By Matt Rooney
Welcome to October, Save Jerseyans.
We’re now 29 days from Election Day, the Legislature is getting busy again, candidates are fanning out across the state, and one of New Jersey’s biggest statewide debates of the cycle is coming Thursday night.
Governor Mikie Sherrill also has a rather unusual item on her October to-do list: finding a new lieutenant governor after the spectacular implosion and resignation of Dale Caldwell.
Here’s your Save Jersey week ahead for Monday, October 5 through Sunday, October 11:
MONDAY: Trenton is back in business
It’s a busy committee day under the Gold Dome.
The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee meets at 10 a.m. in the State House Annex. Among the bills on its agenda are legislation concerning business permit and license fee refunds, Medicaid reimbursement rates, lung cancer screening and a proposal from Sens. Paul Moriarty and Declan O’Scanlon creating a disorderly persons offense for concealing your identity while committing a crime.
Also at 1 p.m., the Senate Higher Education Committee will hear invited testimony specifically concerning higher education funding in New Jersey while considering legislation involving NJCLASS loans, emergency student aid and tuition reimbursement.
The Assembly has a packed schedule of its own, with committees covering utilities, health, higher education, housing, economic development and consumer affairs meeting throughout the day.
Translation: plenty of opportunities for Trenton to make your life more complicated before dinner.
TUESDAY: Campaign season hits the local level
Tuesday offers a good snapshot of just how fully New Jersey has entered campaign season.
Down in Ocean County, the 9th District legislative delegation — Sen. Carmen Amato Jr. and Assemblymen Brian Rumpf and Greg Myhre — will host a Veterans Medal Ceremony and Luncheon at 11 a.m. at Holiday City at Berkeley in Toms River.
Later Tuesday, Assemblyman Alex Sauickie holds his 5th Annual Autumn Reception at 6 p.m. at Laurita Winery in New Egypt, with a host committee including Assembly Republican Leader John DiMaio, NJGOP Chair Christine Hanlon and several county Republican chairmen.
Up north, Republican NJ-11 congressional candidate Joe Hathaway is scheduled to hold a 7 p.m. town hall at the Roseland VFW as he tries to turn a traditionally uphill district into another place Democrats need to spend time and money defending.
And in Princeton, municipal politics gets its turn: candidates for Princeton Council are scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. League of Women Voters debate at the Center for Modern Aging.
WEDNESDAY: South Jersey Republicans rally
Atlantic County politics moves onto the calendar Wednesday evening.
County Republican Chairman Don Purdy is hosting a 6 p.m. fundraiser for Commissioner-at-Large John Risley at the Smithville Inn in Galloway as South Jersey Republicans begin the final Election Day push.
It’s one of countless local events happening around New Jersey this month that won’t generate national headlines but could ultimately matter a great deal for turnout.
Remember: congressional races get the attention, but county and municipal organizations are still the machinery that gets voters to the polls.
THURSDAY: Booker and Murphy debate
Thursday brings one of the week’s marquee political events.
Democrat Sen. Cory Booker and Republican challenger Justin Murphy are scheduled to debate at Rider University at 7 p.m. in a forum sponsored by the New Jersey Globe and Rider.
Booker remains the obvious favorite in blue New Jersey, but the debate gives Murphy a rare statewide platform — and Republicans an opportunity to tie the incumbent senator to the Democratic record in Washington and Trenton.
Murphy heads south the following evening for an Ocean County town hall/GOTV rally Friday at 6 p.m. at the Clarion in Toms River.
Thursday is also another Senate committee day in Trenton, with a Senate quorum and Group 3 committees scheduled beginning at 10 a.m.
And over in NJ-07, the ground game continues: the Tom Kean Jr. campaign and Hunterdon GOP are hosting a phone bank from 6 to 8 p.m. in Flemington.
ALL WEEK: NJ-07 enters the four-week sprint
The Kean-Bennett debate is behind us. Now comes the expensive part.
Rep. Tom Kean Jr. and Democrat Rebecca Bennett are battling over one of the most competitive House districts in America, and their September 27 showdown was their only scheduled debate.
Bennett spent this past weekend launching what her campaign calls a “DeckPlate Leadership Tour” around the district. Kean’s operation, meanwhile, is increasingly focused on the decidedly less glamorous but essential work of identifying and turning out voters.
With four weeks remaining, watch the television spending, national money and negative advertising.
There will be plenty of all three.
ALSO WATCH: Who replaces Dale Caldwell?
The most interesting guessing game in Trenton might not involve November at all.
Sherrill needs to replace her disgraced former lieutenant governor, and a field of possible replacements is beginning to emerge. The New Jersey Globe reported Monday that five names are receiving serious consideration as the governor weighs her selection.
Who Sherrill chooses could tell us plenty about what she thinks she needs politically after a bruising first nine months.
The bigger Caldwell story isn’t necessarily going away, either. Republicans continue to want answers concerning what the administration knew about Caldwell’s behavior, when senior officials knew it and why he remained in a position to serve as acting governor while under investigation.
A new lieutenant governor may fill the vacancy.
It won’t automatically fill the holes in the story.
THE CLOCK IS TICKING FOR NEW JERSEY VOTERS
One final date worth circling now: Tuesday, October 13.
That’s New Jersey’s voter-registration deadline for the November 3 general election. County Commissioners of Registration are also required to offer extended registration hours from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. that evening.
After that, the calendar accelerates quickly.
Sample ballots begin going out by October 21, and early in-person voting runs October 24 through November 1.
So this is effectively the last full week before New Jersey’s voter-registration deadline.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Monday brings a full slate of Trenton committee hearings. Tuesday and Wednesday feature local campaign activity around the state. Thursday gives us a statewide U.S. Senate debate at Rider, another Senate committee day and an NJ-07 phone-bank push. Friday brings the Republican Senate campaign to Ocean County.
Hovering above all of it are three larger questions: Who replaces Dale Caldwell? Can Republicans hold NJ-07? And what will the national environment look like when New Jersey begins early voting in less than three weeks?
The summer political doldrums are long gone, Save Jerseyans.
Welcome to October.
