult life. Mikey Sherrill's been a prosecutor. She's been uh a part of, uh, the military. Uh, God bless her and thank her for her service, and she's been a member of Congress for the last several years, but that doesn't get you into the weeds on how you solve some of the problems we have in New Jersey with New Jersey transit, with energy costs, with health care, with property taxes, and that's, uh, that takes some time to do. I, I wanna pivot a little bit here. What, what's next for Mayor Flip? Uh, listen, he was running for governor for more than 2 years. What's his next step? You know, I, I, I've talked to, I'm, I'm gonna just say this, other people that I've talked to perhaps agree, uh, I was surprised he didn't do better because I thought he ran a very good campaign, not good enough to win. I think the mistake that he made was not understanding turnout and having a real, he didn't really have a campaign staff, right? He certainly crisscrossed the state. He had resources and the money, uh, probably almost as much as, uh, Congresswoman Cheryl, but you know, I think, uh, Steve Phillip does have a future. I know that tomorrow, Eric, you and I can wake up and he can announce he's running for mayor of Jersey City, although he said he wouldn't do that. He may decide to run for some other office or he may decide that he's gonna be, uh, a good. Um, honorable loser, work hard with Mikey Sherrill and perhaps, perhaps work on some type of cabinet office in a Sherrill administration. Bill, uh, listen, while I have you, you, you, you, you're just back from what what had to be a very emotional night at at Nationals Park where, where your dad was honored at the congressional baseball game. How much did that mean to you and how much do you think it would have meant to him? We got a call. I got a call on behalf of the family, uh, because I'm my dad's oldest son, and I have two brothers, David and Glenn. Uh, congressman Steve Scalise, who as you know, is a Republican, the majority leader from Louisiana, was shot in 2017 while practicing for the baseball game. Scalise and my dad took it very seriously. For them to call us and tell us that dad was gonna be inducted into the Hall of Fame. And that they were gonna honor the game after him, 32,000 fans was quite an honor. I haven't been on many Major League baseball fields, and I know my dad always wanted to be on there, but playing. Uh, so when he got to Nationals Park, when he moved it there several years ago, he was thrilled. He took it seriously. I love my dad, he's my best friend. You and I talked about this. I miss him dearly, but I'm very proud of his legacy. And, uh, uh, I have to live the straight line now because I know he's watching me 24/7. And, uh, very quickly, you reminded me that he was in the minors and, and he played for what, you said 16 years in these games? He played in the Congressional Baseball League for 1617 years and then when he got into his late 70s, they would let him hit and he hit, he batted 300. Official batting score. That's why they inducted him in. Bill, uh, Bill Pascal the 3rd, thank you so much for joining us and, uh, for sharing some memories and, and again, what a great night. Thanks again for seeing, uh, for being here. Thank you very much, Eric, and God bless your family. You've got a big weekend coming up. All right, thanks a lot, buddy. Uh, we'll be right back here on Power and Politics right after the break.

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Welcome back. Members of the Engineers Union for NJ Transit ratified and agreed on that new contract. This comes after last month's historic 3 day strike where hundreds of trained engineers walked off the job, first strike in more than 40 years. The union says the new 7 year contract raises wages to over $50 an hour and includes retroactive pay and a signing bonus. Now goes to NJ Transit's board of directors. Now the financial fallout remains unclear. NJ Transit president CEO Chris Collui saying in part, we adhere to the established bargaining pattern and through constructive negotiations secured meaningful concessions that enabled us to fund the wage increases sought by BLET members without exceeding our current budget. President Trump has said that he wants to phase out FEMA and place any responsibility of rebuilding from hurricanes or tornadoes on the states, a change he wants in place by the end of the 2025 hurricane season. But is that something the states or even municipalities could take on? News Trump's Chris Keating has more from Union Beach. Within Union Beach neighborhoods, you can still see the effects of Sandy by looking closely at each and every home. It was with FEMA funding that these homeowners were able to rebuild with large foundations or pilings, setting them up 12 to 15 ft above sea level. Any new construction close to Raden Bay is being built up, and there are vacant lots still, a reminder of homes demolished following flooding. I don't think Union Beach would be 50% built back if it wasn't for FEMA. Mayor Charles Kukosa showed us how along the Raritan Bay, the Army Corps of Engineers built up a protective dune and widened the beach. He has heard the president talk about putting the responsibility of rebuilding after disasters in the hands of the states. Governor, you know, governors should be able to handle it and frankly, if they can handle it, the aftermath, then. Maybe they shouldn't be governor. But financially, Cucosa says there's no chance. The state of New Jersey doesn't have the money. I think it might be better to reform FEMA, cut a lot of the red tape, cut a lot of the aggravation out of it that it creates for homeowners and for for residents. And what happens if FEMA is gone? I do not think that there's anyone else right now that could fill in and step into those same shoes. Lisa Auermuller is with the Rutgers University Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences. FEMA does a great job with their hazard mitigation planning, thinking ahead about what future disasters could look like and how to mitigate them now. FEMA has numbers that show for every $1 you spend now you'll save $6 in the future. And that's all about reducing risk so that when the next hurricane hits, whether it's here in Union Beach or along the Gulf Coast, it doesn't destroy any property or take even one life in Union Beach, I'm Chris Keating, News 12, New Jersey. And that'll do it for this week's show. I'm Eric Lantzconner, as always, we thank you for watching New Jersey Power and Politics. We'll see you again next time.

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Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli and Bill Pascrell III, with the Princeton Public Affairs Group, join the show. 

Power & Politics: Sherrill vs. Ciattarelli – a look ahead at November’s NJ gubernatorial race

Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli and Bill Pascrell III, with the Princeton Public Affairs Group, join the show.

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