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Essex County Politics · May 06, 2021 2:11 AM
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By David Wildstein, May 05 2021
New Jersey Globe
Gov. Phil Murphy.
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Six months before voters decide if they want to keep him for another four years, Gov. Phil Murphy has job approvals of 57%-35% among adult New Jersey residents, according to a Monmouth University poll released on Wednesday.
Murphy’s numbers are down from April 2020, when his approvals skyrocketed to 71%-21% during the first month of the coronavirus pandemic. Pundits and strategists from both parties said at the time that a drop back to earth was inevitable.
But Murphy still hasn’t closed his deal for re-election in a heavily blue state that hasn’t re-elected a Democratic governor in 44 years.
Slightly less than half of New Jerseyans polled (48%) say that he should be re-elected, while 43% said he should not.
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Posted by
Essex County Politics · May 05, 2021 3:20 AM
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LILO H. STAINTON, HEALTH CARE WRITER | MAY 5, 2021
NJ Spotlight News
State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli has pushed for greater access to COVID-19 vaccines for vulnerable and disadvantaged populations.
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State officials have taken proactive steps to support New Jersey’s nearly 1.9 million Medicaid members during the pandemic, including a recent push to expand COVID-19 immunization that involves phone calls to almost 260,000 individuals most at risk for infection.
Much of the work — which also involved mailings in English and Spanish, ongoing case management and partnerships with medical and social service providers to ensure members have proper care, plus food and other necessities — is being done by a handful of health insurance companies that provide Medicaid coverage under contracts with the state Department of Human Services.
While demand for COVID-19 vaccines outpaced supply for months — sparking widespread public frustration over a lack of access to shots — that has shifted recently and daily immunization numbers are now on the decline, raising concerns about the effect of vaccine hesitancy. State officials are actively working to overcome that trend in their campaign to vaccinate 4.7 million adult New Jerseyans by July.
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Posted by
Essex County Politics · May 04, 2021 3:37 AM
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By SAM SUTTON and SHANNON YOUNG
Politico
05/03/2021
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority will resume 24-hour service on May 17 to preempt the lifting of curfews and reopening of businesses and office space.
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New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are lifting most Covid-19-related restrictions on May 19, signaling a denouement for some of the country’s strictest lockdown orders and social distancing protocols imposed during the pandemic.
The unified approach — announced separately on Monday by the three governors who had previously appeared together (albeit virtually) at Covid-era news conferences — comes on the heels of a public spat between New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The two Democrats‘ mutual antipathy has deepened as Cuomo faces calls to resign amid two scandals and de Blasio wraps up his second term.
Cuomo unveiled the newest regional strategy during a late-morning news conference in New York City, while New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced a similar timeline during his regular briefing in Trenton. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont had previously announced plans for ending most of his state’s Covid-related restrictions.
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Posted by
Essex County Politics · May 03, 2021 3:03 AM
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By Bob Hennelly | May 2, 2021
Insider NJ
Singh
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Months after thousands of Trump supporters chanting stop the steal violently attacked the U.S. Capitol in a bid to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election, his MAGA movement has turned New Jersey’s June primary into a referendum on former President Trump.
No doubt, this is a great relief to Governor Phil Murphy, the Democratic incumbent who’s well aware that if he prevails in November, he will be the first member of his party to win re-election since Gov. Brendan Byrne did so 43 years ago.
If the November general election were to focus just on the tragic here and now of New Jersey– 25,000 residents dead including several thousand senior citizens in nursing homes— close to 900,000 people infected—and a third of our small businesses shuttered, Murphy might have something to worry about.
But if an internal poll provided to the right-wing news site Daily Caller is right, Hirsh Singh, an engineer and a perennial ultra-right MAGA candidate has pulled even or better against Jack Ciattarelli, the former Somerset County Freeholder and Assemblyman, who’s been embraced by the Republican establishment.
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Posted by
Essex County Politics · April 30, 2021 3:19 AM
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By DANIEL HAN
04/28/2021
Polirico
The chair of the Hudson County Board of Commissioners says he is looking to see if the county can stop housing federal immigration detainees, possibly “by the end of the year.”
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The chair of the Hudson County Board of Commissioners says he is looking to see if the county can stop housing federal immigration detainees, possibly “by the end of the year.”
“I'm open minded to get out of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] contracts,” Anthony Vainieri Jr. told POLITICO on Wednesday night.
The commissioner had been an ardent supporter of renewing a 10-year contract with ICE, which would allow the county to hold detainees. The board of commissioners voted to continue the contract late last December amid fierce criticism from progressives and immigration advocates. The commissioners pledged in 2018 to phase out ICE detentions.
Vainieri said "nothing is concrete” and many details remain to be determined. Essex County’s announcement that it would no longer house ICE detainees, announced earlier on Wednesday, made him consider leaving the contract.
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