March 21, 2024 | In the News
BERNARDS TWP. – A township resident was one of two candidates to win the Somerset County Republican Organization (SCRO) endorsement on Tuesday, March 5, to run for two seats on the Somerset County Board of Commissioners. Nick Cuozzo, a gaming industry executive who...
March 20, 2024 | In the News
In February 2022, the Maplewood Democratic Committee overwhelmingly voted to do away with the “county line” for local primary elections, taking a distinctly progressive position in a statewide discussion on ballot reform. Although the initial vote was for a one-year...
March 20, 2024 | In the News
New Jersey’s primary election is not until June, but state elections are already in the national spotlight because of their ballot design. Over the weekend, Attorney General Matt Platkin said he will not defend New Jersey’s “county line” system, challenged by U.S....
March 19, 2024 | In the News
Governor Murphy Announces Eric Miller as Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy TRENTON – Governor Phil Murphy today announced Eric Miller as the Executive Director of the New Jersey Governor’s Office of Climate Action and...
March 19, 2024 | In the News
A federal judge questioned the claim that New Jersey’s county clerks don’t have time to reprint ballots before this year’s June primary elections — as he considers a case that could rob the state’s political machines of a tool that researchers say can decide an...
March 18, 2024 | News, Research, Publications, and Reports
Regulations issued by executive branch agencies often get criticized by regulatory opponents as being made by “unelected bureaucrats,” divorced from political pressures and the messiness of democracy. Partly because of that sentiment, the Supreme Court appears poised...
March 18, 2024 | In the News
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office said it will not defend the way primary ballots are designed in the state following a lawsuit from Rep. Andy Kim, who says the ballots give preferential treatment to county-backed candidates. The move is the latest...
March 15, 2024 | In the News
New Jersey Assembly leaders pumped the brakes on the steamroller seeking to amend the state’s Open Public Records Act, acknowledging the widespread opposition to a host of changes that would make it more difficult for the public to gain access to public documents. The...
March 12, 2024 | In the News
In New Jersey, candidates backed by political parties get a more prominent spot on the ballot. This has been going on for years as a vestige of party machine power, particularly among Democrats, and it’s an archaic, indefensible practice deliberately designed to...
March 12, 2024 | In the News
TOMS RIVER – Voters choose who they want to lead them, but how did the politicians even get on the ballot to begin with? That starts with the leaders of the two main parties. Ocean County’s political landscape will undoubtedly undergo significant shifts as a result of...
March 11, 2024 | In the News
It’s a concept now front-and-center in Jersey politics as First Lady Tammy Murphy goes for a U.S. Senate seat and is being accused of having the path cleared for her in the Democratic primary because her husband happens to be the still-very-powerful Gov. Phil Murphy....
March 11, 2024 | In the News
Sometimes election meddling takes place in plain view. Consider New Jersey’s “party line” ballots, which let county bosses put their favored primary candidates front and center, relegating the rest to the periphery. A lawsuit in this year’s Senate race is asking for...
March 10, 2024 | In the News
Just when taxpayers got used to the notion that public records actually belong to the public, our most powerful lawmakers have decided that it’s time to choke off access. In a state notorious for government corruption and poor transparency, New Jersey’s Legislature...
March 8, 2024 | In the News
You may have seen those large motorized stuffed animals that kids and parents ride through some parts of the American Dream mall. They include plushy zebras, elephants tigers and hippos. An elderly woman is suing the East Rutherford mega-mall and ride operator,...
March 4, 2024 | In the News
On a chilly Saturday morning last month, a smiling First Lady Tammy Murphy walked into the wood-paneled Portuguese Club of Long Branch, just a few blocks off the beach, where hundreds of Monmouth County Democrats gathered to decide who they’d back for U.S. Senate. As...
March 4, 2024 | In the News
Shelton, an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences at Georgia State, along with his collaborator Eric Seymour of Rutgers University, investigated the ownership of rental homes in metro Atlanta and found that more than 19,000 were owned by just three...
March 2, 2024 | In the News
Georgia State University researchers unveil the ironclad grip of three corporate giants over a staggering 11% of the city’s rental properties. As metro Atlanta continues to deal with a housing shortage and high rent, a recent study led by Georgia State...
March 1, 2024 | In the News
As he leaves the scandal-plagued firm, Jay Parsons offers one last defense of rent-gougers. If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, you’ll be familiar with real estate tech firm RealPage. According to a bombshell ProPublica investigation, RealPage’s...
