Atlantic County Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman wants Joe Biden to remain in the race and is calling on other New Jersey Democrats to reaffirm their support of the president for a second term.

“The corporate media and political elites want to dump President Biden because they’ll benefit from the chaos.  Regular folks I talk to outside of the political bubble are sticking with Joe, and so am I,” Suleiman said.  “Democratic primary voters overwhelmingly voted for the Biden-Harris ticket, and the wishes of our rank-and-file members should not be cast away.”

Suleiman was elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention on the Biden slate in the June 4 primary; he is obligated to vote for Biden on the first ballot if the president is nominated.

“Growing up in Atlantic County, I learned that we don’t abandon our own. As a family, we stick together and tough it out,” Suleiman said.  “That’s why I’m reaffirming my support for President Biden.”

He wants the Democratic congressional delegation and county chairs to publicly state their support of the president.

“Let’s show the nation that New Jersey Democrats are united behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” he said.

“It’s hot. I think it’s roughly 94 degrees,” New Jersey Forest Fire Service Chief Bill Donnelly said Friday. “Humidity’s up so a lot of wear and tear on the firefighters.

“The fire is burning in a very rugged area of the Wharton State Forest. A lot of it is inaccessible to motorized vehicles and our fire equipment,” Tom Gerber, incident commander of the NJFFS said Friday.

The so-called Tea Time Hill Wildfire was started by fireworks on July 4th and detected by the U.S. Forest Service about 9am the next day.

“A fireworks device lighted inside the forest ignited the fire late Thursday, July 4,” the NJFFS said in a Facebook post.

No structures are currently threatened, the Forest Service said. The NJFFS had previously reported that a residence and hunting club were threatened and park police evacuated Batona Campground as a precaution. A few local roads and trails were also closed. No injuries or damaged structures had been reported as of Sunday.

“On average, 1,500 wildfires damage or destroy 7,000 acres of New Jersey’s forests each year,” the NJFFS said.

In 2023, wildfire burned more than 18,000 acres of forest in New Jersey. The NJFFS responded to more major fires than they had in more than 20 years.

Authorities say a fast-moving forest fire that has burned thousands of acres in southern New Jersey is now 65% contained.

The blaze in the Wharton State Forest was reported early Friday. Officials believe it began in the area of the Batona Campground in Tabernacle, which was evacuated as a precaution.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service said Saturday that the blaze has now burned an estimated 4000 acres (1618.74 hectares), but they report having made “substantial progress” in containing the fire. Officials said crews were monitoring and improving containment lines and conducting burnout operations in pockets of unburnt fuel.