By Matt Friedman

Presented by OxyChem

Good Thursday morning!

Last year, when allegations surfaced that Princeton Gerrymandering Project’s Sam Wang had manipulated New Jersey congressional redistricting data and that his staffers had given Democrats an advantage the group advised redistricting tie-breaker John Wallace Jr., then-Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho (R-Sussex) called on the State Commission of Investigation to look into it.

The SCI did investigate. And yesterday, it released a report clearing Wang of any data manipulation or improper heads-up.

“Following the review of hundreds of pages of subpoenaed documents, a detailed examination of the congressional redistricting process in New Jersey and other states, plus sworn testimony obtained from more than a dozen individuals directly involved in the state’s latest redistricting cycle, the SCI found there was no merit to the unspecified claims that data gathered and relied upon by the redistricting commission was improperly manipulated during New Jersey’s 2021 congressional redistricting process,” says the report. (An internal Princeton investigation also cleared Wang last year).

That’s not to say that all Republican complaints about redistricting were “without merit.” When I was in the room and heard Justice John Wallace Jr. explain his rationale for voting for the Democratic map — that he selected the Democrats’ map “simply because in the last redistricting map, it was drawn by the Republicans” — I remember turning to a colleague and asking if Wallace just really said what I thought he did. (Wallace later said he “mistakenly failed to consider my team’s evaluation of Partisan Fairness of the maps” in his remarks).

So what’s to come from this? Republicans had already unsuccessfully sued to reopen redistricting, and they had included the allegations about Wang in the lawsuit. I do remember talk about potentially pursuing legal relief federally, though I’m not sure how far that went. If the report said something else, perhaps they’d have ammo for a new lawsuit. But this likely assures the current map will remain in place until 2032.

TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at [email protected].

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Hey there, New Jersey! It’s your favorite political gadfly, Matt Friedman, and boy, do we have some scintillating political drama to dissect today. Grab your popcorn because the Garden State’s political circus is in full swing.” — ChatGPT, prompted to write a New Jersey Playbook top in my style. (I think my job is safe for at least a little while.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Raj Parikh, Yasmin Brissac, Steve Scott, Eric Martin, Lou Magazzu, Greg Petzold

WHERE’S MURPHY? No public schedule

A message from OxyChem:

OxyChem opposes the EPA’s Passaic River Superfund settlement. Over 100 companies released 8 chemicals into the river, but EPA may settle with most of them for only $150 million total. That leaves handful of other companies and NJ taxpayers to cover the rest of the $1.82 billion clean-up cost. OxyChem is the sole company offering to do the clean-up work. Tell the EPA to make all companies pay their fair share. Learn more at PassaicRiverCleanup.com

 

NURSING HOMES — “‘It was just bedlam…’ Families, officials demand answers in sudden shutdown of N.J. nursing home.,” by NJ Advance Media’s Susan K. Livio ad Ted Sherman: “The abrupt closure of a financially troubled Princeton nursing home that came with no notice on Friday has families and legislators questioning why a fiasco that was months in the making was allowed to happen. ‘It is utterly and completely unacceptable that 72 residents were told they had to move in a less than 24-hour window,’ said state Sen. Andrew Zwicker, D-Somerset. … According to the state Department of Health, it had been made aware that Princeton Care Center was experiencing financial difficulties and that its operators were in the process of negotiating terms of a sale to another long-term care system in New Jersey. Throughout August, the department said it continuously deployed survey staff and a so-called “Mission Critical Team” to Princeton Care Center to ensure that the nursing home residents were safe and provided with appropriate care during sale negotiations. A letter of intent spelling out that sale had been signed earlier in August, said Dayla Ewais, the health department spokeswoman. The agreement was abruptly terminated on Thursday, triggering an emergency situation as the facility was unable to pay its staff — despite repeated assurances to the department that payroll would be made — and could no longer provide care to its residents.”

BEAR HUNT — “New Jersey panel approves controversial black bear hunt for another five years, despite objections,” by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Frank Kummer: “The New Jersey Fish and Game Council approved a bear management plan Wednesday that would allow bear hunting until at least 2028, despite objections of environmental and animals rights organizations who call the harvesting cruel and inhumane. The plan still needs approval of the state Department of Environmental Protection commissioner Shawn LaTourette, who is expected to sign off. … The New Jersey Sierra Club, which has long been opposed to the hunt, said hundreds of residents had voiced opposition to the hunt and are asking LaTourette to reject it.”

TURNPIKE WIDENING TO FEATURE KRAMER’S EXTRA-WIDE ‘LUXURY LANES’ PLAN — “N.J. to get $425M in federal funds for NJ Transit, DOT projects,” by NJ Advance Media’s Larry Higgs: “New Jersey will get $425 million from the Federal Highway Administration that will fund a wide variety of projects across the state wide, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday. Speaking at a news conference at the Long Branch train station, Murphy said the amount was the largest New Jersey had ever received from the Federal Highway Administration during its annual 'August redistribution’ of funds to states. New Jersey received $50 million from the Federal Highway Administration in 2022. Only California, Pennsylvania and Texas received more funds this year, Murphy said.”

A message from OxyChem:

DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO APP: Stay in the know with the POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS – DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.

— “‘It isn’t pretty at all.’ N.J. school districts scramble to fill vacancies”

—“NJ’s upcoming elections: Is control of the Legislature really at stake?” 

—“Monmouth poll: One year later, New Jerseyans support plastic bag ban and have accumulated plenty of reusable bags”

—Murphy nominates Zimmerman to DOBI commissioner post

—“New Jersey court backlog sees minor bump amid legislative standstill on judges” 

—“Retirement of longtime NJ judge in Passaic County puts attention on judicial shortage”

A message from OxyChem:

Since the 1890s, the tremendous industrial and economic growth on the Passaic River has come at a great environmental cost. For decades, companies regularly used disposal practices on the Passaic’s shoreline that are no longer acceptable. The EPA declared a 17-mile stretch of the Passaic part of a federal Superfund site, selected a remedy, and identified more than 100 companies as potentially responsible for the clean-up. OxyChem, which EPA acknowledges did not pollute the river, is leading the clean-up.

The EPA identified eight chemicals of concern in the river – Lead, DDT, Dioxin, Mercury, PCBs, Copper, Dieldrin, and PAHs – six of which are not associated with OxyChem or its predecessors. Nevertheless, OxyChem is dedicated to cleaning up the Passaic. But if the other responsible companies don’t step up, New Jersey taxpayers could end up footing the bill. Tell the EPA to hold all 100+ polluting companies accountable.

Learn more at PassaicRiverCleanup.com

CHRISTIE LIKES SPRINGSTEEN? — We asked the 2024 candidates to pick the songs that stir their souls, by POLITICO Magazine: A prompt on the website formerly known as Twitter to share your top 20 songs recently set off a sharing frenzy: “Make a 20-track comp of your all-time fav tracks, each artist can only feature once,” the X user, Nick Worrall, posted. … So we sent an email to all the 2024 candidates asking them for their top 20 songs. Not all of them responded, of course, and a few responded with fewer than 20, making us wonder if they’re really in it for the long haul. … It’s worth wondering what made Chris Christie choose “Thunder Road” out of all of his beloved Bruce Springsteen’s songs — a track about getting older and "one last chance to make it real."

IT’S NOT HIS OWN AMBITION. IT’S HIS FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS. — “Summit council president considering run for Congress In NJ-7,” by New Jersey Globe’s Joey Fox: “Summit Council President Greg Vartan is considering entering the race for New Jersey’s competitive 7th congressional district, potentially adding one more candidate to an already-busy Democratic primary. ‘I have been contacted by a number of friends and supporters across the area urging me to consider running to represent the 7th district in 2024,’ Vartan told the New Jersey Globe this morning. ‘I do share the view that we need better representation in Washington.’ Vartan said that for now, his attention is directed at this year’s local races in Summit, where the mayor’s office and three council seats are up. That may mean there won’t be a definitive decision from Vartan until November, after the 2023 elections are over.”

—“Biden continues push to diversify judiciary with four new nominees” 

JOIN US ON 9/12 FOR A TALK ON THE NEW AGE OF TRAVELING: In this new era of American travel, trending preferences like wellness tourism, alternative lodging and work-from-anywhere culture provide new but challenging opportunities for industry and policy leaders alike. Join POLITICO on Sept. 12 for an expert discussion examining how the resilience of the tourism and travel industries is driving post-pandemic recovery. REGISTER HERE.

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINES — “Probe blames voting machine manufacturer for double-counting votes in ’22 election,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein:

TRY 'ABC123' — “'Paterson Councilman Michael Jackson won't give attorney general passcode for seized phone,” by The Paterson Press’ Joe Malinconico: “Councilman Michael Jackson has refused to provide the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office with the passcode to let state investigators search his cellphone, which authorities seized in May. Jackson told Paterson Press on Tuesday that he believes state authorities want to put evidence on his phone to expand their pending election fraud case to include witness tampering charges against him. ‘I don’t trust them,’ Jackson said. ‘Why should I give them my password so they can plant information on it?’ … New Jersey Superior Court Judge Sohail Mohammed, who is handling the ongoing election fraud case, is scheduled to decide on Sept. 18 whether to compel the councilman to give up his cellphone’s passcode.”

WHO’S BAAAHD? — “A baaahhd situation: Historic Jersey City cemetery asks for help in finding missing goats,” by The Jersey Journal’s Mark Koosau: “If you see a goat or two wandering around in Jersey City, it might look like a scene out of the video game ‘Goat Simulator.’ But in reality, they might possibly belong to a local cemetery that’s asking for help in bringing them back. The Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery is asking the public for help in finding two goats that escaped from the cemetery’s pen and are roaming around, the cemetery announced in a Facebook post Tuesday … No other information was provided on the missing goats, and it is not clear why the cemetery has remained mum on the disappearances.”

TENAFLY IS ACTUALLY NINEAFLY — “Tenafly High School teacher accuses district of misrepresenting attendance numbers,” by The Record’s Kaitlyn Kanzler: “A Tenafly High School science teacher is suing the Board of Education, board members, the district superintendent and the high school's principal and vice principal, accusing them of failing to take proper attendance at the school. Andy Policastro, a teacher in the district for 24 years, filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court on June 30, saying Tenafly incorrectly reported attendance and failed to provide substitute or alternative teachers to cover classes for absent colleagues for the 2021-2022 school year. … In his lawsuit, Policastro says there were over 45,000 unsupervised students for classes at Tenafly High School between September 2021 and December 2021 and on June 17, 2022, due to teacher absences.”

THE HANOVER — “Court blocks Hanover Board of Ed policy,” by InsiderNJ’s Fred Snowflack: “A new school year means ‘new’ things, but as school opens here Thursday, one thing hasn’t changed since last June: A board of education policy requiring school staff to inform parents if a child exhibits gay or transgender behavior remains blocked by the courts. That’s the bottom line after a second hearing Wednesday before Judge Stuart Minkowitz in state Superior Court, Morristown. As he did during the first hearing in late May, Minkowitz expressed doubt about the policy despite a revision by the district. During a colloquy with school board lawyer Matthew Giacobbe, the judge said the policy allows no discretion, opens the door to discrimination of a protected class and, actually, 'invites interference with the parent child relationship.’”

THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN IF THERE WAS A MAHWAH WAWA, WHICH WOULD ATTRACT TOURISTS — “Sheraton Mahwah Hotel plans to lay off 91 employees. Here's why,” by The Record’s Marsha A. Stoltz: “The Sheraton Mahwah Hotel has issued a notice to the state that it intends to lay off 91 employees by Dec. 15. It is unclear if the layoffs signal a closing or only a service reduction at the hotel. Officials at parent company Marriott could not be immediately reached for comment. Businesses are now required to issue a ‘WARN notice’ to the state's Department of Labor & Workforce Development at least 90 days in advance of a layoff of more than 50 employees. The notice comes as a proposal to replace the 22-story hotel on 143 acres with two warehouses awaits a second hearing before the township's Planning Board on Monday.”

—“Toms River Democrats finally have a mayoral candidate. Can he make it a competitive race?”

—“Atlantic City Housing Authority spent nearly $500K on leadership consultants”

—“Westwood will end livestreams of school board meetings, after months of heated debates”

—“Family, Ventnor reach settlement in Galloway woman's suicide” 

—“20-year Sea Bright police veteran pleads guilty to stalking ex, slashing her tires” 

—“Migrants have place in Atlantic County, advocates say” 

 

R.I.P. — “Rogue N.J. alligator may be dead, officials say as search continues,” by NJ Advance Media’s Rob Jennings: “ A park in Middlesex Borough remains closed two weeks after authorities first spotted an alligator in the water, but officials say it is possible the reptile is dead. There have been no confirmed sightings of the alligator in or near Victor Crowell Park since Aug. 26, when an officer fired a single, nighttime shot at the reptile in the Ambrose Brook. The alligator immediately submerged below the surface of the water after the shot was fired, but it was unclear if it had been hit, Borough Police Lt. Thomas Falk said Wednesday.”

PAPA BONG’S — “She once destroyed his bong; now Neptune mom and son are going to grow marijuana together,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Charles Daye: “Virginia Papa-Horning was cleaning her house 16 years ago when she found her son Chris' bong. Marijuana was still illegal in New Jersey back then, and after finding the paraphernalia she threw it in a recycling bin and smashed it with a brick. ‘I knew he smoked, but I did find the bong cleaning and it was in my house, so I took the liberty of getting rid of it. Because I had always been raised with the 'War on Drugs' and 'drugs are bad,' and that is how it was,’ she said. Over the years her opinion on cannabis started to change, as did the opinions of many New Jersey voters, who chose to legalize it in a 2020 referendum. ‘I knew he used (cannabis) and then he convinced me,’ Papa-Horning said … Papa-Horning, a Neptune resident, is now Class I cultivator, and operates what will soon be known as Neptune's Garden in a low-profile warehouse at 1930 Heck Ave. with her son, Chris Horning, and their partner Will Perry.”

—“N.J. high schoolers thought they were going to Italy for ‘trip of a lifetime.’ The travel wasn’t booked, lawsuit says” 

—“Ruling in Orthodox Jewish divorce dispute is win for free speech and women’s rights, advocates say” 

Follow us on Twitter

Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family

Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook

View all our political and policy newsletters

Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings

This email was sent to [email protected] by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe.