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How a congressman’s challenge to New Jersey’s first lady is shaking up a key Senate race

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How a congressman’s challenge to New Jersey’s first lady is shaking up a key Senate race

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) — When New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy walked up to Rep. Andy Kim last weekend to congratulate him with a handshake after his third consecutive win in his bid for a U.S. Senate seat, the goodwill gesture represented a surprise within a surprise.

The Senate seat only became competitive because incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez had been unexpectedly indicted last year on federal corruption charges. And Kim’s wins in three state county committee votes so far have fueled sudden momentum for the mild-mannered three-term congressman, who is mounting a more formidable challenge than is typical against a well-connected political figure in a state where connections count for a lot.

That matters in the Democratic stronghold of New Jersey, where Democratic primaries often decide elections — and where primary winners are sometimes chosen by party leaders in behind-the-scenes gatherings well ahead of the primaries themselves. Kim sued this week in federal court to challenge the way counties draw ballots to favor candidates with party support.

As surprising as they were, Kim’s wins in three counties so far, including his and the first lady’s home turf, hardly settle anything. Murphy, who comes from the world of high finance and has spent years cultivating allies among state party leaders, has already secured the support of party bosses in the more populous counties of Bergen, Camden and Essex.

Menendez, meanwhile, has yet to declare whether he will seek another term, though the charges against him have generated spectacular headlines. They are seen by many to be career-ending, though he has pleaded not guilty and projected a defiant stance as turmoil suddenly engulfed a seat that had long been seen as safe for Democrats.

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Tough race for Democratic nomination

Still, the wins by Kim suggest that the race for the Democratic nomination won’t be easy for anyone. It pits Kim, perhaps best known for being spotted cleaning debris from the U.S. Capitol after the Jan. 6 insurrection three years ago, against Murphy, who is married to Gov. Phil Murphy and has made maternal mortality her signature issue in her role as first lady.

Kim’s lawsuit signals that he still believes New Jersey’s way of giving better ballot positioning to candidates favored by local insiders could give Murphy an unfair advantage, a view shared by many political observers.

“We do not have competitive primaries. We in theory have them, but in practice we have party leaders who get behind closed doors and the nominee is presented to the public as a fait accompli. This is your candidate, love it or lump it,” said Daniel Cassino, executive director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll. “The fact that we’re actually having this primary is a sign something has gone awry.”

The competition between Kim and Murphy began almost as soon as the Menendez indictment was announced. It gave New Jersey a rare competitive Democratic primary for one of only three statewide seats — the others, for a second Senate seat and governor, aren’t on the ballot this year.

The seat may yet remain in Democratic hands, but a contentious campaign could consume energy and resources as the party gears up for a grinding presidential campaign and the larger fight to control Congress.

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Kim cast his candidacy in terms of the public’s distrust of officials and party insiders, pointing specifically to Menendez’s indictments. A 2015 federal corruption indictment against Menendez ended in a hung jury and with prosecutors dropping the case. The concern, Kim said in an interview, is that progressive Democrats who oppose the party bosses’ influence and independents might sit out the November election if they think Murphy’s candidacy was foisted on them.

“If the Democrats don’t fix this and show that this is a credible and legitimate process, I think that this Senate seat could be in jeopardy this November. And I think that that’s something I absolutely refuse to see happen because I’ve been there in Congress. I know exactly what the Republicans would do if they have the majority in the Senate,” Kim said.

Tammy Murphy, who worked at Goldman Sachs briefly and helped start a policy think tank in New Jersey, pushed back at the notion that the support she has is based on her marriage to Phil. She said Saturday she isn’t asking for his help. She also defended her departure from the Republican Party, which she left shortly before her husband’s run for governor in 2017.

“I’ve been on the ground for the last eight years, literally building the party,” she said. “I’ve shown up serially in all these, all the red counties where they needed help. I showed up.”

She added: “Many people are leaving the Republican Party here now, and I will tell you, I have stood for the same values since day one. Absolutely the same values.”

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GOP hopes

The possibility of Republicans picking up the seat in November is overblown, Cassino said, in large part because the state tilts so overwhelmingly Democratic and because it’s an election year. Ben Dworkin, who heads the Rowan Institute for Public Policy & Citizenship, echoed that sentiment, pointing out Republicans haven’t been elected to the Senate in New Jersey since 1972.

Republicans are grappling with their own primary, featuring southern New Jersey businessman Curtis Bashaw, Mendham Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner and former TV news reporter Alex Zdan. Also running in the Democratic primary are labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina and civil rights activist Lawrence Hamm.

Shortly before the Burlington Democratic Party results were announced Saturday, voters leaving the hall greeted each other with smiles and hugs. Kim and Murphy both stopped to chat with people.

Murphy had talked earlier in the day about needing to send “ticked off” moms to Washington to fight for families. Kim had focused on being a county native and said he’d fight for the state particularly in light of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and the threat to the country’s democracy.

A number of voters acknowledged the awkwardness of having the first lady and their congressman competing and declined to say which one they supported. But they sounded more certain about their resolve to win in November.

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“We’ll come together,” said Gina LaPlaca, a local official in Burlington County. “The threat from Republicans is too much.”

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Orbán's meeting with FPÖ leaders in Vienna sparks controversy

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Orbán's meeting with FPÖ leaders in Vienna sparks controversy

The Hungarian prime minister arrived in Vienna on Thursday, where he was received by parliamentary president Walter Rosenkranz in a meeting condemned by several Austrian political parties.

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Despite criticism from other political parties, Austria’s newly elected parliament president, Walter Rosenkranz of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Vienna as his first official guest. 

The controversial visit took place in the Austrian parliament’s reception room, with the entire leadership of the FPÖ, including leader Herbert Kickl, reportedly in attendance. 

After the meeting concluded, Orbán had a separate, private meeting with Kickl. However, nothing was initially revealed about the content of their conversation.

Rosenkranz said the meeting had been arranged before he took office.

Other Austrian parties, including the Greens and Social Democrats, had resisted Orbán’s visit. Green party parliamentary leader Sigrid Maurer said the FPÖ views Orbán as a role model, which should be considered “an absolute warning signal.” 

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FPÖ finished first in the recent Austrian parliamentary elections, garnering 29.2% of the vote in the country’s first far-right election win since World War II.

Experts say the party managed to tap into Austrian anxiety on housing and healthcare, as well as often successfully blaming migration for a host of other issues. 

As is customary within Austria, the group with the highest number of votes appoints the President of Parliament – hence Rosenkranz being elected to the second-highest state office in the country last week. 

Orbán will reportedly not meet with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer during the visit.

Far-right alliance in Europe

Austria’s Freedom Party and Orbán’s Fidesz party both belong to the new European far-right group Patriots for Europe.  

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The party shares a deep aversion to the Green Deal, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s flagship initiative to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, and have challenged the project of European integration as well as the power granted to EU institutions.  

Patriots for Europe are also opposed to providing Ukraine with military equipment, question the efficiency of Western sanctions against Moscow and want to maintain close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government. 

It is the third-largest group in the European Parliament, boasting dozens of MEPs from countries like France, Italy and the Netherlands. 

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Analysis-US Crypto Industry Expects Friendlier Washington, Whoever Wins White House

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Analysis-US Crypto Industry Expects Friendlier Washington, Whoever Wins White House
By Hannah Lang (Reuters) – The cryptocurrency industry has spent years clashing with Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration over regulatory issues, but executives expect an easier ride from Washington, regardless of who wins the White House next week. Crypto asset managers including Bitwise …
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Iran and Russia close in on deal as Tehran threatens revenge against Israel

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Iran and Russia close in on deal as Tehran threatens revenge against Israel

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Iran and Russia are closing in on a deal that will bolster their defensive cooperation and strengthen military ties at a time when Western nations are increasingly concerned about regional wars in Europe and the Middle East. 

“The treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Iran that is being prepared will become a serious factor in strengthening Russian-Iranian relations,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday, according to a Reuters report. 

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The foreign minister, who said the treaty would be signed “in the near future,” claimed that the deal will “confirm” both Iran and Russia’s “interests of peace and security at the regional and global levels.”

President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, Oct. 23, 2024. (Reuters/Maxim Shemetov/Pool)

PENTAGON SAYS IRAN SUPPLYING RUSSIA WITH BALLISTIC MISSILES

The details of the treaty remain unclear and Lavrov did not expand on what form this defensive partnership would take.

A similar agreement signed between Russia and North Korea earlier this year was followed by Pyongyang’s decision to send some 10,000 soldiers to its warring neighbor, which may potentially be deployed to fight in Ukraine, according to concerns signaled by the Pentagon. 

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But given that Iran already supplies Russia with defensive aid to propel its brutal war in Ukraine, it’s not only the repercussions this partnership could have for the war in Europe that concern Western security officials.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who once shared a solid relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has not appeared to be overtly involved in the unfolding fight in the Middle East, unlike Russia’s top adversary, the U.S.

But a report by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month found that Moscow has been providing the Houthi terrorist group with satellite data to assist it in its repeated attacks on Western ships in the Red Sea. According to the report, the information was passed from Russia to “members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)… embedded with the Houthis in Yemen.” 

Houthi supporters rally in Yemen

Houthi supporters attend a rally against the U.S.-led strikes on Yemen and Israel’s war in Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, on Feb. 23, 2024. (AP/Osamah Abdulrahman)

PENTAGON THREATENS NO NEW LIMITS ON UKRAINE WEAPONS IF NORTH KOREA JOINS RUSSIA’S WAR

Russia has also increasingly called on Israel to show “restraint” when it comes to escalating tensions in the Middle East as it launched an incursion into Lebanon and struck Iran – which directly funds and arms the terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, warring with Jerusalem.

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Tehran has once again threatened Jerusalem with a retaliatory hit after Israel launched aerial strikes on Friday. The series of tit-for-tat attacks continue as Israel pushes to eliminate Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), on Tuesday responded to these threats and said, “If Iran makes the mistake of launching another missile barrage at Israel, we will once again know how to reach Iran.”

the-chief-of-the-general-staff,-ltg-herzi-halevi

Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of the general staff of the IDF, commands the strike on Iran from Camp Rabin, with the commanding officer of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar. (IDF)

Halevi warned Israel will continue to escalate its attack “capabilities and locations” previously “set aside” if Iran responds with another strike on the Jewish state.

“We did this for a very simple reason, because we may be required to [strike] again. This event is not over, we are still in the midst of it,” he said while speaking from the Ramon Airbase in Israel. “I say this to you: we are highly prepared across all fronts.” 

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