The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, new population projections from the U.S. Census Bureau suggest a challenging future for Democrats aiming to win the Electoral College and the presidency. Key Democratic strongholds like California and New York are projected to lose electoral votes due to population declines, while Republican-leaning states like Texas and Florida are likely to gain. If these trends continue, the political landscape could shift significantly by 2030.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, New Jersey’s gubernatorial race in 2025 is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in decades, with Republicans sensing a prime opportunity to reclaim the governor’s mansion. Fueled by an unexpectedly close result in the 2024 presidential election, where Vice President Kamala Harris carried the state by just 6 points, the GOP is gearing up for what they believe could be a historic victory.
Continue reading New Jersey’s 2025 Governor’s Race Heats Up: Is the Garden State Turning Purple?
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The 2024 election cycle brought unexpected shifts in the political landscape of New York and New Jersey, with Republicans making significant inroads in two states traditionally seen as Democratic strongholds.
Continue reading Republicans Gain Ground in New York and New Jersey, Raising Hopes for Future Races
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Galloway NJ, New Jersey’s voters, especially Republicans, are enthusiastic about voting in next week’s midterm elections in which the economy and inflation are seen as top issues, according to a Stockton University Poll released today.
Continue reading Liberal Stockton University Poll Finds GOP Enthusiasm High for Midterm Elections
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, it seems despite being told different by the fake news industrial complex voters agree with James Carville’s famous line , its “the economy ,stupid ”
photo Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin the president of Russia
by Joshua Sotomayor-Einstein
Freedom is under assault on a global level. From the growth of authoritarianism in free countries during covid (for example, Canada’s use of the formerly titled War Measures Act to shut down peaceful protests) to Putin’s efforts to erase an entire democratic nation from the map as anything more than his puppet, freedom is under siege. Republicans must continue to lead efforts to protect freedom because of the dire consequences that will follow if it goes to the wayside – and in this current conflict that means supporting Ukraine.
file photo by Boyd Loving
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Voters generally don’t think most members of Congress share their views, but Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe that their own party’s members agree with them.
Continue reading Voters generally don’t think most members of Congress share their views
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Washington DC, nothing that Congress has done in the past three months has improved their standing with voters, most of whom continue to rate congressional job performance as poor.
Continue reading Voters Rate Congressional Job Performance as Poor
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Washington DC, it’s well known that the people who really know what’s going on in Congress are often the staff, not the members. That’s why Punch Bowl News’ fresh poll of senior Capitol Hill aides is intriguing.
file photo by Boyd Loving , Bob Menendez at Ridgewood Train Station
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
MOUNTAINSIDE NJ, Marine veteran and job creator Bob Hugin is leading corrupt, career politician Bob Menendez by a staggering 10 points, 46% to 36%, in New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District, according to a Stockton University poll released today. This represents a 33-point swing from the Democratic House candidate in one of the country’s most competitive districts.
Continue reading Stockton University poll : Hugin leads Menendez 46% to 36%
April 9,2018
John Wohlberg
“People always say to me I hate Politics, I can’t deal w all the back and forth and the fighting. Well Politics is all around you. Its in that check you write to your Mortgage Company every month and its in the Schools you drive your kids to everyday. NJ Politicians have completely lost control especially in Bergen and Passaic Counties and they don’t want you to know it. We pay the most ridiculous amount in taxes yet we know the least about what’s happening in Our Town and County Governments. It defies all logic. “
June 6,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, According to the NJ Department of Homeland Security the election infrastructure subsector is complex and includes both physical and cyber assets, including voter registration databases, voting machines, and other systems to manage elections and report results, as well as storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote tabulation locations.
In advance of the New Jersey primary on June 6, Erin Henry, Principal Planner in the Preparedness Bureau at NJOHSP, sat down with Michael Geraghty, State Chief Information Security Officer, and Robert Giles, Director of the State Division of Elections, to discuss New Jersey election systems security and efforts in New Jersey to keep these election assets secure and the voting process free from interference.
Although there are no specific or credible threats to election systems in New Jersey, the FBI confirmed cyber attacks on voter registration systems in Arizona and Illinois in 2016.
New Jersey’s primary elections will be held on Tuesday, June 6, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Your polling location is listed on the front of your sample ballot, which you will receive by mail prior to each election. Only registered voters are issued a sample ballot.
Primary elections, held in New Jersey each June, are the only elections where party affiliation affects the candidates for which someone can vote. In all other elections, a voter’s party affiliation is not even listed in the poll book.
New Jersey has “closed” primaries. This means that only Republican voters can nominate Republican candidates, and only Democratic voters can nominate Democratic candidates. Voters registered with any of the other political groups recognized by the State of New Jersey (Libertarian, Green Party, etc.) cannot vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary.
Unlike some other states with closed primaries, voters in New Jersey who are unaffiliated with any political party or group can declare either Republican or Democrat at the polls on the day of the primary and vote in that party’s primary.
February 24, 2017
Ridgewood NJ, according to Rasmussen Reports most Americans favor screening out immigrants to this country who don’t share our values or a belief in our basic constitutional freedoms.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 61% of American Adults favor a proposal to keep out “those who do not support the U.S. Constitution or who would place violent ideologies over American law. In addition, the United States would not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred for reasons of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation.” Just 19% oppose such a ban, while 21% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
This is the wording President Trump used in his initial executive order temporarily freezing refugees into this country and visas for those from seven Middle Eastern and African countries until proper vetting procedures to screen out potential terrorists are in place. The question, however, did not identify Trump as the source of the proposal.
Last August when he first proposed it, 59% of voters supported candidate Trump’s temporary ban on immigration into the United States from “the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism” until the federal government improves its screening procedures. Thirty-two percent (32%) were opposed.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Americans believe that criminals should be prosecuted more severely if it can be proven that their crime was motived by the victim’s race, color, religion, national origin or sexual orientation. A new high, this finding had previously been in the mid- to upper 40s in surveys since 2009. Twenty-eight percent (28%) still disagree, while 14% are undecided.
Sizable majorities in most demographic groups favor both the immigration litmus test and so-called hate crime prosecutions.
In an interesting side note Democrats, are less supportive of restricting immigrants with hateful ideologies than they are of prosecuting Americans for hate crimes. Republicans, on the other hand, view restrictions on newcomers to this country more favorably than prosecution of existing Americans.
Not surprising given the recent political rhetoric only 49% of Democrats favor keeping out of the country those who do not support the Constitution or who in engage in acts of bigotry or hatred for reasons of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation. But 65% of Democrats support prosecuting criminals more severely if it can be proven that their crime was motivated by the victim’s race, color, religion, nation origin or sexual orientation.
Conversely, 78% of Republicans favor the constitutional/hate crime litmus test for immigrants, but only 57% support prosecutions based on the same standards.
Just over half of Americans not affiliated with either major party favor both proposals. But 33% of unaffiliateds oppose hate crime prosecutions, compared to just 16% who are against the restrictions on new immigrants.
BY RICHARD LARDNER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the 115th Congress will be sworn in at noon Tuesday, setting off an aggressive campaign by Republicans who control the House and Senate to dismantle eight years of President Barack Obama’s Democratic policies.
The first and biggest target is Obama’s signature health care law, which Republicans have long sought to gut and blamed as a primary cause for a lackluster economic recovery. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday encouraged a wholesale overhaul of the system, tweeting hours before the new Congress convenes “Obamacare just doesn’t work,” is unaffordable “and, it is lousy health care.”
Majority Republicans also are targeting decades-old programs that millions of Americans rely on every day, such as Social Security and Medicare as they seek to shrink both the size of the federal budget and the bureaucracy in Washington.
“We have a lot to do – and a lot to undo,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a letter to fellow Republicans.
There were signs of Republican-on-Republican drama even before the new Congress officially opened on Tuesday. House Republicans on Monday night voted to defy their leaders and gut the chamber’s independent ethics panel created in 2008 to probe charges of lawmaker misconduct after several corruption scandals sent members to prison.
A win by Democrats on November 8 would mean no GOP representation on board
By Alyana Alfaro • 11/03/16 3:14pm
Republicans DeNicola, Driscoll and DiDio are running for freeholder.(Photo: Bergen County Republican Organization)
During last year’s election, the Bergen County Democrats had a clean sweep over Republicans in the county freeholder race. This year, Democrats hope to achieve a similar win with candidates incumbent Freeholder Tom Sullivan, Germaine Ortiz and Mahwah Councilwoman Mary Amoroso. Meanwhile, Freeholder Maura DeNicola, Closter Councilman Robert DiDio and former Freeholder John Driscoll, the Republicans in the race, are fighting for a win and to maintain a significant GOP presence on the county board.
Freeholder DeNicola is running to reclaim her seat this year. She and her running mates agree that Republican victory is critical on November 8 in order to ensure that Bergen County government maintains a bi-partisan balance. DeNicola is one of only two Republicans serving on the board. Freeholder John Felice opted not to pursue re-election this year. If Democrats sweep the election this year, the freeholder board would be made by only by members of the Democratic Party.
“Their election would prohibit the healthy balance necessary for good government,” DeNicola said of her competitors. “Having one party in complete control of any board is never a good thing. We experienced the results of that in the not so distant past—ballooning budgets, rubber stamp votes and a lack of transparency. And balance in government isn’t only about party. It’s about open discussion, strengthening decision-making, keeping issues and the process before the public in the sunshine of openness and transparency.”