EDITORIAL
BY DHIREN SHAH
Hello Readers,
Newark has taken the historic step of allowing 16 and 17 year olds to vote in the school board elections on April 15, 2025. It is a great and bold decision made by the school board. “Local Talk” congratulates all the students who voted on Tuesday and the board members who allowed them to vote. There are 14 school districts that had a vote on Tuesday, but Newark is the only district who allowed 16 and 17 year old students to vote.
New Jersey’s Gubernatorial election will be on November 4, 2025. So far, 3 independents and one Green Party candidate have been filed for the general election. The “Local Talk” area is a strong Democratic area. So first, I would like to talk about the Democratic primary election. The Democratic Primary is on June 10, 2025. In alphabetical order, it is Ras Baraka at the top. However, when he first became the mayor he announced, “When I became mayor, we became mayor.” Only his friends and family became part of the mayor’s team. The progress only came for rich real estate investors and his supporters, as people are taking about.
Steve Fulop, known for being Jersey City’s Mayor, initially jumped into the race about 2017. However, when Phil Murphy, a powerful money person and backed by money backer, entered the race, he withdrew his nomination, like Ras Baraka. So, they were pushed aside by the rich and powerful.
Senator Bernie Sanders is complaining about rich and powerful people against the Republican Party. But he forgets that despite being an independent, he supports the Democratic Party and they have the same “RICH and POWERFUL” plague as the Republican Party. The Democratic party is united in our local area and does not support the real people. They want only the people who can promote their work and distribute money. I don’t say they are doing anything illegally, but I came to know over the years, before money comes from most of the federal grants, they already decide how to give the money to and hire their family, friends and supporters with the funds.
It is a money game for most of the politicians. The Democrats blame the Republicans and the Republicans blames the Democrats. Fifth District congressman Josh Gottheimer has served under four presidential candidates. He was a speech writer for President Bill Clinton and adviser to Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Wesley Clark. However, he is not popular amongst New Jerseyans.
Mikie Sherrill, a congresswoman representing most of Morris County and part of Essex County, is charming and impressive. However, I did not see any momentum in her campaign yet. She has a lot of support from many associations and unions.
Sean Spiller, President of New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), has support from a large union. However, he does not seem like he will go a long way.
Finally, Steve Sweeney, a once powerful leader of the state’s Democratic Party, lost his last election to Ed Durr, a Republican truck driver in one of the biggest upsets in election history.
Right now, Steve Fulop has raised the most money followed by Sweeney. As for the Republicans, it appears so far that Jack Ciattarelli will likely win the GOP nomination again. Although he lost the last election to Phil Murphy, he got closer than anyone expected, just as our Content Editor Kristopher Seals predicted.
Have a wonderful week. I’ll talk to you next week.
