A slew of new Obama retread appointments confirms what’s already known, Save Jerseyans: that the state of New Jersey under Governor-elect Phil Murphy is about to take a strong leftward swing in the coming days with a far-left executive administration in place effective January 16th.
But that’s not all.
Republicans membership in both houses of the state legislatures have cratered under Chris Christie’s chronic misrule of the NJGOP. After 2017, there are only 26 Republicans left in the Assembly (to 54 for the Democrats), a 2-seat pro-Dem swing to Watergate-level numbers, and the GOP is down to only 15 seats in the Senate where Tom Kean, Jr. serves as minority leader for the 40-seat ‘upper’ chamber.
The Grand Old Party is now all-but inconsequential for most votes outside of special circumstances and senatorial courtesy-related appointments.
What now?
On Tuesday, as the legislature reorganized, Kean called on the ruling party to adopt some humility as it prepares to assume one-party control of New Jersey state government.
“Many of my Democrat colleagues in the State House have criticized the actions of single-party government in Washington,” said Kean. “Well, you now face that same challenge in this state house. Your party controls both legislative chambers and the Governor’s office.’
Kean’s commentary raises a fair albeit morose point. It might take a decade (or longer) for them to pay for what’s inevitably coming, Save Jerseyans, but there’s going to come a point where there won’t be any Republicans left to blame. 2021? 2031? TBD.
For now, the challenge facing Kean and his remaining colleagues is how to rally taxpayers to push back against the new status quo in light of the GOP’s historic Garden State branding crisis.
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