New Jersey
Fran Grenier wins GOP post in Salem County – New Jersey Globe
Former Salem County Republican Chairman Fran Grenier has made a political comeback, ousting an incumbent in a race for GOP State Committeeman this morning.
Grenier, whose 2017 bid to unseat Senate President Steve Sweeney triggered what may be the most expensive legislative race in American history, ousted Rob Zuest in a 27-9 landslide.
Another former county chair, Linda DuBois, was elected State Committeewoman; she replaces Joan Merlino, who did not seek re-election.
Zuest, the Pittsgrove GOP municipal chairman, unseated incumbent Michael Mulligan in 2021. Under a new state law approved this year, voters no longer elect state committee members; instead, they are chosen by a vote of the county committee.
The New Jersey Republican State Committee is made up of one man and one woman from each of the 21 counties. Salem, the state’s smallest county, has the same number of votes as Bergen. Democrats allocate their state committee seats by population.
The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) spent nearly $5 million to help Grenier defeat Sweeney that year. Grenier received just 41% of the vote – the weakest showing by any Republican against Sweeney.
Republican Freeholder Bob Vanderslice lost by seven points, leaving the GOP a narrow 3-2 control of county government. But five days before Christmas, Freeholder Melissa DeCastro said she was switching parties – flipping control to the Democrats. Sweeney helped engineer DeCastro’s party switch.
Salem had been politically competitive for years. Donald Trump won it with 55% of the vote in 2016, but Barack Obama carried it with 49.7% in 2012 and 50.8% in 2008. It went for Jeff Bell (51%) in his 2014 U.S. Senate race against Cory Booker, but also for Bob Menendez (52%) in 2012. Chris Christie won it twice, as Jon Corzine carried the county in 2005.
After DuBois, a former Pittsgrove mayor, succeeded Grenier, Salem became a solidly red county. Republicans won majority control of the Salem County Board of Commissioners in 2018 and held on to the County Clerk’s office after a competitive race in 2019. Republicans carried Salem in the 2018 and 2020 U.S. Senate races, both times against incumbent Democrats.
Weeks after Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) switched parties, DuBois endorsed him for re-election to a second term. Van Drew won 70% of the vote in the 2020 GOP primary and carried Salem by 3,395 votes against Democrat Amy Kennedy in the general election.
Jack Ciattarelli carried Salem County by a landslide 5,727-vote margin, a 62%-35% margin over Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Four years ago, Murphy lost Salem by just 815 votes.
In 2021, Republicans swept the 3rd legislative district, with Ed Durr (R-Logan) ousting Sweeney and the GOP picking up two Assembly seats.
Ciattarelli’s margin in Salem was 1,466 more than Murphy’s was in heavily Democratic Passaic County, which has eight times as many voters.
The only Republican loss in Salem came in 2020 when Bethanne McCarthy Patrick came within 801 votes of unseating veteran Democratic Surrogate Nickie Burke.
DuBois retired at the end of 2021 and was succeeded by Linwood Donelson III, who is undefeated in countywide races.
New Jersey
10 hospitalized, including some students, after crash involving school bus in New Jersey
MOORESTOWN, N.J. (WPVI) — Ten people, including several students, were hospitalized Tuesday after a school bus crash in Burlington County, New Jersey.
The collision happened around 3 p.m. at Borton Landing and Hartford roads in Moorestown.
Township officials said in a Facebook post that a car and school bus collided at the intersection, injuring six students, the bus driver and three occupants of the passenger vehicle. All injuries appear to be minor, officials said.
“We have been made aware of a bus accident on one of our routes. There are no significant injuries for our students,” Moorestown Township Public Schools said in a statement.
The remaining students on the bus were taken to a nearby school, where they were picked up by family members.
School counselors will be available this week to provide additional support to students.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
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New Jersey
Wrong-way driver charged in I-80 crash that injured N.J. State Police trooper
An alleged drunk, wrong-way driver was arrested following a crash on Interstate 80 in Warren County, officials said.
Robert Felegi was driving a pickup truck west in the eastbound lanes in Knowlton when he crashed head-on into a New Jersey State Trooper’s vehicle near milepost 1.4 around midnight Tuesday, State Police said.
The trooper had emergency lights and sirens activated while trying to alert motorists of a hazard ahead, authorities said.
The trooper suffered minor injuries, while Felegi was not hurt.
Felegi, 67, of Middleport, Pennsylvania, was charged with assault by auto and driving under the influence.
He was brought to the Warren County jail ahead of a detention hearing. An attorney for Felegi is not listed in court records.
investigation, and no additional information is available.
New Jersey
NJ casino workers continue push to end smoking loophole
TRENTON, N.J. (WPVI) — New Jersey casino workers, who are pushing to permanently ban smoking in their workplaces, held a rally in Trenton on Monday.
A hearing was held to discuss a lawsuit that aims to close the smoking loophole in the Garden State.
For years, casino workers have been pursuing protections against secondhand smoke in their workplaces.
RELATED | Judge allows smoking to continue in Atlantic City casinos, dealing blow to workers
New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act largely bans indoor smoking, but casinos have a long-standing exemption.
The lawsuit filed last April by the United Auto Workers, which represents dealers at the Bally’s, Caesars and Tropicana casinos.
In August 2024, a judge ruled in favor of the casinos to allow smoking to continue.
“Casino workers are expected to clock in to work every day despite inevitably facing a toxic environment that could cause countless health issues, including cancer, heart disease, and asthma,” said Nancy Erika Smith, the lawyer representing Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) and the UAW on Monday.
“We’re asking the court to find the exemption in New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act unconstitutional and void it immediately. We hope this case will serve as a precedent for casinos across the country to close their smoking loopholes and stop poisoning their workers,” added Smith.
The casinos have warned that thousands of jobs and millions in gambling revenue and taxes could be lost if smoking was banned.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
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