New Jersey
Andy Kim says his win has changed Jersey politics 'forever.' Let's hope. • New Jersey Monitor
New Jersey Democrats had a terrible Election Day, but a bright spot for them occurred with Rep. Andy Kim’s victory in the U.S. Senate race.
Kim’s convincing win not only gave Democrats something to celebrate as they mourned the thumping Donald Trump gave the party nationwide, but it signaled what could be a new chapter for New Jersey politics — if our bosses don’t stand in the way.
“Let there be no doubt this is a new era of politics rising. The same old, same old is done, and we’ve shown New Jersey that there’s a better way,” Kim told cheering supporters in Cherry Hill Tuesday night.
Kim captured the seat that was once held for 18 years by Bob Menendez, a Hudson County Democrat who began his political career as a reformer but ended it after a bribery trial that exposed him as a cartoonishly corrupt pol, one with literal bars of gold he took from men who needed favors from him. From Menendez to Kim — what a glow-up for New Jersey.
That Menendez remained in the Senate for so long is an example of the same old, same old approach to politics Kim declared dead in his victory speech.
If our public officials cared more about what we think of them, Menendez would have been shamed into stepping down when his first corruption trial revealed the shady relationship he had with a major campaign donor and friend (the jury deadlocked). Instead, Menendez sought reelection to a second term anyway and launched that campaign in 2018 at a rally where powerful New Jersey Democrats like Gov. Phil Murphy and Sen. Cory Booker — who should have been pushing him into retirement — feted him as someone we could not live without.
Menendez eked out a primary victory, won a second term on the strength of New Jersey Democrats’ loathing of Donald Trump, and then spent that term participating in a new bribery scheme, this time with global actors. This led to indictment No. 2 in September 2023.
Kim has said the new charges inspired his bid to oust Menendez. And on Tuesday, he promised not to embarrass New Jersey the way Menendez did.
“I assure you I will give this everything I have and I will try and serve with honor and integrity. I promise you I will not lose myself along the way. I will anchor myself in the deep sense of public service that has guided me all these years,” he said.
The idea that Kim would ascend to the Senate seemed improbable from the start. He had arrived on the political scene way later than some other Democrats who probably thought they’d be next in line for the Senate seat. He wasn’t exactly beloved by New Jersey’s political establishment. And he soon found a primary rival — first lady Tammy Murphy — who had the support of so many Democratic Party officials that her victory seemed a fait accompli in a state where the party machine reigns.
Any other Democrat probably would have folded under the pressure of going against the wife of the sitting governor and every party boss in the state. But not only did Kim press on and emerge victorious — Murphy dropped out of the primary before a single vote was cast — he simultaneously led a court fight that put a stake through the heart of New Jersey’s notorious county line, a move that has the potential to limit the power of party bosses and make it easier for the next Andy Kim to replace the next Bob Menendez.
When Kim told his supporters Tuesday that they showed New Jersey there’s a better way, he was right. His candidacy proved to any person out there who wants to take on the political establishment that they can do it, too, and they can win without bending the knee to party bosses.
Kim told me Tuesday he thinks that because of his candidacy, “Jersey politics has changed forever.”
“We are entering a new era of politics in New Jersey. We don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like yet, but I’m going to play a very serious role and try to shape it,” he said.
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New Jersey
4 wildfires burn in New Jersey with dry, windy conditions fanning flames
NEW JERSEY (WABC) — Four brush fires continued to burn in New Jersey on Friday morning.
Weather conditions are prime for these types of fires to occur. It’s dry, windy, and there’s low humidity in New Jersey.
A wildfire along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs has been burning since Thursday night.
The fire is burning inside Palisades Interstate Park, in the cliffs near the Rockefeller Lookout.
The right of the parkway is closed northbound for fire department activity near exit 1 in Englewood Cliffs.
Three other wildfires are currently burning further south in New Jersey.
The Bethany Run wildfire in Burlington and Camden Counties has burned more than 300 acres.
Flames could be seen shooting up into the air on Thursday night, with thick plumes of smoke billowing above.
The fire is only 50% contained.
Around 8 p.m. Thursday, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service sent a post on social media saying it has made significant progress.
While 104 structures are threatened, none were being evacuated Friday morning.
The Pheasant Run Wildfire is also burning in the Glassboro Wildlife Management Area in Gloucester County.
And in Jackson Township in Ocean County, the Shotgun Wildfire has burned 350 acres and is now 60% contained.
Eyewitness News Meteorologist Brittany Bell explains where the smoke from the wildfires could impact the Tri-State area:
Meteorologist Brittany Bell explains where the smoke from the NJ wildfires could impact our area and air quality.
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Nina Pineda has more on the death mix-up scare for one family on Staten Island.
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New Jersey
New Jersey battles wildfires in record-breaking dry conditions
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New Jersey
Crews battling 2 wildfires in New Jersey, where conditions are driest in nearly 120 years
A forest fire in a Philadelphia suburb was threatening homes Thursday in what officials called the driest conditions in nearly 120 years.
Another fire about an hour away in Jackson Township was less than half contained when the blaze broke out in Evesham, threatening 50 homes, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. It could not immediately give a size estimate for the Evesham blaze.
“This is the driest we’ve been in the agency’s history,” said Jeremy Webber, a supervising fire warden with the Fire Service, which was established in 1906.
Lack of significant rainfall since August contributed to the dry conditions, which prompted the state to impose strict restrictions on outdoor fires.
Details about the Evesham fire were scarce Thursday morning, as the fire had only recently been reported. The fire service said the 50 threatened homes have not needed to be evacuated yet.
The fire in Jackson, in the central portion of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, had grown to less than half a square mile (1.2 square kilometers) and was 40% contained as of mid-morning Thursday, said Deale Carey, incident commander for the fire service.
He said conditions were so dry that new spot fires were continuously breaking out as wind-blown leaves fall onto burning or smoldering areas.
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