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EXCLUSIVE – SADDLE BROOK, N.J. – GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy of Ohio was a long way from home on Wednesday night, as he briefly left his own race to help another Republican running for governor.
But Ramaswamy’s campaign trail stop in New Jersey’s competitive and combustible gubernatorial election, where he teamed up with GOP nominee Jack Ciattarelli at a packed diner full of supporters, could pay dividends next year in his own race back home.
New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns in the year after a presidential election, and the contests traditionally grab outsized attention and are viewed as political barometers ahead of the following year’s midterm elections.
And this year, they’re being viewed to a large degree as ballot box referendums on President Donald Trump’s unprecedented second-term agenda.
CIATTARELLI WELCOMES TRUMP’S HELP IN BATTLE FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR
Republican gubernatorial candidate in Ohio Vivek Ramaswamy headlines a campaign event for New Jersey GOP nominee for governor Jack Ciattarelli on Oct. 15, 2025 in Saddle Brook, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News)
Pointing to New Jersey and Virginia, Ramaswamy said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital that GOP victories in both elections would “set the table for even bigger and more decisive victories, hopefully in places like Ohio next year.”
Ramaswamy arrived in New Jersey hours after the latest poll in the governor’s race indicated Ciattarelli narrowing the gap with Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic Party nominee in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.
The MAGA world rock star’s stop in New Jersey could help Ciattarelli energize many in the party’s base – low propensity voters who often skip casting ballots in non-presidential election years.
NATION’S ONLY TWO 2025 RACES FOR GOVERNOR ROCKED WITH THREE WEEKS UNTIL ELECTION DAY
“If you want to bring down costs in this state, back Jack,” Ramaswamy told the boisterous crowd. “If you want to make New Jersey great again, back Jack. We are ready, Jack, for change. This state is hungry for it.”
And Ramaswamy, the multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and conservative commentator who pushed an “America First 2.0” platform as he ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before ending his bid and becoming one of Trump’s top supporters and surrogates, told Ciattarelli, “We’re going in Ohio next year, but you’ve got to pave the path this year. We’re counting on you.”
Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor in New Jersey, speaks to a raucous crowd of supporters at a diner in Saddle Brook, N.J., on Oct. 15, 2025 (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Ramaswamy, who’s been endorsed by Trump, is the only major Republican candidate right now in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.
Former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who spent two decades representing a large swath of northeastern Ohio, including Akron and Youngstown, is likely to launch a gubernatorial campaign in the coming days. Ryan, his party’s Senate nominee in Ohio’s 2022 election, would become the second major Democrat in the 2026 gubernatorial race, joining former state Health Director Amy Acton.
FINAL FACEOFF: CIATTARELLI, SHERRILL, CLASH ON DEBATE STAGE
“It doesn’t matter who we’re running against,” Ramaswamy said when asked what a Ryan candidacy would mean to him. “The beauty of our side of this election in Ohio is we’re more united than we’ve ever been as a Republican Party. I’m running unopposed in the Republican primary. But even more importantly, we have widespread labor support in Ohio. This is unprecedented.”
Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy teams up with New Jersey GOP nominee for governor Jack Ciattarelli at a campaign stop in Saddle Brook, N.J., on Oct. 15, 2025 (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News)
Ramaswamy, as he spoke at the Ciattarelli event in New Jersey, which included an overflow crowd of a couple of hundred people outside the diner, received encouragement to make another White House run down the road.
“I’m 100% focused on Ohio,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital. “You can’t make long-run plans. Life never goes according to your plan.”
But he added, “We’re gonna do our part in Ohio, and that’s my next step for how we save the country.”
HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE 2025 ELECTIONS
Ramaswamy’s stop in New Jersey, with less than three weeks until Election Day, came hours after multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump will hold tele-rallies with Ciattarelli.
In what’s expected to be a low-turnout election, Trump’s backing could prove crucial for Ciattarelli, who’s making his third run for governor after narrowly losing to Murphy four years ago.
“There’s obviously a whole lot of people across the state of New Jersey that are pleased with the job the president’s doing,” Ciattarelli said earlier Wednesday in an exclusive Fox News Digital interview.
Pointing to the president’s push to temporarily halt wind farms off the Jersey Shore, his vow to kill New York’s congestion pricing, tax cuts, deductions, and credits in the GOP’s massive domestic policy measure, and his efforts to secure the nation’s southern border, Ciattarelli said that people “are very pleased with the president, what he’s done for New Jersey.”
Trump endorsed Ciattarelli earlier this year in the GOP gubernatorial nomination race. And the president headlined a tele-rally for Ciattarelli ahead of the June primary.
While Trump isn’t on the ballot, he’s loomed large over the New Jersey gubernatorial election.
At last week’s second and final debate, Sherrill charged that her GOP rival had “shown zero signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he’s shown every sign of being that.”
New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill, right, and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, on the stage moments at the start of their second and final debate, on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News Digital)
Asked whether he considered himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciattarelli said he was “part of a New Jersey movement.”
When asked to grade the president’s performance so far during his second term, Ciattarelli said, “I’d certainly give the president an A. I think he’s right about everything that he’s doing.”
“I think that tells us all we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli’s supporting. I give him an F right now,” Sherrill responded, as she pointed to New Jersey’s high cost of living.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in New Jersey, takes questions from reporters following a debate on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the past 10 elections.
And Trump made major gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by only six percentage points, a major improvement over his 16-point deficit four years earlier.
Ciattarelli said in a Fox News Digital interview last month that he was “really pleased that the White House has offered to help us in any way that we see fit,” and that he and his campaign were “in constant communication with the White House about different ways they can help.”
And while there’s no indication, as of now, that Trump will join Ciattarelli in person in New Jersey, campaign strategist Chris Russell told Fox News, “We’re appreciative of all the help we’ve received from the president and his team so far, and grateful for any support they provide down the stretch.”
But the Democratic National Committee (DNC), in a release after word of the Trump tele-rally was first reported by Axios, claimed that Ciattarelli was “desperate.”
“It’s clear that this election comes down to one major truth: Jack is 100% for Trump, while Mikie Sherrill is 100% for New Jersey,” DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman said in a statement.
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A Harvard University dean has been removed after a student-run news outlet exposed social media posts slamming Whiteness, police and advocating for looting and rioting.
Gregory Davis, the former Dunster House Allston Burr resident dean, found himself in the hot seat after a Harvard student-run news outlet called Yard Report resurfaced the problematic posts. Davis was on leave last semester for reasons unrelated to the controversy.
While Harvard did not confirm that Davis was removed for the inflammatory posts, Fox News Digital obtained the text from an email sent by the faculty deans of Dunster House confirming Davis’ removal.
“We are writing to confirm that Gregory Davis is no longer serving as the Allston Burr Resident Dean of Dunster House, effective today,” the email said. “We thank Gregory for serving in this role and wish him and his family the best in their future endeavors.”
Dunster House along the Charles River on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
40-YEAR HARVARD PROFESSOR PENS SCATHING PIECE ON SCHOOL’S ‘EXCLUSION OF WHITE MALES,’ ANTI-WESTERN TRENDS
The email message also announced that Emilie Raymer, who served as interim dean during Davis’ absence, would take over the role full time.
“We look forward to seeing everyone again in the coming weeks,” the email said. “As always, we welcome hearing from you on any issues affecting the Dunster community.”
The posts in question were made between 2019 and 2024, mostly on X but also on Instagram. Davis became the dean of the dormitory in 2024.
HARVARD ALUM BLASTS DEI POLICIES AFTER ‘WOKE’ VALUES DRIVE LONGTIME PROFESSOR’S EXIT
“It’s almost like Whiteness is a self-destructive ideology that annihilates everyone around it. By design,” he said on X in 2019.
During 2020, when tensions between police and left-wing rioters reached a fever pitch after George Floyd was killed, Davis slammed police.
An AutoZone store burns as protesters gather outside of the Third Precinct in Minneapolis on Thursday, May 28, 2020, in the days after George Floyd’s death. (Mark Vancleave/Star Tribune via AP)
“You should ask your cop friends to resign since they’re racist and evil,” he said on X at the time.
As rioters and looters wreaked havoc in major metropolitan areas nationwide, Davis defended the chaos.
“Something to keep in mind: rioting and looting are parts of democracy just like voting and marching,” he said on X. “The people WILL be heard.”
In the same year, around the time President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, Davis said on X that he didn’t blame people who wished Trump ill. He followed that post with a second, captioned “But also, f— that guy,” attaching a meme that said “If he dies, he dies.”
STATE DEPARTMENT PROPOSING CUTTING RESEARCH TIES WITH DOZENS OF UNIVERSITIES OVER DEI HIRING PRACTICES: REPORT
Just before Davis accepted his role as dean of the Dunster House in 2024, he made a post about Pride Month on Instagram.
“Wishing everyone a great Pride. Remember to love each other and hate the police,” the post said.
When confronted with the posts, Davis wrote to Dunster House residents in an email about the scandal, which was obtained by Fox News Digital.
Demonstrators gather on Cambridge Common to protest Harvard’s stance on the war in Gaza and show support for the Palestinian people, outside Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 25, 2025. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
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“Recently, some media organizations have inquired regarding comments that I made on my personal social media accounts prior to my start in the Resident Dean role,” he wrote. “These posts do not reflect my current thinking or beliefs. I deeply appreciate the responsibility inherent in the Resident Dean role and I value the trust that individuals have placed in me. I regret if my statements have any negative impact on the Dunster community.”
“Since becoming the Allston Burr Resident Dean, I have worked hard to ensure that Dunster House is a welcoming, warm and supportive space for all of its members,” the message continued. “That continues to be the guiding force of my work today. As events outside of Harvard have affected our House and me personally, my commitment to each of you, our students, has not wavered. In my role, I have enjoyed the opportunity to work collaboratively with members of HUPD and other colleagues across campus. I respect the work they do to support our community.”
Davis did not return a request for comment.
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new video loaded: Hochul and Mamdani Announce Plan for Universal Child Care
transcript
transcript
“Today, we’re working together with the mayor at this incredible place to announce the first major steps to make child care universal — truly universal — here in New York City, transforming the lives of children and parents all across the state.” “We will build on the city’s existing three-K program, and say, no longer will a family in Flatbush be offered a seat, but have to find out that seat is in Astoria. We will add seats in the neighborhoods where demand has not been met. This will be felt by expanded subsidies for tens of thousands of additional families. It will be felt when parents look at their bank accounts at the end of the year, and see that they have saved more than $20,000 per child.” “And today, I’m proud to announce that New York State is paying the full cost to launch 2-care. For the first time — universal daycare for 2-year-olds, as proposed by Mayor Mamdani. We’re not just paying for one year of the program. We don’t usually go one year out in our budget, but just to let you know how serious we are, we’re taking the unprecedented step to not just commit for the 2027 budget, which I’m working on right now, but also the following year as well to show you we’re in this for the long haul.”
By Meg Felling
January 8, 2026
Local News
A Boston nightclub where a woman collapsed on the dance floor and died last month will have its entertainment license reinstated after the Boston Licensing Board found no violations Thursday.
Anastaiya Colon, 27, was at ICON, a nightclub in Boston’s Theater District, in the early hours of Dec. 21 when she suffered a fatal medical episode. Following the incident, her loved ones insisted that the club’s staff did not respond professionally and failed to control crowds.
City regulators suspended ICON’s entertainment license pending an assessment of any potential violations. During a hearing Tuesday, they heard from attorneys representing the club and people who were with Colon the night she died.
As EMTs attempted to respond, crowds inside the club failed to comply with demands to give them space, prompting police to shut down the club, according to a police report of the incident. However, the club and its representatives were adamant that staff handled their response and crowd control efforts properly.
Kevin Montgomery, the club’s head of security, testified that the crowd did not impede police or EMTs and that he waited to evacuate the club because doing so would have created a bottleneck at the entrance. Additionally, a bouncer and a bartender both testified that they interacted with Colon, who ordered one drink before collapsing, and did not see any signs of intoxication.
Angelica Morales, Colon’s sister, submitted a video taken on her phone to the board for them to review. Morales testified Tuesday that the video disproves some of the board’s claims and shows that ICON did not immediately respond to the emergency.
“I ran to the DJ booth, literally bombarded everybody that was in my way to get to the DJ booth, told them to cut the music off,” Morales said. “On my way back, the music was cut off for a minute or two, maybe less, and they cut the music back on.”
Shanice Monteiro, a friend who was with Colon and Morales, said she went outside to flag down police officers. She testified that their response, along with the crowd’s, was inadequate.
“I struggled to get outside,” Monteiro said. “Once I got outside, everybody was still partying, there was no type of urgency. Nobody stopped.”
These factors, along with video evidence provided by ICON, did not substantiate any violations on the club’s part, prompting the licensing board to reinstate their entertainment license at a subsequent hearing Thursday.
“Based on the evidence presented at the hearing from the licensed premise and the spoken testimony and video evidence shared with us from Ms. Colon’s family, I’m not able to find a violation in this case,” Kathleen Joyce, the board’s chairwoman, said at the hearing.
However, Joyce further stated that she “was not able to resolve certain questions” about exactly when or why the club turned off the music or turned on the lights. As a result, the board will require ICON to submit an emergency management plan to prevent future incidents and put organized safety measures in place.
“This plan should outline detailed operational procedures in the event of a medical or any other emergency, including protocols for police and ambulance notification, crowd control and dispersal, and procedures regarding lighting and music during an emergency response,” Joyce said.
Though the club will reopen without facing any violations, Joyce noted that there were “lessons left to be learned” from the incident.
“This tragedy has shaken the public confidence in nightlife in this area, and restoring that confidence is a shared obligation,” she said. “People should feel safe going out at night. They should feel safe going to a club in this area, and they should feel safe getting home.”
Keeana Saxon, one of three commissioners on the licensing board, further emphasized the distinction Joyce made between entertainment-related matters and those that pertained to licensing. Essentially, the deciding factor in the board’s decision was the separation of the club’s response from any accountability they may have had by serving Colon liquor.
“I hope that the family does understand that there are separate procedures for both the entertainment and the licensing, just to make sure that on the licensing side, that we understand that she was only served one drink and that it was absolutely unforeseeable for that one drink to then lead to some kind of emergency such as this one,” Saxon said.
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