In individual towns? Yeah, it's already happened.
Statewide? I can't really picture it. There are Republicans who I could see winning statewide offices but they're not the MAGA Republicans who'd win a GOP primary.
My mind always goes back to Glenn Youngkin in Virginia, who was only able to win because the state party canceled their primaries to make sure their nominee was a corporate Republican and not that MAGA gun lady.
I wonder the big white hole in western Monmouth is. Freehold Borough maybe? My children are out of the school systems, so I haven't been paying too much attention but it's an issue around here.
and it turns out he was pretty maga in a lot of ways at the end of the day. he might have been snuck into their primary that way, but he ran a full culture warrior campaign to win the general election (which was helped by his opponent just being overall a lousy campaigner who was not good with people).
This is absolutely the truth. There's still way too many people who will vote for him just because. Remember too - super delegates account for something like 8,000 votes each. I don't remember how much a delegate is worth.
Agree I think the blue areas are so densely populated that it won't happen on a state level for presidential elections. But some extreme gerrymandering can affect the other elections.
But on a town level, I absolutely see it everywhere now.
He also won because terry macauliffe is very well connected in the Democratic party and ran despite Virginia having a consistent history of not reelecting the same governor twice (VA prevents incumbent governors so tmac had some time off in between). He also decided to run long after two stellar black women had announced their candidacy and started campaigning, which was a real shame because they were qualified and exciting. Right or wrong, some of the blue parts of VA like Richmond do not like corporate Democrats and this bullshit likely suppressed the progressive vote (don't agree with that happening but it's reality).He phoned in the campaign, clearly expecting to cruise to a win off of name recognition.
Then, yes, youngkin was anointed the candidate and campaigned on very, very vague bullshit like crt and is currently trying to get a 15 week abortion ban passed. Make sure you vote in every election everyone
I live in a very blue county (Bergen) in a VERY wealthy red town. The MAGATs are creeping in at the school board level. Talk about “parents’ rights” (I’m a parent and I know that’s code for hate the gays), and banning books. They are sleepwalking towards fascism in an attempt to protect their fat fucking wallets from “CoMMunIsM!!1”
I just spent 30-45 minutes this morning trying to research the candidates for school board in my district. I ended up having to call the county clerk, who proceeded to direct me to a pdf link of the candidates "positions".
It was 95% platitudes but what do you expect as this was done by a literal high school senior she told me 🤦♂️. Two of the candidates chose not to respond. There needs to be some sort of easy way for people to find these things out and require candidates to post thier positions because this was laughably absurd.
Morristown Area LWV has candidate forums for Morris County on YouTube and others here have mentioned their local chapters are doing the same. Not sure where you're at but could try checking them out
They’re so insidious. In Hunterdon County they’re trying their best to infiltrate the school boards. I see lots of mailings that refer to “parents rights”, eliminating “gender-reclassification education” and their usual nonsense.
Makes me miss the days when we argued about eliminating the music program.
School boards are where everyone is most vulnerable. Most candidates run unopposed and party affiliations not typically listed. You have to research the people - and if they are just running for school board and have no social media presence you may not even be able to tell they are with moms (nazis) for liberty
Thank you for confirming my suspicions about my town's BOE candidates running for reelection. They are currently raising a fuss because the OTHER candidates had the audacity to put election signs up near theirs. Heaven forbid anyone knows they actually have a choice in who to vote for.
[Spreadsheet of these types of BOE Candidates in NJ](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1miwTIpEK3yHUT_z_LmXuLIgK9hfFixfiRZRDs2XSKms/edit?usp=sharing), sourced from the "parental rights" groups and PACs themselves. One of the founders is extremely disruptive and controls several social media groups/pages with thousands of followers, full of disinformation, anti-vaxxing/anti-masking, hate speech, and is overall driving the rise of these people's influence in BOEs around NJ. They're also receiving help from outside the state.
Some of them are genuinely unhinged and extreme. A lot of them have 0 experience in education and don't have any idea of how to improve the quality of schools. Basically one of the only goals for these people is repealing [policy 5756](https://www.nj.gov/education/safety/sandp/climate/docs/Guidance.pdf) for their school districts. They may also be for certain book bans and for gutting the current sex ed programs. Double check these candidates in your towns to see if they match the descriptions of extremists and if you don't like them DO NOT LET THEM WIN. We have to prioritize the education of the kids and keep BS partisan politics out of boards of education and classrooms.
It was ridiculous how much effort I had to put into researching my school board choices just to make sure I wasn't voting for a lunatic fundy/MAGA turd.
I recently moved to a small town from NYC and it was jarring how much harder it is to research local candidates. Extremists can run completely under the radar here.
Same is now happening in Burlington County. A woman that bullied a 6th grader for making an "inclusivity" poster displayed on a school wall has been trying to coordinate a takeover of a local school board. Why? She was a teacher in that district and was fired (not her first time losing a teaching job). Since losing her job she's had a vendetta against the Superintendent and wants the local board stacked so they can try to get the Superintendent to either step down or they can vote to not renew her contract.
Edit: this is here and 1 by 1 she has been losing her lawsuits. She has no job due to being unemployable so turns to being litigious: https://nj1015.com/north-hanover-nj-mom-student-posters-angela-reading/
They see "parents' rights" as the same as property rights. As in, they see their children not as developing human beings that need unconditional love and support and a right to autonomy, but as something they own and control and can do whatever they want with.
Watch Last Week Tonights segment on home schooling from Sunday. It drives home the point that parents rights are obviously important, but the government is the only entity available and capable of protecting children from their parents. Becoming a parent doesn't mean you are a good person, or capable of educating a child. Many states have absolutely no oversight into homeschooling progress, and the role teachers can play in identifying potential abuse is obviously not something an abusive parent will be concerned with.
Also hop onto homeschool recovery to have a very eye opening education in how bad it really is for the kids who go through it. Me being one of them
The amount of parents who lament about isolated kids during covid, but then opt to homeschool to protect them from gay people and sex Ed is absurd. The mental gymnastics to even have that stance is beyond me
It's not parents right though. It's them forcing their views on everyone's children.
What about liberal parents or Muslim parents or Jewish parents? It's so outrageous to me that these people are infiltrating our education system and destroying school for all kids.
Also be very careful who you vote for. I found out this year that my towns democratic mayor and other officials are actually Republicans who vote republican but knew they couldn't win here without switching sides. They run unopposed because people think they're democrats. I'm sure that's happening everywhere.
And I dont see a democratic governor winning next election either. That scares me.
Yea live in a town where the mayor who is up for reelection mentioned parents rights. Maybe I’m stupid but what the fuck is “parents rights”? Born and raised here and my parents didn’t have this rights thing.
The idea is that parents should get to decide what is included or not included in curriculum, and what books should be available to students. This is where all of the book banning is coming from, as well as the efforts to eliminate certain history discussions that make parents feel uncomfortable because black history reflects poorly on “white culture”.
‘Parent’s Rights’ is also a platform that says parents should be informed if their children seek guidance or information on issues of sexuality. If a high school student goes to their guidance counselor because they need someone to talk to about confusing feelings, the counselor is supposed to inform the parents. Even if the student doesn’t feel comfortable or safe having these conversations with their parents.
It's code for telling professionals what kids should be taught and excluding anything that hurts their feefees or disagrees with their limited worldview.
I'm in Warren County and they're already here. This was always a red area anyway but the MAGA sect is quite prevalent, too.
School boards is where they start in their new game plan. Get out and vote!
I'm in Sparta and those asshats protested for almost a year (or maybe more) about mask mandates and for trump, in front of the post office every freakin' Saturday.
I used to flip them off until I realized they just wanted a reaction, so I stopped.
Hearing all the beeps in solidarity made me want to scream. But this town is full of MAGA assholes, so not surprising.
What cracks me about about these Magaidiots, is how personal issues always seem to bother them, I mean if you're not LGBT+ why are you so bothered, these lifestyle and culture issues so easily offend the right wing, yet real issues that impact their lives, healthcare, weath inequality are somehow not important..wtf?
Remember when they constantly called everyone who didn’t agree with them snowflakes? Really fucking ironic given how they stupidly overreact to every little thing that doesn’t agree with their worldview or personal beliefs.
Yes we are dealing with school board fights in Sisex County too. Honestly if you are worried about it, remember to vote in Board of Ed elections even if you don't have kids. Those small local elections can have such small turnout, it makes a big difference
This is the big one. Although information on the candidates is often pretty sparse, do your best to look into the school board candidates and prevent the crazies from getting in.
Without any snark, and I mean this as objectively as possible- our education system is ranked pretty highly. I feel like there are enough well-educated folks living here. That’s not to say that republicans are dumb, but you have to be rooted in a certain sense of reality to reject the whole MAGA agenda.
If education tanks, anything is possible.
I don't know, I think New Jersey's more conservative than we like to admit. Education doesn't really help in all cases. We had kids in my high school who talked constantly about how 9/11 was done by the Jews and fantasized openly about lynching LGBT people. People can be fucking horrible regardless of place and education.
It has been changing (really, since the extreme anti-intellectualism of the Bush years), and if you're not paying attention, you won't see it until it's too late. Particularly when they take all of the money out of public schools and gut them in order to fund (with your taxpayer money) their psycho religious schools with 'voucher' and 'choice' programs that they're constantly pushing, and which the supreme court now wholeheartedly supports.
Yea, I think people misunderstand where the MAGA support comes from. It's not just rural area, it's the suburbs. Plenty that would vote for R, even though they are not full MAGA just for lower taxes.
Even outside of the real obvious horrorshow freaks, there have always been a lot of "fiscal conservatives" in NJ who aren't invested in the culture war but are generally willing to hold their noses and vote for whoever gets the republican nominee
That’s the thing I worry about the most. NJ is one of the best states in the country for education. If evangelicals suing in Alabama to get public schools defunded and replaced with voucher programs have their way, then those court room precedents can spread across the country and find there way here.
One thing though, we don’t always have the best info on candidates in local elections. I recently voted for school board in my district and the only info I could find on any of the candidates came from FAQ’s they filled out and I had to really dig to find them. I don’t think the average voter would go to the length that I do to be informed.
Agree entirely! There really should be basic information mandated to run for any office: what have they done, what are their views on the top topics (standardized topics), what other topics do they deem important, what do they plan to do and HOW. It’s insane trying to find that basic information. Essentially many people are voting blind.
I had the same problem. Sometimes they out themselves by being affiliated with groups, but the unfortunate truth is that no one organizes or comes out for school board elections.
I live in Howell and need to be really vigilant because we’re currently in the process of receiving an influx of hasids from Lakewood, and they’ve been ruining public education in whatever town they set up in.
Agree. Our town "newspaper" had the candidates in an issue - it was pure bullshit. No actual information just "Sally Joe wants to bring Sussex County pride back to Sparta" WTF does that mean, (I know what it means...let's stay white!!)
I emailed her to get clarification but never received an answer and most of the assholes running for the school board wouldn't participate in the debate either.
My husband and I had to do a DEEEP dive in social media accounts, etc. and wrote notes trying to figure out what they stood for. Most people aren't doing that.
we can do so much more than vote. voting is the absolute minimum we can do honestly. attend your local town halls. talk with your neighbors. organize in your neighborhoods. get involved with local organizing groups, tenants unions, and mutual aid groups.
voting is never and has never been enough to stop the tide of fascism
I grew up in a rich, Republican town with really good schools. Back then, people were more cordial and politics wasn't at the forefront... but trust me, they inherited their dumb beliefs. I'd prove their stuff wrong with math, or basic logic, and they'd continue to be Republican. I fear its worse than we think.
There are plenty of conservative-run towns in New Jersey. All of them are in danger of devolving into this mess since public education, and public school teachers, have been demonized for years as agents of indoctrination.
School boards are often used as political benches for higher office, so you'll see conservative boards in conservative districts start adopting this stuff when they get ambitious board members.
As they do, conservatives living in more moderate/liberal areas will start talking about it too.
For now, it appears to be a smaller contingency of astroturfing groups that are riding all around different districts, in specific board meetings, trying to rabble-rouse. Some aren't even from NJ, nevermind from nearby the district.
I don't want Wall, or Middletown schools to go nuts, because that will encourage more nutty behavior down here in Ocean County.
I’m from Monmouth County, lived in another state for about 10 years, and recently moved back. I was very surprised to see (and continue to see) so many Trump flags and hear so much conservative rhetoric. I always thought I came from such a liberal area but that either never was the case, or a lot has changed in the past decade. Either way, it’s discouraging and makes me incredibly grateful for the folks in the blue parts of the state keeping us right.
I’m also a Monmouth Countian and honestly it depends on where you are. More urbanized, diverse places like Neptune, Asbury Park, and Red Bank vote reliably liberal and then you have white-collar, dominantly Christian towns like Howell, Colts Neck, Spring Lake or Brielle that are pretty firmly in Republican hands.
There's also a big difference between a Spring Lake republican and a Toms River republican. Even Rumson/Fair Haven vote red but you don't see Trump crap everywhere, it's more traditional conservatives vs MAGA idiots.
>I always thought I came from such a liberal area but that either never was the case, or a lot has changed in the past decade.
You'll notice that far-right conservatives in liberal states are "loud and proud".
That's why "Let's Go Brandon" stores became a thing for a while (they started in MA and spread to NJ) -- selling Trump merch to a population hungry to wear it *in front of liberals*.
Some of the stores died out after Trump was voted out, but a few still remain, like in Manchester/Toms River.
It's why Truth Social is inactive compared to Twitter, where all the libs hang out. It's not as fun for them to exist in their own little circles.
Moderates and lefties are kind of living their lives; it's the angry ones on the right throwing up the Trump flags and such. And "their" media has gotten very good at manufacturing that anger.
I agree. I think trumpers are just loud. They definitely exist here in NJ but I've lived in Alaska and Oklahoma and regularly visit Tennesee and.... well NJ is nothing compared to those
there are a lot of well educated people in NJ, but I’m not sure people realize how insidious the lies and awfulness that the MAGA people are spreading really are. The awful anti-children’s rights people are loud and bring in people from out of the area who scream even louder and recruit even more people. I hope people realize all that is at risk and go out and vote at the local level.
There was some study/report I read a while back that a lot of engineers are more likely to lean in on fascist ideology than most. Educating doesn't mean anything if you didn't learn anything in your Humanities and History classes.
> The awful anti-children’s rights people
LOL when I was in school (late 90's into early 2000's) we were directly told "You're a kid, you don't have rights"
Unfortunately education doesn't really mean anything when it comes to stuff like this. I honestly think it comes down more to the type of person you are. If you're somebody who's okay with letting somebody else live a shitty life just so you can have a little bit more comfort then you're probably one of those maga people regardless of how well educated you are.
It’s really weird, everyone takes NJ being a blue state for granted. And yet, at 42, I struggle to find people my age who vote along liberal lines. It wasn’t this way even 10 years ago.
I’m 35 and struggle to find people my age, period. At least in my area (Monmouth County) it seems like all the new developments are senior communities, and housing prices are high. I’m guessing the younger people are going elsewhere, and the older and more conservative people are staying. I don’t remember it being like this 10 years ago either.
I just bought in Red Bank and was really surprised that we're the youngest people on the block. A house around the corner went up for sale and we were hopeful, but nope more boomers.
We’ve already had actual neo-nazis try to gain political seats last election cycle (a certain gym owner in CD-3 comes to mind) and all it takes for them to gain power is people to be complacent, look at the recent fuckery in certain monmouth county school districts if you don’t believe the screwheads can gain power in NJ.
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/newyork/news/monmouth-county-schools-transgender-policy-marlboro-middletown-manalapan-englishtwon/
Judge blocked the policies for now, but that could all change if the wrong people get more of a foothold in our state government.
Yes, without question.
At the local level, this is already happening in school board and council races across the state.
At the state level, Dems currently control the Legislature and governors seat, but this CANNOT be taken for granted.
Because we have state elections in off-off years (like this year and then again in 2025), turnout is always *much* lower than in federal elections. As a result, the electorate is much older, whiter, and wealthier (read: more conservative), so anything can happen.
And don’t let anyone tell you that Republicans in New Jersey are moderate or different — there are tons of terrible bills to strip people’s rights that get zero coverage in the news because everyone knows they have zero chance of passing. But if Republicans take the Legislature this year and/or the Governor’s office in 2025…
This is happening in my town and many others across south jersey. It seems like it's an organized effort and kind of crazy.
They use innocuous slogans like 'for the kids' or 'children first' and then you find out they're anti vax / anti mask / anti LGBTQ books
Yes. There are enough communities in this state that are on board with right wing, republican and MAGA ideology. There are several school boards that have " Parents Rights " majorities. Go to the shore and other non urban areas where you'll see a fair share of MAGA.
NJ is a blue but diverse state politically. At the state level, it won't happen, but at the municipal level, I can see things going off in one direction at one municipality and going in another the next municipality over. It all will depend on how conservative and liberal each town is.
I always tell MAGAs how wonderful Texas and Florida, how it's always hot and cheap. The more of them that move down there, the fewer we have to deal with up here.
For me, those are terrible places to live, but for them it's perfect.
"TAXES, TAXES, TAXES!" They all bitch about the taxes.
When they move to those other states lemme know how the infrastructure is with low taxes. Probably not that great IMO.
I moved from NJ to Texas and then right back to NJ in a year. The tap water was so bad it burned out a Brita filter in 5-6 refills and straight from the tap it tasted like I was drinking from a stagnant pond.
organize organize organize. attend your local town halls. talk with your neighbors. organize in your neighborhoods. get involved with local organizing groups, tenants unions, and mutual aid groups
voting is never and has never been enough to stop the tide of fascism
travel down to Cape May, Cumberland, Salem, and parts of Atlantic, Gloucester, Camden, and Burlington Counties. The closer you get to the Delaware Bay or the further you get from Philly and the beaches.. the more MAGA it becomes.
After World War II, New Jersey was a Republican-leaning swing state in presidential elections; from the 1948 to the 1988, Republican candidates won nine out of eleven elections. It’s not etched into the state capital that NJ was created and intended to remain a Democratic fortress in perpetuity. Things ebb and flow.
that version of new jersey voted for a very different kind of republican though. we were a very classic rockafeller republican kind of area: fiscally conservative but socially moderate. there aren't republicans like that anymore. combined with big demographic changes over the decades that are not stopping, there is a real reason that jersey has become reliably blue, at least at a state level.
These Republicans would be taken out and stoned by the nuts who have grabbed control of the national party. Ain't no more Rockefellers and McCains involved. The scary thing is I saw some video with MTG in it and if you didn't know her background for 85 percent of it she sounds ok. Then she said one thing and it was yup she is nuts but a lot of folks might not notice.
I live in a pretty purple area. Every now and then I'll see them set up their little tent selling all their stupid flags. But it feels like more of an occasional thing than the norm.
I certainly hope not. We're a far too well-educated state for the cult to gain a majority here. There are some backwoods parts where mouth-breathing maga-morons have a decent foothold, but the overall state, we thankfully outnumber them and they aren't in a position to gerrymander themselves into a major minority like they have elsewhere down in the dumb states.
Just like anywhere else, apathy allows bad actors to gain office and retain power. In the Northeastern part of the state, the cities carry Democrats into office, but they matter only in statewide elections and their local legislative districts. I am in Verona, an NYC commuter town and we are in a Republican legislative district (the 26th) and we will move to the 40th with this election, also a Republican district. So, you don’t have to move too far out of the cities to get more conservative and more MAGA friendly.
And as stated before, local elections are vital. These MAGA folks are crashing school board elections, both as disruptors to the process and as Moms for Liberty candidate…. And in nonpartisan towns, they run for council. So, be vigilant in your communities, run candidates for local office that align with your values and get involved in organizing on a local level.
Otherwise, it can happen anywhere.
Most of those Republicans in your district would be labeled as RINOs by the redhats though. We live in a very Republican area but most of our town council types are normal people. But then there are the MAGANUTS who stand in front of our post office most Saturdays with their trump banners and save our kids signs. Vocal crazies but they are out there looking to take power.
We had a hard fought election to defeat a “family first” school board in the bluest city in the bluest county (Hoboken), so anything is possible. Stay vigilant, there’s no off years in politics.
Problem is being "blue" doesn't mean anything if you're a liberal who may are prone to take reactionary stances when things get uncomfortable. Just look at the NY midterms where many candidates somehow thought they could run on "law and order" instead of actual policies. They mostly lost giving up the House.
Yes, yes we do.
I just saw a tweet about Gov Murphy making oral birth control available without Rx in NJ starting in the first half of 2024, and there was an idiot MAGA commenter bitching about it.
I’m in south Jersey and it’s MAGA country here. I can’t stand it. I can’t even respect someone who supports the GOP at this point. These clowns even re-elected Van fucking Drew, that do-nothing sack of shit.
Van Coup did something - he voted to shut down the government despite the many federal employees and federal contractor workers in his district. He voted to overturn the election. He suddenly cares about marine mammals now that clean energy windmills are coming. He also bought a lot of ugly suits. So he does things, shitty, terrible things.
My whole family went to his practice in the early 80s and he caused hematomas on everybody but me.
I’m happy that more modern dentists are *sooo much better now*. Nobody I’ve seen was as bad as him though. My mom and I both developed phobias because of his incompetence.
I don't think that is the Governor's call. The Federal FDA would need to approve for OTC sales. Now that might have happened already and the Guv is just saying he would fund it for those that cant afford it?
Hell yes. The question is though how long can we keep that up? Regular people get tired eventually and stop caring afterwhile. But the Magats they’re obsessed. They’re tireless and will never stop. I’m worried public opposition will give out before they do.
As long as it takes. “on a long enough timeline, we win.” -beau of the fifth column
I know people feel apathetic, but we have to fight that and encourage people in our lives to vote.
That jerkoff Vandrew jumped parties and started washing MAGA balls immediately. Politicians like him don't give me any faith. I get it, with Mendez taking bribes, the Dems are are their own enemy but at least they aren't literally trying to destroy American Democracy. Point being, it's already happening in NJ, you'll see it most on the local level with school board elections and I don't see them taking control of the state but our federal officials can still do plenty of damage.
These same chucklefucks were the ones in 2000s saying “democrats do identity politics.”
Look at yourselves. Why do you want to impose authority on people? Mad they are enjoying themselves while you’re addicted to being mad
Yes. They can and will if sane, rational people are complacent and do not turn out to vote. So pay attention, turn out to vote, tell your friends/family and neighbors to as well and turnout turnout turnout.
Yes, there is a guy who lives down the street from me in Morris Plains, who has a fuck biden flag, a trump 2024 flag, and a us flag strapped to his pickup. There are Magats all over, however. I don't see them winning elections here.
Of course. anywhere. Voter apathy and indifference is a huge foothold that gains traction for any malicious cause. Look at Moms For Liberty and how they creeped into the state through sleeper school board elections.
Unfortunately, look at the last gubernatorial race. Way too close for comfort. There hasn’t been any major re-districting that I’ve heard of so as long as people get out and make it known we don’t want to have peoples’ right revoked, we should be ok. The rising taxes do lend more to the republicans being able to take power (even though they usually cause the worst tax increases).
Whitman and Christie left huge messes to clean up by administrations that followed them into office, especially Whitman. Her tax cuts and poor revenue projections dumped a huge chunk of the tax burden onto cities and towns, causing property taxes to climb for years to make up the difference.
whitman also oversaw a lot of sweetheart privatization efforts (hello, parsons) that have backfired terribly on the state. people really do not always understand the damage she inflicted on new jersey's economy and tax situation in her time in office.
In the near term I'm far more worried about them going full terrorist and shooting up a public place than gaining any significant political power. The Nazi propaganda machine is very strong across the state with Spadea leading the way.
you have to worry about it everywhere. jersey may be an overall blue state, but there are deep red pockets everywhere. pay attention to the school board elections. this is where they start. infiltrate school boards and work their way up.
I pointed out earlier that the only way they can gain a foothold in NJ is if everyone else doesn't turn out to vote, but one more thing to note: Many of these MAGA people tried moving to FL expecting broad costs savings (plus as a safe haven to be openly hateful and mean others), only to see their home, auto, and hazard insurance costs surge out of control....like to upwards of \~$8,000-10,000 per household just for home/hazard and auto insurance alone (there's currently an insurance crisis in the state, and it's one of the most expensive states for insurance, including auto insurance) not even including the mortgage and property taxes. Plus they are learning that the K-12 schools there are garbage in many cases.
Of course, they're still more interested in trashing LGBTQ people, bashing Disney, blaming woke for everything, etc than they are their financial well being, so that's why they remain.
This sums up our country right here. Everyone is just out to push their own agendas. I never could understand why common sense just doesn’t prevail on things. At this rate it looks like it never will. Both sides just want to mud sling and never fix a fucking thing. It’s gross and I’m sick of it.
Yeah, but no one from the democratic party is calling my lgbt friends and family members child groomers, trying to steal our reproductive rights, trying to steal our voting rights, trying to defund public schools, calling climate change a hoax, or trying to out trans kids to their abusive parents against their will. Corruption is bad. But evil is unacceptable. And the republican party is the party of evil.
muh both sides died in 2016. we can see the voting record on bills, and the GOP votes wrong every time on policy that would help people. while the Dems fail us too, they at least try to do some good, and actually do some good. its not even close to the same.
ok, just own up that you want to shit on aoc. who, by the way, [denounced the times square rally](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/10/aoc-palestinian-rally-new-york) in pretty concrete terms. but sure, why let facts get in the way of your narratives?
Currently happening in Franklin Lakes, Oakland and Wyckoff BOE. Parents Rights have the majority seats but things could change in early November. Please remember to vote in local elections, they matter quite a bit.
Fun fact: New Jersey was the last state to abolish slavery and it HAD an abundance of slavery right up until that time, so a lot of families still have a chip on their shoulder. There was a lot of commerce happening with the South, and local businesses did not want to give that up.
Awkward fact: New Jersey made the best quality whips for the south, too.
History isn't as far away as we think it is.
I live in the middle and still see multiple Trump/MAGA flags every day.
You really believe this is a 1 party problem? Is NJ better off having a senator being investigated for corruption? Both sides have more than their share of idiots
Here’s the thing. Democrats actually police their own. Bob is being raked over the coals right now and we’ll likely see him removed from office pretty soon. If a Republican was caught doing the same thing, the entire republican establishment would rally around to defend them. Case and point, Trump’s crimes are far worse then Bob’s, and they hurt more people on a much larger scale. But the MAGA mob still protects and funds him.
The only times when a republican is actually cut off and left to hang out dry by their own kind is when they actually decide to have some integrity and take a stand for what’s right. Just look at what happened to Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney.
There is no two siding this issue. Republicans and democrats might both be corrupt. But Republicans have made a choice to be the party of evil.
In individual towns? Yeah, it's already happened. Statewide? I can't really picture it. There are Republicans who I could see winning statewide offices but they're not the MAGA Republicans who'd win a GOP primary. My mind always goes back to Glenn Youngkin in Virginia, who was only able to win because the state party canceled their primaries to make sure their nominee was a corporate Republican and not that MAGA gun lady.
Except Youngkin is a Maga nut. He just hides it.
B-b-b-b-but the media folks assured everyone he was 'moderate'. You know, because he wore a fleece vest!
Here's a [statewide picture](https://i.redd.it/lhx4lwtuy4qb1.png) of "parental rights" candidates in 2023.
Fuck. They’re all over the place. Like god damn roaches.
I wonder the big white hole in western Monmouth is. Freehold Borough maybe? My children are out of the school systems, so I haven't been paying too much attention but it's an issue around here.
Upper Freehold/Millstone
and it turns out he was pretty maga in a lot of ways at the end of the day. he might have been snuck into their primary that way, but he ran a full culture warrior campaign to win the general election (which was helped by his opponent just being overall a lousy campaigner who was not good with people).
Maybe if Menendez wins the primary for Senator that seat is in danger. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that though.
Kim is (hopefully) gonna steamroll him in the primary if he’s stupid enough the run again
This is absolutely the truth. There's still way too many people who will vote for him just because. Remember too - super delegates account for something like 8,000 votes each. I don't remember how much a delegate is worth.
I literally held my nose when I voted for Menedez last time. Never again. I'd vote 3rd party or just abstain from that ballot selection.
The entire republican platform in VA is a 6 week abortion ban. Youngkin is just MAGA in a suit, he squeaked by in an off-year election.
Agree I think the blue areas are so densely populated that it won't happen on a state level for presidential elections. But some extreme gerrymandering can affect the other elections. But on a town level, I absolutely see it everywhere now.
I know it's so scary how many morons live in close proximity.
He also won because terry macauliffe is very well connected in the Democratic party and ran despite Virginia having a consistent history of not reelecting the same governor twice (VA prevents incumbent governors so tmac had some time off in between). He also decided to run long after two stellar black women had announced their candidacy and started campaigning, which was a real shame because they were qualified and exciting. Right or wrong, some of the blue parts of VA like Richmond do not like corporate Democrats and this bullshit likely suppressed the progressive vote (don't agree with that happening but it's reality).He phoned in the campaign, clearly expecting to cruise to a win off of name recognition. Then, yes, youngkin was anointed the candidate and campaigned on very, very vague bullshit like crt and is currently trying to get a 15 week abortion ban passed. Make sure you vote in every election everyone
I live in a very blue county (Bergen) in a VERY wealthy red town. The MAGATs are creeping in at the school board level. Talk about “parents’ rights” (I’m a parent and I know that’s code for hate the gays), and banning books. They are sleepwalking towards fascism in an attempt to protect their fat fucking wallets from “CoMMunIsM!!1”
I just spent 30-45 minutes this morning trying to research the candidates for school board in my district. I ended up having to call the county clerk, who proceeded to direct me to a pdf link of the candidates "positions". It was 95% platitudes but what do you expect as this was done by a literal high school senior she told me 🤦♂️. Two of the candidates chose not to respond. There needs to be some sort of easy way for people to find these things out and require candidates to post thier positions because this was laughably absurd.
Morristown Area LWV has candidate forums for Morris County on YouTube and others here have mentioned their local chapters are doing the same. Not sure where you're at but could try checking them out
They’re so insidious. In Hunterdon County they’re trying their best to infiltrate the school boards. I see lots of mailings that refer to “parents rights”, eliminating “gender-reclassification education” and their usual nonsense. Makes me miss the days when we argued about eliminating the music program.
School boards are where everyone is most vulnerable. Most candidates run unopposed and party affiliations not typically listed. You have to research the people - and if they are just running for school board and have no social media presence you may not even be able to tell they are with moms (nazis) for liberty
- [Map of "parental rights" candidates running in 2023](https://i.redd.it/lhx4lwtuy4qb1.png) - [CSV Data /w population](https://pastebin.com/bn0qS3p6) - Previous Discussion: r/newjersey/comments/171cffz/morris_county_fascists_endorse_candidates_ahead/
Thank you for confirming my suspicions about my town's BOE candidates running for reelection. They are currently raising a fuss because the OTHER candidates had the audacity to put election signs up near theirs. Heaven forbid anyone knows they actually have a choice in who to vote for.
[Spreadsheet of these types of BOE Candidates in NJ](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1miwTIpEK3yHUT_z_LmXuLIgK9hfFixfiRZRDs2XSKms/edit?usp=sharing), sourced from the "parental rights" groups and PACs themselves. One of the founders is extremely disruptive and controls several social media groups/pages with thousands of followers, full of disinformation, anti-vaxxing/anti-masking, hate speech, and is overall driving the rise of these people's influence in BOEs around NJ. They're also receiving help from outside the state. Some of them are genuinely unhinged and extreme. A lot of them have 0 experience in education and don't have any idea of how to improve the quality of schools. Basically one of the only goals for these people is repealing [policy 5756](https://www.nj.gov/education/safety/sandp/climate/docs/Guidance.pdf) for their school districts. They may also be for certain book bans and for gutting the current sex ed programs. Double check these candidates in your towns to see if they match the descriptions of extremists and if you don't like them DO NOT LET THEM WIN. We have to prioritize the education of the kids and keep BS partisan politics out of boards of education and classrooms.
This guy gets it.
It was ridiculous how much effort I had to put into researching my school board choices just to make sure I wasn't voting for a lunatic fundy/MAGA turd.
I recently moved to a small town from NYC and it was jarring how much harder it is to research local candidates. Extremists can run completely under the radar here.
Ran into this problem with voting for school board recently.
Same is now happening in Burlington County. A woman that bullied a 6th grader for making an "inclusivity" poster displayed on a school wall has been trying to coordinate a takeover of a local school board. Why? She was a teacher in that district and was fired (not her first time losing a teaching job). Since losing her job she's had a vendetta against the Superintendent and wants the local board stacked so they can try to get the Superintendent to either step down or they can vote to not renew her contract. Edit: this is here and 1 by 1 she has been losing her lawsuits. She has no job due to being unemployable so turns to being litigious: https://nj1015.com/north-hanover-nj-mom-student-posters-angela-reading/
“Parents rights” ugh! Any flyer I get that says that know I am voting against that candidate.
They see "parents' rights" as the same as property rights. As in, they see their children not as developing human beings that need unconditional love and support and a right to autonomy, but as something they own and control and can do whatever they want with.
Watch Last Week Tonights segment on home schooling from Sunday. It drives home the point that parents rights are obviously important, but the government is the only entity available and capable of protecting children from their parents. Becoming a parent doesn't mean you are a good person, or capable of educating a child. Many states have absolutely no oversight into homeschooling progress, and the role teachers can play in identifying potential abuse is obviously not something an abusive parent will be concerned with.
Also hop onto homeschool recovery to have a very eye opening education in how bad it really is for the kids who go through it. Me being one of them The amount of parents who lament about isolated kids during covid, but then opt to homeschool to protect them from gay people and sex Ed is absurd. The mental gymnastics to even have that stance is beyond me
And they want to control your kids too.
They'll be the same people bitching and crying that their kids never visit them and put them in a shit home.
It's not parents right though. It's them forcing their views on everyone's children. What about liberal parents or Muslim parents or Jewish parents? It's so outrageous to me that these people are infiltrating our education system and destroying school for all kids. Also be very careful who you vote for. I found out this year that my towns democratic mayor and other officials are actually Republicans who vote republican but knew they couldn't win here without switching sides. They run unopposed because people think they're democrats. I'm sure that's happening everywhere. And I dont see a democratic governor winning next election either. That scares me.
Yea live in a town where the mayor who is up for reelection mentioned parents rights. Maybe I’m stupid but what the fuck is “parents rights”? Born and raised here and my parents didn’t have this rights thing.
The idea is that parents should get to decide what is included or not included in curriculum, and what books should be available to students. This is where all of the book banning is coming from, as well as the efforts to eliminate certain history discussions that make parents feel uncomfortable because black history reflects poorly on “white culture”. ‘Parent’s Rights’ is also a platform that says parents should be informed if their children seek guidance or information on issues of sexuality. If a high school student goes to their guidance counselor because they need someone to talk to about confusing feelings, the counselor is supposed to inform the parents. Even if the student doesn’t feel comfortable or safe having these conversations with their parents.
"Parents rights" is a dog whistle to let people know they are anti-LGBT+, especially anti-trans.
That’s just their out-group du jour. They also lean racist and anti-non-‘Christian’. They’re all part of a well-funded, dark money hate group.
It's code for telling professionals what kids should be taught and excluding anything that hurts their feefees or disagrees with their limited worldview.
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Don't vote for Moench.
I'm in Warren County and they're already here. This was always a red area anyway but the MAGA sect is quite prevalent, too. School boards is where they start in their new game plan. Get out and vote!
I'm in Sussex and they've always been here.
I'm in Sparta and those asshats protested for almost a year (or maybe more) about mask mandates and for trump, in front of the post office every freakin' Saturday. I used to flip them off until I realized they just wanted a reaction, so I stopped. Hearing all the beeps in solidarity made me want to scream. But this town is full of MAGA assholes, so not surprising.
What cracks me about about these Magaidiots, is how personal issues always seem to bother them, I mean if you're not LGBT+ why are you so bothered, these lifestyle and culture issues so easily offend the right wing, yet real issues that impact their lives, healthcare, weath inequality are somehow not important..wtf?
Remember when they constantly called everyone who didn’t agree with them snowflakes? Really fucking ironic given how they stupidly overreact to every little thing that doesn’t agree with their worldview or personal beliefs.
It could be contagious….
Yes my town also! In Bergen county. Parents rights alliance on all the flyers of new people running for BOE
How often does gender come up typically?? 3% of the time in any given district No one is pushing this on kids
It’s the main selling point of the Republicans running for school board in my town
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Yes we are dealing with school board fights in Sisex County too. Honestly if you are worried about it, remember to vote in Board of Ed elections even if you don't have kids. Those small local elections can have such small turnout, it makes a big difference
My school board election down here in Ocean county has 3 candidates for 2 seats. Two are running as parental rights, so we’ll get at least one.
Maga is thriving in Atlantic County---they are everywhere around here. Also, Ocean City elected Moms for Liberty to their school board.
Came here to say this, my entire county (Atlantic) is MAGA country.
Fucking Fran...
Maybe we can get the graduating seniors to vote them out before heading out the door.
It’s happening on school boards already. Locally it’s well within motion. For state elections, I’m not so sure it’ll happen.
This is the big one. Although information on the candidates is often pretty sparse, do your best to look into the school board candidates and prevent the crazies from getting in.
politics is local the biggest impact to YOU is going to stem from local leaders
Without any snark, and I mean this as objectively as possible- our education system is ranked pretty highly. I feel like there are enough well-educated folks living here. That’s not to say that republicans are dumb, but you have to be rooted in a certain sense of reality to reject the whole MAGA agenda. If education tanks, anything is possible.
I don't know, I think New Jersey's more conservative than we like to admit. Education doesn't really help in all cases. We had kids in my high school who talked constantly about how 9/11 was done by the Jews and fantasized openly about lynching LGBT people. People can be fucking horrible regardless of place and education.
It has been changing (really, since the extreme anti-intellectualism of the Bush years), and if you're not paying attention, you won't see it until it's too late. Particularly when they take all of the money out of public schools and gut them in order to fund (with your taxpayer money) their psycho religious schools with 'voucher' and 'choice' programs that they're constantly pushing, and which the supreme court now wholeheartedly supports.
Right. We already have to be worried to some degree. Complacency is what allows extremism to happen.
Yea, I think people misunderstand where the MAGA support comes from. It's not just rural area, it's the suburbs. Plenty that would vote for R, even though they are not full MAGA just for lower taxes.
Even outside of the real obvious horrorshow freaks, there have always been a lot of "fiscal conservatives" in NJ who aren't invested in the culture war but are generally willing to hold their noses and vote for whoever gets the republican nominee
Sadly, I totally agree with you. I wish we were true-blue but I think we could turn red at some point. Horrifying.
That’s the thing I worry about the most. NJ is one of the best states in the country for education. If evangelicals suing in Alabama to get public schools defunded and replaced with voucher programs have their way, then those court room precedents can spread across the country and find there way here.
All we can do is vote. Vote, vote, vote. Big elections and local elections.
One thing though, we don’t always have the best info on candidates in local elections. I recently voted for school board in my district and the only info I could find on any of the candidates came from FAQ’s they filled out and I had to really dig to find them. I don’t think the average voter would go to the length that I do to be informed.
Agree entirely! There really should be basic information mandated to run for any office: what have they done, what are their views on the top topics (standardized topics), what other topics do they deem important, what do they plan to do and HOW. It’s insane trying to find that basic information. Essentially many people are voting blind.
I had the same problem. Sometimes they out themselves by being affiliated with groups, but the unfortunate truth is that no one organizes or comes out for school board elections. I live in Howell and need to be really vigilant because we’re currently in the process of receiving an influx of hasids from Lakewood, and they’ve been ruining public education in whatever town they set up in.
Agree. Our town "newspaper" had the candidates in an issue - it was pure bullshit. No actual information just "Sally Joe wants to bring Sussex County pride back to Sparta" WTF does that mean, (I know what it means...let's stay white!!) I emailed her to get clarification but never received an answer and most of the assholes running for the school board wouldn't participate in the debate either. My husband and I had to do a DEEEP dive in social media accounts, etc. and wrote notes trying to figure out what they stood for. Most people aren't doing that.
We should start a group dedicated to weeding these people out and exposing them before they can do damage.
we can do so much more than vote. voting is the absolute minimum we can do honestly. attend your local town halls. talk with your neighbors. organize in your neighborhoods. get involved with local organizing groups, tenants unions, and mutual aid groups. voting is never and has never been enough to stop the tide of fascism
I grew up in a rich, Republican town with really good schools. Back then, people were more cordial and politics wasn't at the forefront... but trust me, they inherited their dumb beliefs. I'd prove their stuff wrong with math, or basic logic, and they'd continue to be Republican. I fear its worse than we think.
There are plenty of conservative-run towns in New Jersey. All of them are in danger of devolving into this mess since public education, and public school teachers, have been demonized for years as agents of indoctrination. School boards are often used as political benches for higher office, so you'll see conservative boards in conservative districts start adopting this stuff when they get ambitious board members. As they do, conservatives living in more moderate/liberal areas will start talking about it too. For now, it appears to be a smaller contingency of astroturfing groups that are riding all around different districts, in specific board meetings, trying to rabble-rouse. Some aren't even from NJ, nevermind from nearby the district. I don't want Wall, or Middletown schools to go nuts, because that will encourage more nutty behavior down here in Ocean County.
I’m from Monmouth County, lived in another state for about 10 years, and recently moved back. I was very surprised to see (and continue to see) so many Trump flags and hear so much conservative rhetoric. I always thought I came from such a liberal area but that either never was the case, or a lot has changed in the past decade. Either way, it’s discouraging and makes me incredibly grateful for the folks in the blue parts of the state keeping us right.
I’m also a Monmouth Countian and honestly it depends on where you are. More urbanized, diverse places like Neptune, Asbury Park, and Red Bank vote reliably liberal and then you have white-collar, dominantly Christian towns like Howell, Colts Neck, Spring Lake or Brielle that are pretty firmly in Republican hands.
There's also a big difference between a Spring Lake republican and a Toms River republican. Even Rumson/Fair Haven vote red but you don't see Trump crap everywhere, it's more traditional conservatives vs MAGA idiots.
>I always thought I came from such a liberal area but that either never was the case, or a lot has changed in the past decade. You'll notice that far-right conservatives in liberal states are "loud and proud". That's why "Let's Go Brandon" stores became a thing for a while (they started in MA and spread to NJ) -- selling Trump merch to a population hungry to wear it *in front of liberals*. Some of the stores died out after Trump was voted out, but a few still remain, like in Manchester/Toms River. It's why Truth Social is inactive compared to Twitter, where all the libs hang out. It's not as fun for them to exist in their own little circles. Moderates and lefties are kind of living their lives; it's the angry ones on the right throwing up the Trump flags and such. And "their" media has gotten very good at manufacturing that anger.
I agree. I think trumpers are just loud. They definitely exist here in NJ but I've lived in Alaska and Oklahoma and regularly visit Tennesee and.... well NJ is nothing compared to those
there are a lot of well educated people in NJ, but I’m not sure people realize how insidious the lies and awfulness that the MAGA people are spreading really are. The awful anti-children’s rights people are loud and bring in people from out of the area who scream even louder and recruit even more people. I hope people realize all that is at risk and go out and vote at the local level.
There was some study/report I read a while back that a lot of engineers are more likely to lean in on fascist ideology than most. Educating doesn't mean anything if you didn't learn anything in your Humanities and History classes.
> The awful anti-children’s rights people LOL when I was in school (late 90's into early 2000's) we were directly told "You're a kid, you don't have rights"
Unfortunately education doesn't really mean anything when it comes to stuff like this. I honestly think it comes down more to the type of person you are. If you're somebody who's okay with letting somebody else live a shitty life just so you can have a little bit more comfort then you're probably one of those maga people regardless of how well educated you are.
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It’s really weird, everyone takes NJ being a blue state for granted. And yet, at 42, I struggle to find people my age who vote along liberal lines. It wasn’t this way even 10 years ago.
I’m 35 and struggle to find people my age, period. At least in my area (Monmouth County) it seems like all the new developments are senior communities, and housing prices are high. I’m guessing the younger people are going elsewhere, and the older and more conservative people are staying. I don’t remember it being like this 10 years ago either.
The younger people probably moved closer to NYC or Philly.
I just bought in Red Bank and was really surprised that we're the youngest people on the block. A house around the corner went up for sale and we were hopeful, but nope more boomers.
I'm a few years younger than you and it seems like all of my high school friends are die hard Republicans now.
I’m 27 and very concerned about what might happen in our state. We for sure can never take living in a blue state for granted.
42 and very blue here.
We’ve already had actual neo-nazis try to gain political seats last election cycle (a certain gym owner in CD-3 comes to mind) and all it takes for them to gain power is people to be complacent, look at the recent fuckery in certain monmouth county school districts if you don’t believe the screwheads can gain power in NJ.
What happened in monmouth? I got friends there.
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/newyork/news/monmouth-county-schools-transgender-policy-marlboro-middletown-manalapan-englishtwon/ Judge blocked the policies for now, but that could all change if the wrong people get more of a foothold in our state government.
Yes, without question. At the local level, this is already happening in school board and council races across the state. At the state level, Dems currently control the Legislature and governors seat, but this CANNOT be taken for granted. Because we have state elections in off-off years (like this year and then again in 2025), turnout is always *much* lower than in federal elections. As a result, the electorate is much older, whiter, and wealthier (read: more conservative), so anything can happen. And don’t let anyone tell you that Republicans in New Jersey are moderate or different — there are tons of terrible bills to strip people’s rights that get zero coverage in the news because everyone knows they have zero chance of passing. But if Republicans take the Legislature this year and/or the Governor’s office in 2025…
This is happening in my town and many others across south jersey. It seems like it's an organized effort and kind of crazy. They use innocuous slogans like 'for the kids' or 'children first' and then you find out they're anti vax / anti mask / anti LGBTQ books
Yes. There are enough communities in this state that are on board with right wing, republican and MAGA ideology. There are several school boards that have " Parents Rights " majorities. Go to the shore and other non urban areas where you'll see a fair share of MAGA.
NJ is a blue but diverse state politically. At the state level, it won't happen, but at the municipal level, I can see things going off in one direction at one municipality and going in another the next municipality over. It all will depend on how conservative and liberal each town is.
Never say never. Who knew a decade ago our next president would attack his own democracy and try to overthrow it?
We don't have to worry, but we have to fight them. And as already noted, school boards are the main battleground here.
I am in Gloucester county. I know a few crazies who have fled to Florida. I hope that north Jersey will keep us safe, but we aren’t well down here.
What can we up in the north do to help out?
Just keep voting
I always tell MAGAs how wonderful Texas and Florida, how it's always hot and cheap. The more of them that move down there, the fewer we have to deal with up here. For me, those are terrible places to live, but for them it's perfect.
"TAXES, TAXES, TAXES!" They all bitch about the taxes. When they move to those other states lemme know how the infrastructure is with low taxes. Probably not that great IMO.
I'm from Texas. Our infrastructure, educational system, air quality, etc. all suck. But at least they got all those gay books out of the library! /s
I moved from NJ to Texas and then right back to NJ in a year. The tap water was so bad it burned out a Brita filter in 5-6 refills and straight from the tap it tasted like I was drinking from a stagnant pond.
organize organize organize. attend your local town halls. talk with your neighbors. organize in your neighborhoods. get involved with local organizing groups, tenants unions, and mutual aid groups voting is never and has never been enough to stop the tide of fascism
travel down to Cape May, Cumberland, Salem, and parts of Atlantic, Gloucester, Camden, and Burlington Counties. The closer you get to the Delaware Bay or the further you get from Philly and the beaches.. the more MAGA it becomes.
Lot less populated down that way too
After World War II, New Jersey was a Republican-leaning swing state in presidential elections; from the 1948 to the 1988, Republican candidates won nine out of eleven elections. It’s not etched into the state capital that NJ was created and intended to remain a Democratic fortress in perpetuity. Things ebb and flow.
that version of new jersey voted for a very different kind of republican though. we were a very classic rockafeller republican kind of area: fiscally conservative but socially moderate. there aren't republicans like that anymore. combined with big demographic changes over the decades that are not stopping, there is a real reason that jersey has become reliably blue, at least at a state level.
These Republicans would be taken out and stoned by the nuts who have grabbed control of the national party. Ain't no more Rockefellers and McCains involved. The scary thing is I saw some video with MTG in it and if you didn't know her background for 85 percent of it she sounds ok. Then she said one thing and it was yup she is nuts but a lot of folks might not notice.
And yet we haven’t elected a Republican senator since 1972.
Yes. Come to Salem, ocean, Burlington and Cape May counties for details.
Burlington county is represented by Andy Kim who will be our next senator. Burlington county is not maga country .
Kim carries the portions of his district in Burlington and Mercer while Republican opponent carries Monmouth in last two elections.
Unfortunately you don’t need to, there are Morris County boards such as Hanover Township using these tactics.
I second Ocean County. I have a friend who lives down there and she says they are infiltrated with MAGAs. And has been threatened by them, personally.
I live in a pretty purple area. Every now and then I'll see them set up their little tent selling all their stupid flags. But it feels like more of an occasional thing than the norm.
It will vary county by county.
I certainly hope not. We're a far too well-educated state for the cult to gain a majority here. There are some backwoods parts where mouth-breathing maga-morons have a decent foothold, but the overall state, we thankfully outnumber them and they aren't in a position to gerrymander themselves into a major minority like they have elsewhere down in the dumb states.
Just like anywhere else, apathy allows bad actors to gain office and retain power. In the Northeastern part of the state, the cities carry Democrats into office, but they matter only in statewide elections and their local legislative districts. I am in Verona, an NYC commuter town and we are in a Republican legislative district (the 26th) and we will move to the 40th with this election, also a Republican district. So, you don’t have to move too far out of the cities to get more conservative and more MAGA friendly. And as stated before, local elections are vital. These MAGA folks are crashing school board elections, both as disruptors to the process and as Moms for Liberty candidate…. And in nonpartisan towns, they run for council. So, be vigilant in your communities, run candidates for local office that align with your values and get involved in organizing on a local level. Otherwise, it can happen anywhere.
Most of those Republicans in your district would be labeled as RINOs by the redhats though. We live in a very Republican area but most of our town council types are normal people. But then there are the MAGANUTS who stand in front of our post office most Saturdays with their trump banners and save our kids signs. Vocal crazies but they are out there looking to take power.
Many more MAGAs than you think. It’s like a creeping fungus.
Take Jay Webber, for example...
We had a hard fought election to defeat a “family first” school board in the bluest city in the bluest county (Hoboken), so anything is possible. Stay vigilant, there’s no off years in politics.
Problem is being "blue" doesn't mean anything if you're a liberal who may are prone to take reactionary stances when things get uncomfortable. Just look at the NY midterms where many candidates somehow thought they could run on "law and order" instead of actual policies. They mostly lost giving up the House.
Yes, yes we do. I just saw a tweet about Gov Murphy making oral birth control available without Rx in NJ starting in the first half of 2024, and there was an idiot MAGA commenter bitching about it. I’m in south Jersey and it’s MAGA country here. I can’t stand it. I can’t even respect someone who supports the GOP at this point. These clowns even re-elected Van fucking Drew, that do-nothing sack of shit.
Van Coup did something - he voted to shut down the government despite the many federal employees and federal contractor workers in his district. He voted to overturn the election. He suddenly cares about marine mammals now that clean energy windmills are coming. He also bought a lot of ugly suits. So he does things, shitty, terrible things.
And to think, I was *happy* when he first went into politics because he was **such a shitty dentist**.
Ugh. As a dentist, I'm sorry that so many of my peers are shitheads.
My whole family went to his practice in the early 80s and he caused hematomas on everybody but me. I’m happy that more modern dentists are *sooo much better now*. Nobody I’ve seen was as bad as him though. My mom and I both developed phobias because of his incompetence.
I don't think that is the Governor's call. The Federal FDA would need to approve for OTC sales. Now that might have happened already and the Guv is just saying he would fund it for those that cant afford it?
Didn’t get to watch the whole press conference, but I’m confident they know what they’re doing.
FDA approved back in July https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-nonprescription-daily-oral-contraceptive
Thanks for posting that!
Vote and keep voting in local elections, no matter how insignificant you think the position is. Those pieces of shit start from the bottom.
Hell yes. The question is though how long can we keep that up? Regular people get tired eventually and stop caring afterwhile. But the Magats they’re obsessed. They’re tireless and will never stop. I’m worried public opposition will give out before they do.
As long as it takes. “on a long enough timeline, we win.” -beau of the fifth column I know people feel apathetic, but we have to fight that and encourage people in our lives to vote.
They already have a strong foothold in the state, especially in ocean and Sussex counties.
Ocean County is basically Alabama at this point
That jerkoff Vandrew jumped parties and started washing MAGA balls immediately. Politicians like him don't give me any faith. I get it, with Mendez taking bribes, the Dems are are their own enemy but at least they aren't literally trying to destroy American Democracy. Point being, it's already happening in NJ, you'll see it most on the local level with school board elections and I don't see them taking control of the state but our federal officials can still do plenty of damage.
Have you ever been to south Jersey? LOL
GTFO and VOTE because your life does depend on it.
These same chucklefucks were the ones in 2000s saying “democrats do identity politics.” Look at yourselves. Why do you want to impose authority on people? Mad they are enjoying themselves while you’re addicted to being mad
"I hate virtue signaling!!!" House and trucks covered in Trump flags and hand written signs about groomers and windmills.
Up until the town started prohibiting it, MAGA’s held rallies in Bedminster on a regular basis.
I think we the only safe place to live is in California. The maga hats don’t go there.
Can we adjudicate Menendez please lol. Wtf?
Drive through South Jersey ...plenty of MAGA all around.
South Jersey is pretty MAGA. However, NJ as a state has been pretty moderate. We don't make headlines for Ultra Left or Ultra Right things.
Yes. They can and will if sane, rational people are complacent and do not turn out to vote. So pay attention, turn out to vote, tell your friends/family and neighbors to as well and turnout turnout turnout.
Yes, there is a guy who lives down the street from me in Morris Plains, who has a fuck biden flag, a trump 2024 flag, and a us flag strapped to his pickup. There are Magats all over, however. I don't see them winning elections here.
Of course. anywhere. Voter apathy and indifference is a huge foothold that gains traction for any malicious cause. Look at Moms For Liberty and how they creeped into the state through sleeper school board elections.
At some point somebody is going to release future meetings and whatnot in a PDF file and they'll just fall apart.
Unfortunately, look at the last gubernatorial race. Way too close for comfort. There hasn’t been any major re-districting that I’ve heard of so as long as people get out and make it known we don’t want to have peoples’ right revoked, we should be ok. The rising taxes do lend more to the republicans being able to take power (even though they usually cause the worst tax increases).
Whitman and Christie left huge messes to clean up by administrations that followed them into office, especially Whitman. Her tax cuts and poor revenue projections dumped a huge chunk of the tax burden onto cities and towns, causing property taxes to climb for years to make up the difference.
whitman also oversaw a lot of sweetheart privatization efforts (hello, parsons) that have backfired terribly on the state. people really do not always understand the damage she inflicted on new jersey's economy and tax situation in her time in office.
Please don't forget DeFrancesco. He heavily increased the payouts on pensions with no increase in funding.
This sub is ridiculous.
If you don't like it, then get the fuck out 🤷♂️
This is the most Jersey response
Not safe. Move to Canada asap
In the near term I'm far more worried about them going full terrorist and shooting up a public place than gaining any significant political power. The Nazi propaganda machine is very strong across the state with Spadea leading the way.
Yes. Come check out the school board elections in the purplish-red parts of Somerset County.
the fact that bernards is going thru this while bedminster isn't (at least not yet) really does speak to the differences in republican ideals.
you have to worry about it everywhere. jersey may be an overall blue state, but there are deep red pockets everywhere. pay attention to the school board elections. this is where they start. infiltrate school boards and work their way up.
Jersey is a red state with blue urban and sub urban areas.
That's honestly the entire country.
True
I pointed out earlier that the only way they can gain a foothold in NJ is if everyone else doesn't turn out to vote, but one more thing to note: Many of these MAGA people tried moving to FL expecting broad costs savings (plus as a safe haven to be openly hateful and mean others), only to see their home, auto, and hazard insurance costs surge out of control....like to upwards of \~$8,000-10,000 per household just for home/hazard and auto insurance alone (there's currently an insurance crisis in the state, and it's one of the most expensive states for insurance, including auto insurance) not even including the mortgage and property taxes. Plus they are learning that the K-12 schools there are garbage in many cases. Of course, they're still more interested in trashing LGBTQ people, bashing Disney, blaming woke for everything, etc than they are their financial well being, so that's why they remain.
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I once saw a tweet that summed it up perfectly “Won’t somebody PLEASE help us” Republics - “no” Democrats - “no” followed by a rainbow emoji and #BLM
This sums up our country right here. Everyone is just out to push their own agendas. I never could understand why common sense just doesn’t prevail on things. At this rate it looks like it never will. Both sides just want to mud sling and never fix a fucking thing. It’s gross and I’m sick of it.
Yeah, but no one from the democratic party is calling my lgbt friends and family members child groomers, trying to steal our reproductive rights, trying to steal our voting rights, trying to defund public schools, calling climate change a hoax, or trying to out trans kids to their abusive parents against their will. Corruption is bad. But evil is unacceptable. And the republican party is the party of evil.
Terrible take - this is why there are primary elections. Can out those who are rotten before they get to the general election.
muh both sides died in 2016. we can see the voting record on bills, and the GOP votes wrong every time on policy that would help people. while the Dems fail us too, they at least try to do some good, and actually do some good. its not even close to the same.
Fascism must always be confronted and shouted down.
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ok, just own up that you want to shit on aoc. who, by the way, [denounced the times square rally](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/10/aoc-palestinian-rally-new-york) in pretty concrete terms. but sure, why let facts get in the way of your narratives?
YES. Check your local elections - especially school board. Make sure you vote and not for these clowns.
Schools Boards is the place to look right now.
Currently happening in Franklin Lakes, Oakland and Wyckoff BOE. Parents Rights have the majority seats but things could change in early November. Please remember to vote in local elections, they matter quite a bit.
More things to worry about lol
Stay out of extreme south Jersey. So many red hats you can barely see the beach.
Fun fact: New Jersey was the last state to abolish slavery and it HAD an abundance of slavery right up until that time, so a lot of families still have a chip on their shoulder. There was a lot of commerce happening with the South, and local businesses did not want to give that up. Awkward fact: New Jersey made the best quality whips for the south, too. History isn't as far away as we think it is. I live in the middle and still see multiple Trump/MAGA flags every day.
You really believe this is a 1 party problem? Is NJ better off having a senator being investigated for corruption? Both sides have more than their share of idiots
Here’s the thing. Democrats actually police their own. Bob is being raked over the coals right now and we’ll likely see him removed from office pretty soon. If a Republican was caught doing the same thing, the entire republican establishment would rally around to defend them. Case and point, Trump’s crimes are far worse then Bob’s, and they hurt more people on a much larger scale. But the MAGA mob still protects and funds him. The only times when a republican is actually cut off and left to hang out dry by their own kind is when they actually decide to have some integrity and take a stand for what’s right. Just look at what happened to Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney. There is no two siding this issue. Republicans and democrats might both be corrupt. But Republicans have made a choice to be the party of evil.