Free Republic

The New Jersey AFL-CIO will not take sides in the hotly contested race for Congress in New Jersey’s 7th district between Republican incumbent Tom Kean, Jr. and Democrat Sue Altman. That means national Democrats head into one of the races that could determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives without the backing of the state’s largest labor union. Altman was likely a casualty of her past disputes with the South Jersey Democratic machine and with the New Jersey AFL-CIO president, Charles Wowkanech. The New Jersey Globe has learned that leaders of the building trades unions had pushed for no...

Having laid relatively low in recent weeks, America's pro-terrorism contingent is back with a vengeance -- seemingly energized in opposition to Israel's successful hostage rescue mission over the weekend. Perhaps that timing is a coincidence, but I doubt it. The Hamas mob's political allies and apologists often insist that it's unfair to frame their words, chants and actions as pro-Jew-murder, or even as expressions of anti-Semitism. Well, let's check in on what just happened in New York City, where Hamas supporters protested an exhibit dedicated to the victims of the Nova music festival, where terrorists from Gaza slaughtered hundreds of...

Ajudge in New Jersey ruled that about 1,900 mail-in ballots that were prematurely opened have to be counted and accepted in Atlantic County. Superior Court Judge Michael J. Blee ruled Friday that the prematurely opened ballots will be counted in the county's primary race. This decision could determine the outcome of the state’s 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary. [snip] One official testified that there was chaos with too many workers sorting ballots, leading to disorganization.

An investigation is underway after seniors at East Brunswick High School in New Jersey received yearbooks this week with a Jewish Student Union photo replaced by a photo of Muslim students, the superintendent said. “We were made aware that in yearbooks, distributed only to Seniors, the Jewish Student Union is accompanied by a photograph that is not associated with them in any way,” East Brunswick Public Schools Superintendent Victor Valeski posted on Facebook Wednesday. “Additionally, names of members of the Jewish Student Union were not published.” The school board has retained private legal counsel to investigate after the superintendent’s own...

Donald Trump made his first public appearance since becoming a convicted felon at a high-profile UFC event – naturally. ... On Saturday night at UFC 302, Trump was escorted to his cageside seat in grand fashion by UFC CEO Dana White, with the crowd cheering him on at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. ...

Donald Trump is wasting no time fighting to get back to the White House. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, 77, is expected to attend a UFC fight Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ — two days after the shocking guilty verdict in his Manhattan “hush money” trial, according to the Wall Street Journal. It will be his first public appearance since he vowed that “we’re going to fight” during a fiery press conference in the atrium of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan Friday. ... He’s expected to continue his fundraising blitz next week with a series of...

Voters in New Jersey will see newly designed ballots in the upcoming June 4 primary elections with different layouts depending on a voter's party affiliation. The change comes after Democratic Rep. Andy Kim and others filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the state's so-called county line system of primary ballot design. A judge ruled in Kim's favor, saying the county line system favors Democrat party-backed candidates. Republican candidates -- as their ballots were not part of this lawsuit -- will still use the county line system. The county line system -- a one-of-a-kind ballot design unique to New Jersey --...

Former New Jersey Governor and GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie joined a recent episode of the “Hacks on Tap” podcast, where he gave President Biden advice on how to beat former President Trump in their upcoming debates. Christie, a former Trump ally, was one of the loudest critics of the former president in this cycle’s primary. He told podcast hosts David Axelrod — the former senior adviser to former President Obama — and Mike Murphy, a Republican consultant, that he’d now give Biden similar advice he gave Trump before the 2020 presidential debates. “It’s the same advice I gave to...

group of Princeton University graduates stood up and turned their backs on the Ivy League school’s president while he spoke at commencement Tuesday amid ongoing tensions on campus over Israel-Hamas war protests. More than 30 members of the university’s Class of 2024 — including many wearing keffiyehs, the traditional Middle Eastern headdress often worn by pro-Palestinian protesters — turned their backs to Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber as he closed out commencement with his address. About ten students sitting near the front row of the graduation ceremony also quietly walked out midway through Eisgruber’s speech in a pro-Palestinian demonstration similar...

On Tuesday, both of the New Jersey gym owners who had been fighting a legal battle over their defiance of the Garden State's COVID-19 lockdown orders were finally cleared of all charges. A controversial New Jersey gym owner who defied the Garden State’s COVID-19 restrictions was cleared of more than 80 charges relating to a series of pandemic-era confrontations with police — and he celebrated by posting on social media that the governor could “suck his d–k.” Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti — co-owners of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr — racked up the summonses after they kept their workout spot...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday that it is releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from a Northeast reserve established after Superstorm Sandy in a bid to lower prices at the pump this summer. The sale, from storage sites in New Jersey and Maine, will be allocated in increments of 100,000 barrels at a time. The approach will create a competitive bidding process that ensures gasoline can flow into local retailers ahead of the July 4 holiday and sold at competitive prices, the Energy Department said. The move is intended to help “lower costs for American families and...

Menendez’s statement about his wife was released just after opening statements were completed and the presentation of evidence began at his trial in Manhattan federal court. The trial’s first witness was an FBI agent, Aristotelis Kougemitros, who described leading a June 2022 raid on the couple’s Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home. He testified that two 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) gold bars, 11 1-ounce gold bars and $486,461 in cash were among valuables found in the home, along with cellphones and jewelry. In all, 52 items were seized. At first, Kougemitros said, the FBI had directed agents to photograph any cash that was...

Have changes in the economy impacted you personally this year? I am doing the same financially as I was at this time last year (25 Votes, 19.53%) • I am doing worse financially than I was this time last year (82 Votes, 64.06%) • I am doing better financially than I was at this time last year (21 Votes, 16.41%) Do you support or oppose recent pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses? Oppose (69 Votes, 71.13%) • Support (11 Votes, 11.34%) • Not sure (17 Votes, 17.53%) In the Middle East Situation, are your sympathies more with the Israelis or...

Opening statements began on Wednesday afternoon in the corruption trial of Senator Robert Menendez, a powerful New Jersey Democrat accused of selling out his public office and his country in pursuit of lucrative bribes. The case has already dealt a near-lethal blow to Mr. Menendez’s four-decade political career. But a jury of a dozen citizens sworn in earlier Wednesday has now begun formally weighing his fate under intense scrutiny. In her opening statement, Lara Pomerantz, an assistant U.S. attorney, used short sentences and relatable language to guide jurors through the complicated framework of the bribery charges against Senator Robert Menendez...

Opening statements in Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) federal bribery and obstruction trial are set to begin Wednesday in Manhattan. Federal prosecutors have alleged Menendez and his wife Nadine accepted “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes in exchange for the senator’s political power, which they said enriched several New Jersey businessmen, as well as the governments of Egypt and Qatar. The bribes were allegedly paid in the form of cash, gold bars, mortgage payments, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and other lavish gifts. Jury selection began in the case Tuesday. Judge Sidney H. Stein said seemed optimistic that it could wrap up...

The Mayor of Wildwood, New Jersey, Ernie Troiano, Jr., told Newsmax on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump's Saturday rally was well received by the oceanfront community and Wildwood would "love to have him come back." On Saturday, Trump spoke before an enthusiastic crowd in the deep blue state of New Jersey. While estimates vary on the official numbers, Troiano said it was easily larger than the 40,000 they get at many music festivals. Trump made sure to praise his hosts on Saturday telling the crowd, "Millions of people in so-called blue states are joining our movement based on love,...

Sen. Bob Menendez is set to stand trial in Manhattan federal court starting Monday in a sprawling corruption case brought by prosecutors who say the New Jersey Democrat accepted bribes, acted as a foreign agent and obstructed justice. The onetime chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee vowed to defend himself since an initial indictment alleged he and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, which included cash, gold bars and a luxury vehicle. Attorneys for Menendez have previewed in court filings possible defenses the senator could lean on, including potentially putting the blame on his wife....

Former President Donald Trump announced he is endorsing Christine Serrano Glassner in her bid to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate amid a heavily-watched race for the seat of incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez. "She’s a fantastic woman," Trump said about Serrano Glassner, mayor of Mendham Borough, during a New Jersey rally on Saturday. "I’m giving her my complete and total endorsement." His endorsement comes less than a month before the state is scheduled to hold its Republican Senate primary. Trump also said Serrano Glassner's GOP opponent Curtis Bashaw is a supporter of New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie,...

By now, you all know that the turnout at President Donald Trump’s rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, was one for the record books. However, that didn’t occur in a vacuum. It is, instead, a portent of a tide strongly turning in his direction. That doesn’t mean Democrat shenanigans won’t cause trouble in November, but it does show a country ready to abandon Biden’s disastrous presidency. The estimates are that 80,000 to 100,000 people attended the rally, although, naturally, leftists are already quibbling with the numbers, just as they did on Trump’s inauguration. Ignore those quibbles. Let your eyes tell you...

Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey faces his second, distinct bribery and corruption trial in seven years starting Monday. This new case is a complicated affair involving multiple gold bars, envelopes of cash, a Mercedes and a lot more that, prosecutors say, the powerful former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and his new wife (they got married during the alleged bribery scheme) obtained in exchange for helping a halal meat monopoly, granting favors for people from Egypt and Qatar and trying to influence a New Jersey prosecution.