While one lawsuit seeking to force the start of New York’s $15 congestion fee to enter lower Manhattan is moving forward, an attorney in New Jersey’s separate case to stop the fee has nudged a judge for a ruling.

Attorney Randy Mastro wrote U.S. District Court Senior Judge Leo M. Gordon on Friday informing him that a potential decision in a New York Superior Court case challenging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s indefinite pause of the June 30 congestion pricing plan would mean the tolling plan could start.

And that affects New Jersey’s suit, filed in July 2023, that was the subject of oral arguments in Newark in April. New Jersey’s suit seeks to overturn federal approvals that allowed congestion pricing to proceed. At the end of those hearings, Gordon said he planned to render a decision before the June 30 start date, but Hochul’s unexpected announcement bought some time.

New Jersey Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw, a Republican, appeared to freeze on Sunday during his debate against Democrat Rep. Andy Kim.

Bashaw, 63, and Kim, 42, are each looking to fill the Senate seat vacated by Democrat Bob Menendez, who resigned earlier this year following his indictment in a political corruption case.

The GOP candidate stopped speaking mid-sentence during his comments about affordability and appeared to look off into space.

Kim, a two-term U.S. Congressman who defeated Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy’s wife to secure the party’s nomination, was the first to rush over and check on Bashaw after noticing something was wrong.

NEW JERSEY DEM HOUSE CANDIDATE SAYS SHE IS ‘NOT SUPER WORRIED’ ABOUT BIOLOGICAL MEN IN WOMEN’S LOCKER ROOMS

Bashaw told Kim he was alright, and the Democrat returned to his podium.

The debate then took a commercial break, so Bashaw could be checked on. He left the room for about 10 minutes.

“I think maybe we need to take a commercial break and address some issues here on the stage,” the moderator told the audience.

Bashaw addressed the issue when he returned to the stage.

Kim was the first to rush over and check on Bashaw. (New Jersey Globe)

“I got so worked up about this affordability issue that I realized I hadn’t eaten so much food today,” Bashaw said. “So I appreciate your indulgence.”

He wrote on social media after the debate: “Thank you all for the well wishes! I was out campaigning all day, and I never stopped to get a bite to eat. Excited to eat pizza with my fantastic volunteers at the post-debate party tonight!”

In a follow-up post on the social media platform X, Bashaw said the pizza was secured. “Thanks for your support, everyone!” he wrote.

NEW JERSEY DEMOCRAT PROPOSES BILL TO CREATE TRAVEL ADVISORIES TO INFORM PREGNANT WOMEN OF STATE ABORTION LAWS

Bashaw said he was out campaigning all day and had not had the chance to eat much. (New Jersey Globe)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Bashaw’s campaign also told Fox News Digital that the Republican candidate was okay and just needed some food.

“Curtis is fine! He was on the campaign trail all day and didn’t get a chance to eat,” a campaign spokesperson said. “He stepped off-stage and had a protein bar and some Coke and came back to debate five minutes later. Even having not eaten all day, Curtis was still able to eat Andy Kim’s lunch tonight!”

NUTLEY, N.J. — Democratic Rep. Andy Kim and Republican Curtis Bashaw clashed over abortion and immigration Sunday in their first debate for New Jersey’s Senate seat, open this year after Bob Menendez’s conviction on bribery charges and resignation.

Kim, a three-term representative from the 3rd District, hammered Bashaw for his support of former President Donald Trump and expressed skepticism about Bashaw’s position as an abortion rights supporter. Bashaw, a hotel developer from southern New Jersey and first-time candidate, sought to cast himself as a moderate and Kim as a Washington insider.

The debate was briefly derailed at the start when Bashaw stopped speaking mid-sentence and stared ahead, nonresponsive. He was helped from the stage and left the room for roughly 10 minutes.

“I got so worked up about this affordability issue that I realized I hadn’t eaten so much food today,” Bashaw said when he returned. “So I appreciate your indulgence.”

Among the most pointed exchanges was over abortion. Both candidates support abortion rights, but Bashaw has said he supported the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that ended Roe v. Wade. New Jersey has enshrined abortion protections in state law.

“I just fundamentally have a problem with using the term ‘pro-choice’ to describe yourself when you have talked about the important of the Dobbs decision being correctly decided,” Kim said.

He also hammered Bashaw for his support of Trump, who has twice lost New Jersey’s electoral votes.

“The one endorsement that he has made is for Donald Trump to be president of the United States,” Kim said. “And I guess we get a sense of his judgment from that.”

Bashaw, who defeated a Trump-endorsed rival in the primary, didn’t defend the former president explicitly.

“Elections are binary choices, and we all have to make a decision,” he said.

He touted his own candidacy based on his credentials as a businessperson and resisted being typecast as a traditional Republican, pointing out that he backs abortion rights and is a married gay man.

“I am pro-choice, congressman. I am for freedom in the home,” Bashaw said. “I don’t think government should tell me who I can marry. I don’t think it should tell a woman what she can do with her reproductive health choices.”

Bashaw hammered on immigration repeatedly throughout, saying it’s “a crisis in New Jersey” and is costing the state.

In a reflection of how Democratic-leaning New Jersey has been in Senate races, which Republicans haven’t won in more than five decades, Bashaw addressed his closing statements to women and moms of New Jersey.

“I am a moderate, common-sense person that will work to be a voice for New Jersey,” he said.

Kim declared his candidacy a day after Menendez’s indictment last year, saying it was time for the state to turn the page on the longtime legislator. It looked as if the Democratic primary in a must-win state for the party would be contentious when first lady Tammy Murphy entered the race, winning support from influential party leaders.

But Kim challenged the state’s unique ballot-drawing system widely viewed as favoring the candidates backed by party leaders. A federal judge sided with Kim in his legal challenge, putting the system on hold for this election. Murphy dropped out of the race, saying she wanted to avoid a divisive primary, leaving a clear path to Kim’s nomination.

Kim first won office to the House in 2018, defeating Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur. He got national attention after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection when he was photographed picking up trash in the building.

Bashaw won a contested primary in June, defeating a Trump-backed opponent. The hotel developer from Cape May is running for office for the first time.

Menendez was convicted this summer on federal charges of accepting bribes of gold and cash from three New Jersey businesspeople and acting as an agent for the Egyptian government. He has vowed to appeal the conviction.

He resigned in August, capping a career in politics that spanned roughly five decades. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy appointed George Helmy as interim senator. Helmy said he’ll resign after the election is certified so Murphy can appoint whoever wins the election to the seat for the remainder of Menendez’s term, which expires in January.