Democrat,

Republican gubernatorial candidate Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli made an abrupt about face this week, going from calling for the state to skip this year’s pension payment to suddenly demanding to “protect police and fire pensions” in a tweet he later deleted. It’s a good thing Governor Murphy is better at managing the state budget than Ciattarelli is at managing his Twitter account, because rather than follow the Republican nominee’s advice Governor Murphy made a record pension payment this year that will save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in reduced interest costs. Read more about Assemblyman Ciattatelli’s pension follies here.

In another milestone in the state’s recovery from COVID-19, earlier this week Governor Murphy announced that for the first time since March of 2020 the state reported no confirmed deaths due to the virus. While the highly contagious Delta variant is still leading to new cases, increasingly the pandemic is affecting only the unvaccinated as residents who have received their shots are returning to normal life. If you have not yet been vaccinated, now is the time -- find out where you can get your shot here.

After being defeated last year by Congressman Tom Malinowski, Republican Tom Kean, Jr. announced that he will be running again next year. In one of his very first actions as a candidate, Kean Jr. this week embraced Washington’s number one Trump defender and enabler, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Just like he did in 2020, Kean Jr. is once again throwing away any remaining piece of his former reputation as a political moderate and instead joining the far right, Trumpist movement that has taken over the Republican Party. That’s why voters will reject him once again. 

If you want to fight back against Tom Kean, Jr.’s embrace of the far right, donate to Congressman Malinowski’s campaign here.

Marking the continued progress his administration is making in fighting the pandemic and getting the economy back on track, President Biden gave a stirring July 4th address this week highlighting how his agenda is helping America move forward. Watch President Biden’s speech here.

Thank you,

-- NJDSC Team