State Sen. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) has emerged as the leading candidate for the late Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson)’s seat, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed, with Pou picking up the backing of local Democratic party leaders in parts of Bergen, Hudson and Passaic counties. 

That makes her the candidate to beat at the convention to replace Pascrell on the ballot, which will be held on August 29 in Paterson. And it immediately raises the question of whether Pou’s three declared opponents will forge ahead with underdog campaigns.  

Pascrell’s death last week at the age of 87 prompted a week-long scramble to fill his seat, which covers large parts of Bergen and Passaic Counties (including the city of Paterson) and a smaller portion of Hudson County. Democrats in the district have until a state deadline of August 29 to fill Pascrell’s vacant spot on the general election ballot, with no special election or opportunity for voters themselves to weigh in before November.

Within 48 hours of Pascrell’s death, four candidates from Passaic County – Pou, Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-North Haledon), Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (D-Paterson), and Paterson Mayor André Sayegh – entered the race. The district is typically seen as a Paterson-based district, and all four represent Paterson in either local office or the state legislature.

But Bergen County makes up a nearly equal portion of the district as Passaic, and in fact has more Democratic county committeemembers in place thanks to vacancies in Passaic. That made Bergen Democrats potential kingmakers in the race – and raised the possibility that they could attempt to swipe the seat away from Passaic County with one of their own candidates, like Bergen County Commissioner Tracy Silna Zur (D-Franklin Lakes) or Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese (D-Cliffside Park).

Juliano’s support for Pou, however, nullifies that possibility and means that Zur and Calabrese won’t be mounting campaigns at Thursday’s convention.

The declarations of support for Pou are more generally part of a broad compromise. Bergen County doesn’t get to send one of its own to Congress, nor does Passaic County Democratic Chairman John Currie get his own first choice (Sumter) elected; instead, they’ll all come together on a candidate who’s broadly liked by all sides.

There’s a demographic angle to their choice, too: the 9th district is plurality Hispanic (around 42% Hispanic to 38% white), and Pou was the only Hispanic candidate running. If she’s elected to Congress, Pou will become the state’s first-ever Latina member of Congress (after three previous Latino members), as well as the first Hispanic member from outside Hudson County.

Assuming the 68-year-old Pou wins the convention, as now looks likely, she’ll go on to face Republican Billy Prempeh in the general election. Pou will be heavily favored in that race, although Prempeh did hold Pascrell to a modest 55%-44% win in 2022 thanks in large part to turnout discrepancies across the district.

Her victory in November would mean that the State Senate seat she’s held since 2012 would also become vacant. The field to succeed her would probably look similar to the one that’s already developed for the congressional seat, with Sumter, Wimberly, and Sayegh all likely to at least consider campaigns.

That’s jumping several steps ahead, since Pou hasn’t even won the convention to be on the ballot yet. But even if one or more of Sumter, Wimberly, or Sayegh does stay in the race, it will very much be an uphill battle with the unified strength of party leadership behind Pou.

The New Jersey Globe, along with On New Jersey and the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University, is sponsoring a candidate forum on Monday evening at 8 PM.  Pou, Sayegh, Sumter and Wimberly are participating.

NEW JERSEY — Good news for New Jersey commuters: a fare holiday on all New Jersey Transit buses and trains begins Monday.

The transit fare holiday will waive all fees on all modes of transportation from Monday, August 26 through September 2.

If you’ve already bought a monthly ticket, you won’t be left out of the savings. Those customers will automatically receive a 25% discount on their September monthly pass purchase through the mobile app, at Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs), or ticket windows.

It’s being called a “thank you” to the hundreds of thousands of loyal NJ Transit riders, especially when service has not met their needs or fell short.

“Understanding that our commuters have faced many disruptions this summer, we are providing a one week fare holiday for NJ Transit riders,” Gov. Phil Murphy said. “As we work diligently with Amtrak to investigate and address the issues that have occurred this summer, especially on the Northeast Corridor, we hope this fare holiday offers our commuters some relief. We also encourage New Jerseyans to take advantage of this opportunity, and we continue to be thankful to the many New Jerseyans who depend on public transit.”

Many of the recent service disruptions have occurred on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC). NJ Transit says that it has been working tirelessly advancing the joint plan with Amtrak announced immediately following Murphy’s meeting with NJ Transit and Amtrak leadership back in June to improve service on the critical rail line – the busiest corridor in the country.

Approximately $66 billion of the federal infrastructure bill will go towards upgrades that will take years to complete.

NJ Transit says while the root causes of these incidents have not yet been identified, significant short-term actions have already been taken and there has been noteworthy progress.

Amtrak has stepped up its inspection and repair efforts and NJ Transit is increasing equipment inspections on platforms.

From Camden and Cherry Hill to Trenton and the Jersey Shore, what about life in New Jersey do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know.

White-tailed deer are everywhere in New Jersey, standing in fields, grazing next to roads, and even strolling through suburban front lawns and backyards in broad daylight.

Brian Schumm, an assistant biologist with the State Division of Fish and Wildlife, which is part of the Bureau of Wildlife Management, said that complaints about white-tailed deer are on the rise.

“There just seems to be too many deer, there seems to be too much damage,” he said.

And too many deer is a problem.

“With public safety we’re really thinking about deer-vehicle collisions, which occasionally are fatal, and tick-borne diseases,” Schumm said.

The other problem is ticks that often feed on deer and are transmitted by the animals as they wander into populated areas. These then lead to tick-related diseases in pets and humans.

Liz Thompson, a research associate with the New Jersey Farm Bureau said besides destroying flower and vegetable gardens, deer also pose a serious agricultural threat.

She said the Farm Bureau used drone technology and conducted an infrared study of areas near farmlands. The findings were shocking, she said.

“Biologists will say that five to 15 deer per square mile is sustainable, and we found areas that had more than 200 in some cases,” she said.

She said deer will eat whatever is most convenient, and a big field of produce or corn is an easy meal for them.

A report by Rutgers University’s School of Environmental and Biological Sciences found annual economic losses to high-value agricultural crops in New Jersey from deer damage total more than $15 million.

Thompson said a Farm Bureau survey found 25% of farmers abandoned parcels of farming land because of the deer pressure.

She said farmers are frequently frustrated trying to control local deer populations. “The deer can simply hide in these places that they can’t be hunted, and then at some point when it’s safe they come back to the fields and they eat again,” she said.

According to official estimates, the deer population in the Garden State is trending downward, now standing at 115,000, which is lower than it used to be, but Schumm said that total is based on hunter harvest data.

“So if we have areas of the state, suburban areas, urban areas, which we do get a lot of complaints about deer from, there’s obviously less hunter access to those areas,” he said.

He said the population estimate is probably accurate for parts of the state where hunting is permitted, but inaccurate for areas where hunting is reduced or prohibited.

Less interest in hunting

Schumm said that there is a steady decline in the number of hunters, and that could be a problem in mitigating the excessive deer population.

He pointed out that the average age of hunters in New Jersey continues to get older, and young people do not seem to be interested.

“It seems that our youth, with this technological revolution that we’re in, are a little bit less interested, and a little bit less familiar with the outdoors,” he said.

Schumm said the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife is taking steps to address the deer conundrum, by allowing archery hunting in closer proximity to populated areas.

He said normally deer hunters using a bow and arrow cannot be within 150 feet of a building without authorization.

“There’s some amount of permissions that can be granted,  generally it requires a little bit more oversight from communities, maybe they issue permits to the hunters so they know who is out there and when they’re out there,” he said.