“If they can demonstrate that they still wield a lot of power, that will potentially ricochet to fewer candidates running in the future, and we’ll be back to largely where we were before,” Sass Rubin said.
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The Political Machine Won’t Decide NJ’s Next Governor
“The political machines adapt. They’re about surviving. If this is all very effective for them, they will do the same thing again,” Rubin said. “If it doesn’t work, if their preferred candidates don’t win, I fully expect them to change the rules again to make it even easier for them to control the outcome.”
She reviewed a Tampa restaurant on Yelp. Then came a lawsuit.
The legal battle illustrates the fragile relationship between chefs and restaurant owners and the people they serve. In December 2023, Irene Eng sat down for dinner at Hales Blackbrick, a popular spot off Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa specializing in "seasonal New...
Some Studies Challenge Long-Held Views on Rent Control
As rents soar across California and housing affordability slips further out of reach for millions, an intensifying debate over rent control is being fueled by a growing stack of academic research. For decades, real estate interests and conservative economists have...
TECH UPDATES: “Hey AI, Write a Report on Innovation in Local Government”
A gamechanger for local governments, tasking an AI chatbot with research and writing projects saves you time and trouble, at least for the first draft.
Could absence of party line lead to primary election surprises?
“I would say the two most notable impacts so far are that so many Democrats and Republican candidates, including pretty legitimate candidates with a shot at winning, [are] choosing not to go for an endorsement. That would have been unheard of before,” said Rubin, an associate dean at Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
Stamato Commentary: Rocking the boat for democracy: Public media, under siege
Of course, the Trump administration is determined to end public support not only for PBS, but for NPR as well. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting receives and distributes over $500 million in taxpayer money to public TV and radio stations annually. Eliminating millions of dollars in federal funding to the two public media organizations amounts to a significant threat.
House SALT proposal would raise cap on deduction to $30K, but some Republicans balk
The Republican tax plan in the U.S. House would raise the cap for the state and local property tax deduction from the current $10,000 to $30,000 for families making up to $400,000. That’s according to legislation released May 12 by the Republican-led House Ways and...
Smart weighs in on possible NJ Transit rail strike
As talks continue between #NJTransit and its rail engineers' union to try to avert a walkout by the union at midnight on Thursday, professor Mike Smart weighed in on the looming issues with the WABC7 Eyewitness News Mornings @ 10 team.
This year, the NJ primary is actually competitive for a change. Get out and vote | Opinion Julia Sass Rubin
New Jersey’s lack of competitive primaries was one of many negative consequences of the county line primary ballot. Candidates who did not receive preferential ballot positions on the county line tended to drop out, leading to choiceless primaries reminiscent of elections in the former Soviet Union.