Free Republic

There are now 23 Democrats who won't seek reelection in the 2022 midterms as Representative Albio Sires from New Jersey plans to retire and party leadership desperately grips their slim majority in the House.... ...With a series of upcoming retirements, Democrats' majority in the House looks increasingly vulnerable, and Pelosi can only afford to lose three seats in order to keep her party in power.... [list of the 23 at link]

U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-8th Dist.), who immigrated to the United States from Cuba as a child, today slammed President Obama for shaking hands with Cuban President Raul Castro at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in South Africa.

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) announced Sunday that she has spearheaded a bipartisan letter calling on the French government to cancel plans to release a convicted terrorist who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of an American and an Israeli diplomat. The letter, which was sent to France’s Ambassador to the United States, urges French officials to stop the release of George Ibrahim Abdallah, the former head of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Brigade who was convicted in 1987 of killing an Israeli diplomat and a U.S. military attaché. The U.S. State Department has also expressed its opposition...

Poll finds voter support for McGreevey waning In face of a $5 billion budget gap, electorate disagrees on cutting services or raising taxes Tuesday, February 04, 2003 BY JEFF WHELAN Star-Ledger Staff [Trenton, NJ] -- Gov. James E. McGreevey's popularity has plummeted to an all-time low, with only one-third of New Jersey residents approving of his job performance while 46 percent disapprove, according to a new Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers poll.The survey also finds overwhelming support for a tax increase on families earning more than $500,000. But residents are becoming increasingly divided over whether McGreevey should cut state services or raise broad-based taxes...

NEWARK, May 8 Ñ A businessman and Democratic fund-raiser was charged today with extorting payoffs from gambling operations in West New York while claiming to represent a high-level official, believed by many to be Mayor Albio Sires, now speaker of the New Jersey Assembly. The businessman, Rene Abreu, 40, is a mortgage broker and real estate developer active in North Jersey politics who has raised money for Mr. Sires, for Senator Robert G. Torricelli and for Representative Robert Menendez. Mr. Abreu and his wife, Lourdes Adan-Abreu were named with nine employees and associates in the indictment. Mr. Sires, who is...