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Truck driver leads NJ Senate president after spending $153 on campaign

205 points by busymom0 5y ago

jonathankoren 5y ago
Good. Too many politicians run unopposed and take reëlection for granted. This how you get more responsive governance.
- chiefalchemist 5y ago
  Yes. But why would that be? Because the two main parties are more of cartel? And less like true competition?
  - jonathankoren 5y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering
umvi 5y ago
Any (relatively) unbiased sources that explain how NJ got into this predicament? Just current leadership being out of touch with the wants/needs of NJ citizens?
- heavyset_go 5y ago
  The 2020 election mobilized certain demographics in NJ to vote, and there's been a moderately successful campaign to paint the sitting governor as literally Hitler for the last two years.
- throwaway6734 5y ago
  My gut take is that the removal of the SALT deduction had a huge impact in NJ due to the very high property taxes
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    I doubt the vast majority of people (probably less than 10%) in NJ are paid enough to be affected by SALT since standard deduction went up so much. Property plus state income tax liabilities would have to be more than $12.5k/$25k single/married for people to have been affected. I would bet on school closings and the trend of higher taxes/less government services, but the latter is unavoidable due to the outlier amounts of debt NJ has.
    - throwaway6734 5y ago
      >According to recent reporting, if we reinstated the SALT deduction, nearly a third of New Jersey residents — almost three million people — would get tax relief. As many as 80% of them have incomes of $216,000 or less. Hardly the 1%. https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2021/05/17/salt-deduction-reinstatement-can-go-long-way-nj-ny-families/5093645001/ https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2021/05/17/salt-de... NJ has very high property tax rates and high home values
      - lotsofpulp 5y ago
        The writer used the word “average”, but it would be clearer if they used median, or quintiles or deciles. I could not find a source for the report they claim to be saying 3 million people in NJ would benefit. NJ income tax is ~4%, and average property taxes are not that high: https://www.nj.com/politics/2020/03/njs-average-property-tax-bill-hit-8953-last-year-see-the-numbers-in-your-town.html https://www.nj.com/politics/2020/03/njs-average-property-tax... It would be nice to find statistics by percentile, but I would find it hard to believe that many single households are living in houses paying $8k+ property tax, and married households are paying $16k in property tax. I use $8k and $16k because that would mean the remaining $4k and $8k would be for income tax for a person earning $100k/year (78th percentile) or a couple earning $200k per year (83rd percentile). https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-by-state-calculator/ https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-by-state-calculator/ Edit: the best way to figure out if the SALT caps hurt or not is to see if the amount of people itemizing on federal returns increased or not. I cannot find any NJ specific statistics, but IRS says only 11% of tax filers itemized in 2019.
- uselesscynicism 5y ago
  Predicament? A regular Joe beat a career politician for local representative. In what world is that a predicament? Or are you so completely partisan that having an R next to his name makes him obviously the wrong choice, even though he was liberal enough to be palatable to New Jersey voters (not exactly a paragon of conservatism)?
- stickyricky 5y ago
  There is an interesting story about Madigan in Chicago. Ran the Illinois machine. Corrupt as all hell. A college student decided to run against him and collected enough signatures to get on the ballot. Madigan typically ran unopposed. Well come to find about, of the 500 people who signed the petition to get this kid on the ballot, 1200 rescinded their support. You do the math. These people aren't loved. They just know how to work the system to keep the outsiders out. The article says in a district of 150k, the NJ Senate President never received more than 30k votes. 20% of the population was dictating policy. Its no surprise that, when given the choice, people will vote their preference.
  - wrycoder 5y ago
    0.1% were dictating policy. The other 19.9% of the votes were just following directions.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    People where I live get a ballot and a book in the mail weeks before the election with details for all the candidates and questions, and all you have to do is drop it in the outgoing mail. Takes no more than 30min of your time, maybe 1 hour if you are a slow reader. And yet, less than 20% voter participation. It is ironic that turnout for national elections, where their vote is moot is much higher. But for school boards, county positions, and city positions that actually have an effect on day to day life and expenses, people do not care as much.
    - stickyricky 5y ago
      WA? That's how it was in Vancouver when I lived there. Best system I've experience so far. Also felt the government was very fair and in line with the community.
      - lotsofpulp 5y ago
        Yes. OR is the same.
      - 5y ago
- jhawk28 5y ago
  Something was mentioned about 150k total voters, but only 32k ever voted for the incumbent.
  - dsr_ 5y ago
    150,000 people eligible to vote. 32,000 votes for the incumbent. Hence, 118,000 people who would either vote for someone else or could be persuaded to come and vote.
    - busymom0 5y ago
      Yep. DecisionDesk shows GOP got 32,682 whereas the incumbent DEM got 30,352 with 96% in.
- newsclues 5y ago
  Systemic corruption
- PKop 5y ago
  Quoting Durr in Politico: [0] Durr said Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s coronavirus executive orders, vaccine and school mask, unemployment benefits snafus and a general distrust of the South Jersey Democratic machine that has dominated the region for years all contributed to his strong performance. Sweeney, Durr said, “never challenged” Murphy during the pandemic. “You have the debacle of unemployment. The masking of the kids in school. You have Senator Sweeney trying to take away peoples’ medical freedom rights. I think the perfect storm was that he stepped into a pile of you-know-what and couldn’t get out of it because he didn’t know which way to turn. I just tapped into the right focus.” [0] https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2021/11/03/meet-ed-durr-the-candidate-whos-leading-steve-sweeney-1392209 https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2021/11/03/... I think many people, if they aren't exposed to it or live around it, underestimate the massive anger and frustration that exists towards the Covid restrictions and policies, and vaccine mandates.
  - davidw 5y ago
    I'm beginning to come around to this point of view: https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/peacefield/617c7b245793d600215d2b35/peacefield-post/ https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/peacefield/617c7b245793d... - we are not a serious nation. There's a global pandemic caused by an airborne pathogen, and people throw an absolute hissy fit over a minor inconvenience like masks. My kids wear them all day long in school, and while they don't love them, they are not constantly whining about them like some adults. My grandparents, on the other hand, dealt with wartime rationing for years (and they were lucky, because they lived in a place where they could hunt) because our country was in a global battle with Nazis. And all that after the depression.
    - ludicast 5y ago
      My masked son had a low pulse ox in his checkup. About 80, the same number that with covid should necessitate a hospital visit. Supposedly a lot of kids have needed to demask to get a good pulse ox. As a parent this terrifies me.
    - busymom0 5y ago
      Kids have the most psychological development from looking at people's faces, emotions and smiles. Saying that's a "minor inconvenience" is silly. Especially since there's negligible risks for them. And mandating something which neither prevents catching, nor transmitting the virus is definitely not a "minor inconvenience". EDIT: In my last sentence, I wasn't referring to masks. I was referring to vaccine mandates which the truck driver also ran on.
- COGlory 5y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxFhMVIPodk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxFhMVIPodk Rossman is biased, but the facts do speak for themselves here. I couldn't believe this video
  - dlp211 5y ago
    That's an hour long video, could you provide a TL;DW?
    - COGlory 5y ago
      Basically, the state borrowed money against unrealistic stock market returns on pension fund investments.
  - jrs235 5y ago
    OMG! New Jersey is going to be like a timeshare... some people are going to be stuck or have to pay someone to take their house. Hopefully they'll be able to get away from tax obligations though by letting the government take their property to pay the ungodly property taxes! I always thought Illinois was bad... "Hold my beer." - New Jersey
  - jrs235 5y ago
    If you are a New Jersey pension fund recipient (and you're smart), you moved out of New Jersey as quickly as possible.
- rlt 5y ago
  > how NJ got into this predicament? Possibly due to attitudes like describing an average citizen beating a career politician as “a predicament”
  - WhisperingShiba 5y ago
    GOT 'EM. Real talk, I think there is a certain level of education we should desire for politicians, since generally speaking, it denotes a certain dedication to understanding many facets of society. That said, career politicians are completely bogus all the way through.
  - gumby 5y ago
    There is a minor way in which this situation can become a predicament. Outsiders who become governors don’t tend to have a network or know how the mechanisms work, so tend to either get nothing done or end up having little input into things being done by those who do know those things. But having an outsider as a legislative member is generally a good thing. In California we have term limits, so no member of the legislature (or any other position) can have the time to develop expertise. This gives lobbyists a lot more power.
    - travoc 5y ago
      For those who think government has too much power, getting nothing done isn’t as bad as it seems.
      - gumby 5y ago
        I kinda like having speed limits, food safety rules, building codes, courts, free vaccines (removing barriers to your vaccination helps me, just as mine helps you) and a bunch of other things governments do. Having lived in countries both with and without generally well meaning and competent government, in my experience the former is vastly better despite its manifold faults.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- hooande 5y ago
  People turned out to vote for the marquee election, the governor's race, and voted for that party all the way down the ballot. Almost anyone from the republican party would have wound up in the same position
- kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
  Many NJ residents work(ed) in NY. Of which, many are high earners who could be contributing significant amounts to the state tax rolls but NY claims income tax from anyone who commutes there. To make up the difference towns have to jack up property taxes. Things should hopefully change with remote work not happening in NY anymore.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    NJ's debt per taxpayer is multiple standard deviations above the norm. On the order of $60k per taxpayer versus $10k to $20k in other states. That is just at the state level, who knows what is going at the city level, and there are a ton of tiny fiefdoms with highly paid personnel. https://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/FSOS-Booklet-2021.pdf https://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/FSOS-Bookle... I do not see anyway out of repaying these debts from previous decades with higher taxes compared to other states.
    - skinnymuch 5y ago
      If NJ is in such deep waters. Which it seems like it is. What is up with the stats and data of which states give more to the fed than what they get back and Vice versa. Why is NJ always giving more? If they have so much debt?
      - rsj_hn 5y ago
        > Why is NJ always giving more? If they have so much debt? Because we have progressive taxation and a lot of rich people live in New Jersey, so they pay more in taxes. A state doesn't need to be in financial trouble because it is poor, it is in financial trouble if it makes more promises than it can afford to pay given its tax base. The constant raiding of employee pension funds and various financial ponzi schemes is why NJ is in trouble. Median household income in 2019 NJ[1] = 85K US[2] = 69K [1] https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NJ/SBO001212 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NJ/SBO001212 [2] https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-270.html https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-27...
- pvarangot 5y ago
  The same way Hillary lost to an extreme right wing populist reality TV star. Leadership is dumber than what they think and just there because they are the least incompetent of the political caste, but they act as if they were the all righteous saviors while delivering nothing of value to their voters except for campaign promises.
- bingohbangoh 5y ago
  Not trying to dunk, but comments like this -- assuming that a blue collar, republican challenger is automatically bad -- says a lot more about the OP than it does about the situation.
  - moffkalast 5y ago
    Well running as a republican would mean he's a member of and supports the republican party, is that not how that works? Otherwise one would run as an independent. If you associate yourself with a group that's known to be scum then that will reflect badly on you regardless of your actual character.
    - bingohbangoh 5y ago
      The Republican party, much like the Democratic party, is a wide tent with many people. Local races involve a lot more complicated characters. You'd run as Republican because they're the default alternative choice in a lot of places. Or you could lose and say its on principle I guess.
      - moffkalast 5y ago
        Sure, a wide tent with many people that seem to be fine with an insurrection, gerrymandering and throwing democracy under the bus every possible chance given. It's not a race you're born into, it's a centralized entity you can chose to be a part of. I'm sorry, after the recent few years they've lost all remaining credibility.
- mrverify 5y ago
  NJ isn't south jersey. south jersey could be reasonably plucked out of anywhere in deep red fly over country with 2 coasts(Atlantic,deleware) on each side.
cdot2 5y ago
According to this website he won but according to ballotopedia he lost?
- s5300 5y ago
  Hmm. Can't quite put my finger on it, but this type of thing rings a bell.
- busymom0 5y ago
  Looking at decision desk, he's leading with 96% in: New Jersey State Senate 3 CANDIDATE | VOTES | PERCENT Edward Durr GOP | 32,682 | 51.85% Steve Sweeney DEM (Incumbent) | 30,352 | 48.15% 63,034 votes. Estimated 96% in. DDHQ, Updated 2021-11-03, 5:00:25 PM https://results.decisiondeskhq.com/nov-2-2021-elections https://results.decisiondeskhq.com/nov-2-2021-elections
  - Someone1234 5y ago
    According to this[0] New Jersey State Senate District 3 has an eligible population of around 176,344 (74.9% of total) in 2010. So roughly a 35.7% turnout (with a lot of assumptions and bad data). I wish turnout was higher just so candidates were more representative no matter who ultimately won. But realistically when a single person represents over 150K citizens, it is hard to call it very representative regardless. [0] https://ballotpedia.org/New_Jersey_State_Senate_District_3 https://ballotpedia.org/New_Jersey_State_Senate_District_3
    - busymom0 5y ago
      > eligible population of around 176,344 That's misleading. It's the 158,476 registered voters that matter. Also has a very large unaffiliated voter base of 57,808 (36.5%). > The district had 158,476 registered voters as of July 1, 2021, of whom 57,808 (36.5%) were registered as unaffiliated, 57,660 (36.4%) were registered as Democrats, 40,620 (25.6%) were registered as Republicans, and 2,388 (1.5%) were registered to other parties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey%27s_3rd_legislative_district https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey%27s_3rd_legislative...
barney54 5y ago
Here's his campaign ad. https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/1455899165230354448?s=20 https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/1455899165230354448?s=20 South Jersey obviously isn't very happy with New Jersey's leadership.
- op00to 5y ago
  You got that from a campaign ad? Wow, you’re easily swayed.
  - mbostleman 5y ago
    Not speaking for them, but the ad doesn't say anything about the happiness of South Jersey constituents. So I wouldn't expect they got it from ad. I think the article a more likely source.
  - HWR_14 5y ago
    He's probably getting it from the fact that yesterday the people in South Jersey voted out the 16 year incumbent who led the State Senate.
    - op00to 5y ago
      The 16 year incumbent who was at constant arms with the Governor who was just re-elected. It’s almost as if the dem party wanted to see Sweeney lose so he would get out of Murphy’s way…
- busymom0 5y ago
  Love it how basic and down to earth his ad is.
  - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
    sort of like how GW Bush was the one you'd rather have a beer with (than Al Gore)? When will Americans realize that being "the sort of down to earth person you'd rather have a beer with" is not a qualification for political office?
baldeagle 5y ago
Meanwhile in Texas, each State Senate District has 940,178 people. 70,000 people in a state senate district just seems more workable.
- inglor_cz 5y ago
  With 29 million people, Texas has more inhabitants than the entire Australia, which is divided into several states.
  - chiefalchemist 5y ago
    In theory it's possible for TX to split into 5 states. https://www.honestaustin.com/texapedia/texas-split-divide-into-five-states/ https://www.honestaustin.com/texapedia/texas-split-divide-in...
    - SllX 5y ago
      In theory, it’s possible for Texas to split into any number of States. I wouldn’t put money on it.
      - dragonwriter 5y ago
        > In theory, it’s possible for Texas to split into any number of States. Such a theory (this really refers to the Texas-specific 5 state theory upthread; your “any number” theory, which presumably is the same theory that applies to any State, is valid, but not unilateral like the 5-state theory) exists, but it requires starting with a dubious interpretation of the act annexing Texas, and then flatly ignoring the act admitting Texas.
        inglor_cz 5y ago
        I was surprised to learn that independent Texas actually maintained a diplomatic mission in London. The building still exists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Legation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Legation
droptablemain 5y ago
Maybe this will inspire more working-class people to run for political office.
- jackorange 5y ago
  I liked his premise. It's a good idea, appeal to the people who aren't voting.
  - jefftk 5y ago
    It is an extremely difficult idea to put in practice: people who historically haven't voted, especially in local elections, are notoriously difficult to convince to vote. So even if you identify a situation where you can appeal strongly to the average non-voter, that is super hard to turn into a win.
- gumby 5y ago
  This is the reason politicians get salaries.
  - reaperducer 5y ago
    The vast majority of elected offices in the United States are unpaid.
    - WillPostForFood 5y ago
      Do you have a citation for that? Interesting if true, however 100% of State and Federal legislators are paid.
      - greenburger 5y ago
        Serval states only pay a small amounts. New Hampshire is the smallest I’m aware of at $100/ year.
        5y ago
LiquidSky 5y ago
Something's weird here: "State campaign finance records show a slate of candidates including Durr raised more than $10,000 during their campaign but spent only $153: $66.64 at Dunkin to buy food and drinks for staff and $86.67 for paper flyers and business cards." So he raised more than $10,000, but reports only spending $153. Then how much did he raise? Where did the remaining money go? And how did he pay for things like the video ads linked below or other outreach efforts if he only reported spending $153 on donuts and paper? Is this a situation where outside donors/PACs financed everything so on paper he himself spent nothing?
- vmception 5y ago
  What's weird about that. The campaign collected that much and didn't spend it. The PACs financing everything wouldn't be reported as the $10,000 raised so you are conflating issues there. It doesn't cost anything to put a video on the internet. He only needed to reach more than 30,000 people in his 1 district. If you look closely at more expensive campaigns, you'll see a lot of wasted money.
- busymom0 5y ago
  > how did he pay for things like the video ads linked below Watch his ad: https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/1455899165230354448?s=20 https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/1455899165230354448?s=20 The "ad" looks like it could have been easily created on an old phone. It's a very basic ad, nothing special. Look at his twitter feed. The campaign material all looks very basic like it was created by his kids or someone. (Not saying that's a bad thing - I kinda like it as it looks more grassroots). https://twitter.com/edwarddurr1/status/1418710865625354240 https://twitter.com/edwarddurr1/status/1418710865625354240 And based on archive, the day before election, his twitter only had 1556 followers meaning he didn't do any "online" reach out. https://web.archive.org/web/20211101185415/https://twitter.com/edwarddurr1 https://web.archive.org/web/20211101185415/https://twitter.c... Also notice the top header photo on his archive twitter. It's just a stock photo with watermark still on the pic. Looks like an extremely lean campaign. In a past interview from August, he stated: > “Well, I’m a numbers guy and I’ve looked at the numbers over the years,” Durr said in an August interview conservative commentator Elizabeth Nader. “We have a district that is 150,00 voters. Senator Sweeney has never broken 32,000 votes …. and so I felt if he can’t even get half the district, that means there’s numbers out there to be taken, and you just have to get people to come out and vote. I believe if they come out and vote, we could win,” Sweeney said. Reaching out and getting 20% to vote isn't that hard in a 150k size. So this looks like simply approaching maybe a few thousand families and houses and asking them to vote for him.
vmception 5y ago
This is impressive, but what is more impressive to me, and this is a non-partisan statement, is how people are not afraid of being blocked and ostracized by their partisan friends and just pick the opposition party to run for anyway.
- koolba 5y ago
  There’s a reason that ballots are supposed to be cast behind a curtain.
- detaro 5y ago
  I know this is more charged in the US, but you can still vote for whoever you like and just not tell people you don't want to tell about it.
  - vmception 5y ago
    I'm referring to the people running. This guy spent $150 on Dunkin donuts and put himself out there, home address and everything.
    - tw04 5y ago
      He's got a "don't tread on me" flag flying in his front yard. I don't think any of his acquaintances were unsure of his political beliefs.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
- busymom0 5y ago
  In our current climate, being blocked and ostracized has lost all meaning. Look at the Lt. Governor race in Virginia last night. Black woman, ex-marine, homeless shelter operator ran as GOP and won. Twitter mob and media blames it on "racism" as usual. > "When you overuse an accusation and everyone can see it's just a cynical and self-serving weapon of character assassination rather than an actual conviction, you trivialize it and drain it of its potency for when it's merited, so that nobody cares any longer when it's hurled." - Glenn Greenwald
nostromo 5y ago
A Republican just won an election in Seattle City Government for the first time in three decades. This election has seen some big shifts in the electorate, even in some deeply-Democratic areas. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/republican-ann-davison-leading-abolitionist-nicole-thomas-kennedy-in-seattle-city-attorney-race/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/republica...
- celtain 5y ago
  To be clear though, that was a somewhat unusual race, e.g. the incumbent progressive Democrat probably would have won if he hadn't been knocked out in the primary. The ex-Democrat, Obama/Clinton/Biden-voting Republican who won benefited greatly from the fact that her opponent had some pretty radical views, too radical even for Seattle.
  - vkou 5y ago
    Seattle has always been a socially liberal, bend-over-backwards for business town. It's how it can legalize marijuana and magic mushrooms, while having 11,000 people living in tents and homeless shelters. Unsurprisingly, since nobody likes seeing tents in city parks, and by the I-5 on-ramps, the city voted for a slate of politicians that will... Maintain the status quo. There's no plan for getting ~5,500 people housed. Four years from now, we'll be exactly where we are today.
    - voz_ 5y ago
      I don't want status quo, but I also don't want them housed. I want the ones that steal, rape, squat in parks, do drugs, sell drugs, defecate in public, and litter to all be thrown in jail.
      - lalaithion 5y ago
        So you want the government to house them at taxpayer cost!
chiefalchemist 5y ago
Where / how can similar situations be identified? That is, consistemtly low turn out rate in an area where the incumbent isn't that highly rated? With such info, a dare I say agile "start up" party could make 2022 very interesting.
- clarge1120 5y ago
  Interesting idea.
xwdv 5y ago
Wow, there really is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  What is the idea?
  - xwdv 5y ago
    It would probably not be healthy for my karma to go deeper.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - Loughla 5y ago
      Seriously, what idea? This adds nothing to the conversation here.
    - vadfa 5y ago
      Coming to this website every day to get downvoted and flagged is something not to worry about. I mean, have you read the things people say here? The ideas that are popular? Do you really want to be "the upvoted guy"?
      - xwdv 5y ago
        Some of the happiest days in recent memories have been when a comment I made receives a flood of upvotes. I crave the validation of peers above all else.
  - twofornone 5y ago
    I'll say it. People are tired of progressive extremism, like at once insisting that "CRT isn't being taught in schools" while with the other hand supporting CRT inspired school programs that teach racial awareness to children, and in particular white guilt to white children. You can look it up on the VA website, where CRT is explicitly mentioned as a part of primary school curriculum. This is arguably the biggest elephant in the room - independents and moderate democrats are increasingly speaking openly about the fact that the democratic party is overtly anti-white. Search for it on reddit; before today at best such comments would be downvoted and at worst grounds for a ban. Now they're sitting at the top of the comment chains. The election results in NJ and VA so far seem to mark a turning point. Hopefully soon enough to avoid the pendulum swinging back into true reactionary white supremacy - you know, the genocide kind. Meanwhile out of touch limousine liberals are doubling down on twitter and in media and blaming white supremacists for the election upsets. Something's going to break, one way or another.
post_break 5y ago
I find this part hilarious "Durr said he entered the race after being denied a concealed carry permit despite having a clean record." So the state with one of the most strict gun laws burns someone, and now he's probably going to win. I wonder if he's going to start turning screws to get their permit issue laws changed. Did you know in NJ you can not posses hollow point bullets? You can go to jail. 18 months in prison. You need to be extremely careful when driving through that state so you don't forget if you have some in the car.
- beervirus 5y ago
  New Jersey has some of the absolute worst gun laws in the country.
  - busymom0 5y ago
    New Jersey is an example of the 30 day delay and often those 30 days turn into 7-8 months. I know several people there who went through this last year when the riots were happening and they wanted to purchase a firearm for the first time only to realize how strict the laws were. Ironic enough, they had themselves voted in these laws which were now causing them the problems. This changed the minds of at least 10 friends of mine on gun control. Tim Pool, popular YouTuber went from anti-2A to SUPER-PRO 2A last year and he's from New Jersey and went through this process. Here's forums of people complaining about this. You can find several similar examples: https://www.njgunforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/97756-pistol-permit-delay/ https://www.njgunforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/97756-pis... https://bearingarms.com/staff-ba/2021/03/26/new-jersey-gun-permits-face-new-legal-challenge-n42646 https://bearingarms.com/staff-ba/2021/03/26/new-jersey-gun-p...
    - lolbert 5y ago
      Tim Pool is "best-friends-with-nazis" and a known liar, and not living in New Jersey (instead, in a remote compound in Maryland). There is no reason at all to believe he has a change in belief, much less any reason at all to mention him, especially using his 'experience' as a pro-gun argument.
wly_cdgr 5y ago
America runs on Dunkin'
fdemoz 5y ago
Democrats were calling parents terrorists and sicking the FBI on them, all the while, allowing for those parents daughters to be literally RAPED by other kids in the school and not doing a fucking thing about it. Actions have consequences. I don't think democrats have any clue how decimated their party is going to be in a few years.
inthegreenwoods 5y ago
How much did the GOP spend?
inthegreenwoods 5y ago
How much did the GOP spend and where did they get the money?
neves 5y ago
Does USA has laws about candidates publishing their spending? It looks like USA does not has laws to force candidates about his political party. I couldn't identify it from the candidate propaganda.
- LatteLazy 5y ago
  The truck driver is running as a Republican. That's a political part in the US (elsewhere it just means someone opposed to monarchy).
LurkingPenguin 5y ago
This is bad news. If too many truck drivers run for public office, the supply chain problems are only going to get worse.
- fortytwo79 5y ago
  Ha! I literally LOL'ed this. Well played.
EastOfTruth 5y ago
Probably has something to do with how Biden is doing.
rackjack 5y ago
Does anybody know how he ran his campaign/how campaigns are run in general? I genuinely do not know how people "campaign". Do you just hire people to walk around and knock on doors, Jehovah's Witness style?
- cobertos 5y ago
  There's probably more "official" ways, but you're allowed to do whatever you want to get people's attention, within election laws. I met a guy disc golfing once who got like, 10% of the vote for a state district senate seat just by getting his name on the ballot. Then he went and shook a bunch of hands and talked to people _at_ the election place to get people to vote for him (against the election laws xD) though people did. You just need to be known. Tape poorly made signs everywhere, shake hands, go on local TV. A local judge got elected who was mostly unknown save for a very popular local Christian television channel and the news did a story on her cause she just never showed up to serve and they couldn't boot her out.
op00to 5y ago
It’s hilarious the GOP walked right into Murphy’s trap. Murphy wanted Sweeney out, and this guy had the story and was in the right place at the right time to do it. The best part is Duff or Fudd or whatever the guys name is going to get destroyed by the educated political elite of NJ’s legislature. It’s like a toddler playing sports with adults. Next cycle that seat will have a D in it.
- betwixthewires 5y ago
  What exactly do you mean by "destroyed?"
  - op00to 5y ago
    I mean that he won’t be able to deliver anything for his voters because he is part of the minority where the majority holds both houses and the governorship.
ajay-b 5y ago
Mr. Smith goes to Trenton. I am pleased that a blue collar person is engaged.
op00to 5y ago
Just going to share one of the Truck Driver more choice Twitter posts to show you what he’s about: Mohammed was a pedophile! Islam is a false religion! Only fools follow muslim teachings! It is a cult of hate! https://mobile.twitter.com/edwarddurr1/status/1168522758332080128 https://mobile.twitter.com/edwarddurr1/status/11685227583320...

205 points by busymom0 5y ago

jonathankoren 5y ago

Good. Too many politicians run unopposed and take reëlection for granted. This how you get more responsive governance.

chiefalchemist 5y ago
Yes. But why would that be? Because the two main parties are more of cartel? And less like true competition?
- jonathankoren 5y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering

umvi 5y ago

Any (relatively) unbiased sources that explain how NJ got into this predicament? Just current leadership being out of touch with the wants/needs of NJ citizens?

heavyset_go 5y ago
The 2020 election mobilized certain demographics in NJ to vote, and there's been a moderately successful campaign to paint the sitting governor as literally Hitler for the last two years.
throwaway6734 5y ago
My gut take is that the removal of the SALT deduction had a huge impact in NJ due to the very high property taxes
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  I doubt the vast majority of people (probably less than 10%) in NJ are paid enough to be affected by SALT since standard deduction went up so much. Property plus state income tax liabilities would have to be more than $12.5k/$25k single/married for people to have been affected. I would bet on school closings and the trend of higher taxes/less government services, but the latter is unavoidable due to the outlier amounts of debt NJ has.
  - throwaway6734 5y ago
    >According to recent reporting, if we reinstated the SALT deduction, nearly a third of New Jersey residents — almost three million people — would get tax relief. As many as 80% of them have incomes of $216,000 or less. Hardly the 1%. https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2021/05/17/salt-deduction-reinstatement-can-go-long-way-nj-ny-families/5093645001/ https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2021/05/17/salt-de... NJ has very high property tax rates and high home values
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      The writer used the word “average”, but it would be clearer if they used median, or quintiles or deciles. I could not find a source for the report they claim to be saying 3 million people in NJ would benefit. NJ income tax is ~4%, and average property taxes are not that high: https://www.nj.com/politics/2020/03/njs-average-property-tax-bill-hit-8953-last-year-see-the-numbers-in-your-town.html https://www.nj.com/politics/2020/03/njs-average-property-tax... It would be nice to find statistics by percentile, but I would find it hard to believe that many single households are living in houses paying $8k+ property tax, and married households are paying $16k in property tax. I use $8k and $16k because that would mean the remaining $4k and $8k would be for income tax for a person earning $100k/year (78th percentile) or a couple earning $200k per year (83rd percentile). https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-by-state-calculator/ https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-by-state-calculator/ Edit: the best way to figure out if the SALT caps hurt or not is to see if the amount of people itemizing on federal returns increased or not. I cannot find any NJ specific statistics, but IRS says only 11% of tax filers itemized in 2019.
uselesscynicism 5y ago
Predicament? A regular Joe beat a career politician for local representative. In what world is that a predicament? Or are you so completely partisan that having an R next to his name makes him obviously the wrong choice, even though he was liberal enough to be palatable to New Jersey voters (not exactly a paragon of conservatism)?
stickyricky 5y ago
There is an interesting story about Madigan in Chicago. Ran the Illinois machine. Corrupt as all hell. A college student decided to run against him and collected enough signatures to get on the ballot. Madigan typically ran unopposed. Well come to find about, of the 500 people who signed the petition to get this kid on the ballot, 1200 rescinded their support. You do the math. These people aren't loved. They just know how to work the system to keep the outsiders out. The article says in a district of 150k, the NJ Senate President never received more than 30k votes. 20% of the population was dictating policy. Its no surprise that, when given the choice, people will vote their preference.
- wrycoder 5y ago
  0.1% were dictating policy. The other 19.9% of the votes were just following directions.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  People where I live get a ballot and a book in the mail weeks before the election with details for all the candidates and questions, and all you have to do is drop it in the outgoing mail. Takes no more than 30min of your time, maybe 1 hour if you are a slow reader. And yet, less than 20% voter participation. It is ironic that turnout for national elections, where their vote is moot is much higher. But for school boards, county positions, and city positions that actually have an effect on day to day life and expenses, people do not care as much.
  - stickyricky 5y ago
    WA? That's how it was in Vancouver when I lived there. Best system I've experience so far. Also felt the government was very fair and in line with the community.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      Yes. OR is the same.
    - 5y ago
jhawk28 5y ago
Something was mentioned about 150k total voters, but only 32k ever voted for the incumbent.
- dsr_ 5y ago
  150,000 people eligible to vote. 32,000 votes for the incumbent. Hence, 118,000 people who would either vote for someone else or could be persuaded to come and vote.
  - busymom0 5y ago
    Yep. DecisionDesk shows GOP got 32,682 whereas the incumbent DEM got 30,352 with 96% in.
newsclues 5y ago
Systemic corruption
PKop 5y ago
Quoting Durr in Politico: [0] Durr said Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s coronavirus executive orders, vaccine and school mask, unemployment benefits snafus and a general distrust of the South Jersey Democratic machine that has dominated the region for years all contributed to his strong performance. Sweeney, Durr said, “never challenged” Murphy during the pandemic. “You have the debacle of unemployment. The masking of the kids in school. You have Senator Sweeney trying to take away peoples’ medical freedom rights. I think the perfect storm was that he stepped into a pile of you-know-what and couldn’t get out of it because he didn’t know which way to turn. I just tapped into the right focus.” [0] https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2021/11/03/meet-ed-durr-the-candidate-whos-leading-steve-sweeney-1392209 https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2021/11/03/... I think many people, if they aren't exposed to it or live around it, underestimate the massive anger and frustration that exists towards the Covid restrictions and policies, and vaccine mandates.
- davidw 5y ago
  I'm beginning to come around to this point of view: https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/peacefield/617c7b245793d600215d2b35/peacefield-post/ https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/peacefield/617c7b245793d... - we are not a serious nation. There's a global pandemic caused by an airborne pathogen, and people throw an absolute hissy fit over a minor inconvenience like masks. My kids wear them all day long in school, and while they don't love them, they are not constantly whining about them like some adults. My grandparents, on the other hand, dealt with wartime rationing for years (and they were lucky, because they lived in a place where they could hunt) because our country was in a global battle with Nazis. And all that after the depression.
  - ludicast 5y ago
    My masked son had a low pulse ox in his checkup. About 80, the same number that with covid should necessitate a hospital visit. Supposedly a lot of kids have needed to demask to get a good pulse ox. As a parent this terrifies me.
  - busymom0 5y ago
    Kids have the most psychological development from looking at people's faces, emotions and smiles. Saying that's a "minor inconvenience" is silly. Especially since there's negligible risks for them. And mandating something which neither prevents catching, nor transmitting the virus is definitely not a "minor inconvenience". EDIT: In my last sentence, I wasn't referring to masks. I was referring to vaccine mandates which the truck driver also ran on.
COGlory 5y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxFhMVIPodk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxFhMVIPodk Rossman is biased, but the facts do speak for themselves here. I couldn't believe this video
- dlp211 5y ago
  That's an hour long video, could you provide a TL;DW?
  - COGlory 5y ago
    Basically, the state borrowed money against unrealistic stock market returns on pension fund investments.
- jrs235 5y ago
  OMG! New Jersey is going to be like a timeshare... some people are going to be stuck or have to pay someone to take their house. Hopefully they'll be able to get away from tax obligations though by letting the government take their property to pay the ungodly property taxes! I always thought Illinois was bad... "Hold my beer." - New Jersey
- jrs235 5y ago
  If you are a New Jersey pension fund recipient (and you're smart), you moved out of New Jersey as quickly as possible.
rlt 5y ago
> how NJ got into this predicament? Possibly due to attitudes like describing an average citizen beating a career politician as “a predicament”
- WhisperingShiba 5y ago
  GOT 'EM. Real talk, I think there is a certain level of education we should desire for politicians, since generally speaking, it denotes a certain dedication to understanding many facets of society. That said, career politicians are completely bogus all the way through.
- gumby 5y ago
  There is a minor way in which this situation can become a predicament. Outsiders who become governors don’t tend to have a network or know how the mechanisms work, so tend to either get nothing done or end up having little input into things being done by those who do know those things. But having an outsider as a legislative member is generally a good thing. In California we have term limits, so no member of the legislature (or any other position) can have the time to develop expertise. This gives lobbyists a lot more power.
  - travoc 5y ago
    For those who think government has too much power, getting nothing done isn’t as bad as it seems.
    - gumby 5y ago
      I kinda like having speed limits, food safety rules, building codes, courts, free vaccines (removing barriers to your vaccination helps me, just as mine helps you) and a bunch of other things governments do. Having lived in countries both with and without generally well meaning and competent government, in my experience the former is vastly better despite its manifold faults.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
hooande 5y ago
People turned out to vote for the marquee election, the governor's race, and voted for that party all the way down the ballot. Almost anyone from the republican party would have wound up in the same position
kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
Many NJ residents work(ed) in NY. Of which, many are high earners who could be contributing significant amounts to the state tax rolls but NY claims income tax from anyone who commutes there. To make up the difference towns have to jack up property taxes. Things should hopefully change with remote work not happening in NY anymore.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  NJ's debt per taxpayer is multiple standard deviations above the norm. On the order of $60k per taxpayer versus $10k to $20k in other states. That is just at the state level, who knows what is going at the city level, and there are a ton of tiny fiefdoms with highly paid personnel. https://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/FSOS-Booklet-2021.pdf https://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/FSOS-Bookle... I do not see anyway out of repaying these debts from previous decades with higher taxes compared to other states.
  - skinnymuch 5y ago
    If NJ is in such deep waters. Which it seems like it is. What is up with the stats and data of which states give more to the fed than what they get back and Vice versa. Why is NJ always giving more? If they have so much debt?
    - rsj_hn 5y ago
      > Why is NJ always giving more? If they have so much debt? Because we have progressive taxation and a lot of rich people live in New Jersey, so they pay more in taxes. A state doesn't need to be in financial trouble because it is poor, it is in financial trouble if it makes more promises than it can afford to pay given its tax base. The constant raiding of employee pension funds and various financial ponzi schemes is why NJ is in trouble. Median household income in 2019 NJ[1] = 85K US[2] = 69K [1] https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NJ/SBO001212 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NJ/SBO001212 [2] https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-270.html https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2020/demo/p60-27...
pvarangot 5y ago
The same way Hillary lost to an extreme right wing populist reality TV star. Leadership is dumber than what they think and just there because they are the least incompetent of the political caste, but they act as if they were the all righteous saviors while delivering nothing of value to their voters except for campaign promises.
bingohbangoh 5y ago
Not trying to dunk, but comments like this -- assuming that a blue collar, republican challenger is automatically bad -- says a lot more about the OP than it does about the situation.
- moffkalast 5y ago
  Well running as a republican would mean he's a member of and supports the republican party, is that not how that works? Otherwise one would run as an independent. If you associate yourself with a group that's known to be scum then that will reflect badly on you regardless of your actual character.
  - bingohbangoh 5y ago
    The Republican party, much like the Democratic party, is a wide tent with many people. Local races involve a lot more complicated characters. You'd run as Republican because they're the default alternative choice in a lot of places. Or you could lose and say its on principle I guess.
    - moffkalast 5y ago
      Sure, a wide tent with many people that seem to be fine with an insurrection, gerrymandering and throwing democracy under the bus every possible chance given. It's not a race you're born into, it's a centralized entity you can chose to be a part of. I'm sorry, after the recent few years they've lost all remaining credibility.
mrverify 5y ago
NJ isn't south jersey. south jersey could be reasonably plucked out of anywhere in deep red fly over country with 2 coasts(Atlantic,deleware) on each side.

cdot2 5y ago

According to this website he won but according to ballotopedia he lost?

s5300 5y ago
Hmm. Can't quite put my finger on it, but this type of thing rings a bell.
busymom0 5y ago
Looking at decision desk, he's leading with 96% in: New Jersey State Senate 3 CANDIDATE | VOTES | PERCENT Edward Durr GOP | 32,682 | 51.85% Steve Sweeney DEM (Incumbent) | 30,352 | 48.15% 63,034 votes. Estimated 96% in. DDHQ, Updated 2021-11-03, 5:00:25 PM https://results.decisiondeskhq.com/nov-2-2021-elections https://results.decisiondeskhq.com/nov-2-2021-elections
- Someone1234 5y ago
  According to this[0] New Jersey State Senate District 3 has an eligible population of around 176,344 (74.9% of total) in 2010. So roughly a 35.7% turnout (with a lot of assumptions and bad data). I wish turnout was higher just so candidates were more representative no matter who ultimately won. But realistically when a single person represents over 150K citizens, it is hard to call it very representative regardless. [0] https://ballotpedia.org/New_Jersey_State_Senate_District_3 https://ballotpedia.org/New_Jersey_State_Senate_District_3
  - busymom0 5y ago
    > eligible population of around 176,344 That's misleading. It's the 158,476 registered voters that matter. Also has a very large unaffiliated voter base of 57,808 (36.5%). > The district had 158,476 registered voters as of July 1, 2021, of whom 57,808 (36.5%) were registered as unaffiliated, 57,660 (36.4%) were registered as Democrats, 40,620 (25.6%) were registered as Republicans, and 2,388 (1.5%) were registered to other parties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey%27s_3rd_legislative_district https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey%27s_3rd_legislative...

barney54 5y ago

Here's his campaign ad. https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/1455899165230354448?s=20 https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/1455899165230354448?s=20 South Jersey obviously isn't very happy with New Jersey's leadership.

op00to 5y ago
You got that from a campaign ad? Wow, you’re easily swayed.
- mbostleman 5y ago
  Not speaking for them, but the ad doesn't say anything about the happiness of South Jersey constituents. So I wouldn't expect they got it from ad. I think the article a more likely source.
- HWR_14 5y ago
  He's probably getting it from the fact that yesterday the people in South Jersey voted out the 16 year incumbent who led the State Senate.
  - op00to 5y ago
    The 16 year incumbent who was at constant arms with the Governor who was just re-elected. It’s almost as if the dem party wanted to see Sweeney lose so he would get out of Murphy’s way…
busymom0 5y ago
Love it how basic and down to earth his ad is.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  sort of like how GW Bush was the one you'd rather have a beer with (than Al Gore)? When will Americans realize that being "the sort of down to earth person you'd rather have a beer with" is not a qualification for political office?

baldeagle 5y ago

Meanwhile in Texas, each State Senate District has 940,178 people. 70,000 people in a state senate district just seems more workable.

inglor_cz 5y ago
With 29 million people, Texas has more inhabitants than the entire Australia, which is divided into several states.
- chiefalchemist 5y ago
  In theory it's possible for TX to split into 5 states. https://www.honestaustin.com/texapedia/texas-split-divide-into-five-states/ https://www.honestaustin.com/texapedia/texas-split-divide-in...
  - SllX 5y ago
    In theory, it’s possible for Texas to split into any number of States. I wouldn’t put money on it.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > In theory, it’s possible for Texas to split into any number of States. Such a theory (this really refers to the Texas-specific 5 state theory upthread; your “any number” theory, which presumably is the same theory that applies to any State, is valid, but not unilateral like the 5-state theory) exists, but it requires starting with a dubious interpretation of the act annexing Texas, and then flatly ignoring the act admitting Texas.
      - inglor_cz 5y ago
        I was surprised to learn that independent Texas actually maintained a diplomatic mission in London. The building still exists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Legation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Legation

droptablemain 5y ago

Maybe this will inspire more working-class people to run for political office.

jackorange 5y ago
I liked his premise. It's a good idea, appeal to the people who aren't voting.
- jefftk 5y ago
  It is an extremely difficult idea to put in practice: people who historically haven't voted, especially in local elections, are notoriously difficult to convince to vote. So even if you identify a situation where you can appeal strongly to the average non-voter, that is super hard to turn into a win.
gumby 5y ago
This is the reason politicians get salaries.
- reaperducer 5y ago
  The vast majority of elected offices in the United States are unpaid.
  - WillPostForFood 5y ago
    Do you have a citation for that? Interesting if true, however 100% of State and Federal legislators are paid.
    - greenburger 5y ago
      Serval states only pay a small amounts. New Hampshire is the smallest I’m aware of at $100/ year.
      - 5y ago

LiquidSky 5y ago

Something's weird here: "State campaign finance records show a slate of candidates including Durr raised more than $10,000 during their campaign but spent only $153: $66.64 at Dunkin to buy food and drinks for staff and $86.67 for paper flyers and business cards." So he raised more than $10,000, but reports only spending $153. Then how much did he raise? Where did the remaining money go? And how did he pay for things like the video ads linked below or other outreach efforts if he only reported spending $153 on donuts and paper? Is this a situation where outside donors/PACs financed everything so on paper he himself spent nothing?

vmception 5y ago
What's weird about that. The campaign collected that much and didn't spend it. The PACs financing everything wouldn't be reported as the $10,000 raised so you are conflating issues there. It doesn't cost anything to put a video on the internet. He only needed to reach more than 30,000 people in his 1 district. If you look closely at more expensive campaigns, you'll see a lot of wasted money.
busymom0 5y ago
> how did he pay for things like the video ads linked below Watch his ad: https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/1455899165230354448?s=20 https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/1455899165230354448?s=20 The "ad" looks like it could have been easily created on an old phone. It's a very basic ad, nothing special. Look at his twitter feed. The campaign material all looks very basic like it was created by his kids or someone. (Not saying that's a bad thing - I kinda like it as it looks more grassroots). https://twitter.com/edwarddurr1/status/1418710865625354240 https://twitter.com/edwarddurr1/status/1418710865625354240 And based on archive, the day before election, his twitter only had 1556 followers meaning he didn't do any "online" reach out. https://web.archive.org/web/20211101185415/https://twitter.com/edwarddurr1 https://web.archive.org/web/20211101185415/https://twitter.c... Also notice the top header photo on his archive twitter. It's just a stock photo with watermark still on the pic. Looks like an extremely lean campaign. In a past interview from August, he stated: > “Well, I’m a numbers guy and I’ve looked at the numbers over the years,” Durr said in an August interview conservative commentator Elizabeth Nader. “We have a district that is 150,00 voters. Senator Sweeney has never broken 32,000 votes …. and so I felt if he can’t even get half the district, that means there’s numbers out there to be taken, and you just have to get people to come out and vote. I believe if they come out and vote, we could win,” Sweeney said. Reaching out and getting 20% to vote isn't that hard in a 150k size. So this looks like simply approaching maybe a few thousand families and houses and asking them to vote for him.

vmception 5y ago

This is impressive, but what is more impressive to me, and this is a non-partisan statement, is how people are not afraid of being blocked and ostracized by their partisan friends and just pick the opposition party to run for anyway.

koolba 5y ago
There’s a reason that ballots are supposed to be cast behind a curtain.
detaro 5y ago
I know this is more charged in the US, but you can still vote for whoever you like and just not tell people you don't want to tell about it.
- vmception 5y ago
  I'm referring to the people running. This guy spent $150 on Dunkin donuts and put himself out there, home address and everything.
  - tw04 5y ago
    He's got a "don't tread on me" flag flying in his front yard. I don't think any of his acquaintances were unsure of his political beliefs.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
busymom0 5y ago
In our current climate, being blocked and ostracized has lost all meaning. Look at the Lt. Governor race in Virginia last night. Black woman, ex-marine, homeless shelter operator ran as GOP and won. Twitter mob and media blames it on "racism" as usual. > "When you overuse an accusation and everyone can see it's just a cynical and self-serving weapon of character assassination rather than an actual conviction, you trivialize it and drain it of its potency for when it's merited, so that nobody cares any longer when it's hurled." - Glenn Greenwald

nostromo 5y ago

A Republican just won an election in Seattle City Government for the first time in three decades. This election has seen some big shifts in the electorate, even in some deeply-Democratic areas. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/republican-ann-davison-leading-abolitionist-nicole-thomas-kennedy-in-seattle-city-attorney-race/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/republica...

celtain 5y ago
To be clear though, that was a somewhat unusual race, e.g. the incumbent progressive Democrat probably would have won if he hadn't been knocked out in the primary. The ex-Democrat, Obama/Clinton/Biden-voting Republican who won benefited greatly from the fact that her opponent had some pretty radical views, too radical even for Seattle.
- vkou 5y ago
  Seattle has always been a socially liberal, bend-over-backwards for business town. It's how it can legalize marijuana and magic mushrooms, while having 11,000 people living in tents and homeless shelters. Unsurprisingly, since nobody likes seeing tents in city parks, and by the I-5 on-ramps, the city voted for a slate of politicians that will... Maintain the status quo. There's no plan for getting ~5,500 people housed. Four years from now, we'll be exactly where we are today.
  - voz_ 5y ago
    I don't want status quo, but I also don't want them housed. I want the ones that steal, rape, squat in parks, do drugs, sell drugs, defecate in public, and litter to all be thrown in jail.
    - lalaithion 5y ago
      So you want the government to house them at taxpayer cost!

chiefalchemist 5y ago

Where / how can similar situations be identified? That is, consistemtly low turn out rate in an area where the incumbent isn't that highly rated? With such info, a dare I say agile "start up" party could make 2022 very interesting.

clarge1120 5y ago
Interesting idea.

xwdv 5y ago

Wow, there really is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.

PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
What is the idea?
- xwdv 5y ago
  It would probably not be healthy for my karma to go deeper.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - Loughla 5y ago
    Seriously, what idea? This adds nothing to the conversation here.
  - vadfa 5y ago
    Coming to this website every day to get downvoted and flagged is something not to worry about. I mean, have you read the things people say here? The ideas that are popular? Do you really want to be "the upvoted guy"?
    - xwdv 5y ago
      Some of the happiest days in recent memories have been when a comment I made receives a flood of upvotes. I crave the validation of peers above all else.
- twofornone 5y ago
  I'll say it. People are tired of progressive extremism, like at once insisting that "CRT isn't being taught in schools" while with the other hand supporting CRT inspired school programs that teach racial awareness to children, and in particular white guilt to white children. You can look it up on the VA website, where CRT is explicitly mentioned as a part of primary school curriculum. This is arguably the biggest elephant in the room - independents and moderate democrats are increasingly speaking openly about the fact that the democratic party is overtly anti-white. Search for it on reddit; before today at best such comments would be downvoted and at worst grounds for a ban. Now they're sitting at the top of the comment chains. The election results in NJ and VA so far seem to mark a turning point. Hopefully soon enough to avoid the pendulum swinging back into true reactionary white supremacy - you know, the genocide kind. Meanwhile out of touch limousine liberals are doubling down on twitter and in media and blaming white supremacists for the election upsets. Something's going to break, one way or another.

post_break 5y ago

I find this part hilarious "Durr said he entered the race after being denied a concealed carry permit despite having a clean record." So the state with one of the most strict gun laws burns someone, and now he's probably going to win. I wonder if he's going to start turning screws to get their permit issue laws changed. Did you know in NJ you can not posses hollow point bullets? You can go to jail. 18 months in prison. You need to be extremely careful when driving through that state so you don't forget if you have some in the car.

beervirus 5y ago
New Jersey has some of the absolute worst gun laws in the country.
- busymom0 5y ago
  New Jersey is an example of the 30 day delay and often those 30 days turn into 7-8 months. I know several people there who went through this last year when the riots were happening and they wanted to purchase a firearm for the first time only to realize how strict the laws were. Ironic enough, they had themselves voted in these laws which were now causing them the problems. This changed the minds of at least 10 friends of mine on gun control. Tim Pool, popular YouTuber went from anti-2A to SUPER-PRO 2A last year and he's from New Jersey and went through this process. Here's forums of people complaining about this. You can find several similar examples: https://www.njgunforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/97756-pistol-permit-delay/ https://www.njgunforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/97756-pis... https://bearingarms.com/staff-ba/2021/03/26/new-jersey-gun-permits-face-new-legal-challenge-n42646 https://bearingarms.com/staff-ba/2021/03/26/new-jersey-gun-p...
  - lolbert 5y ago
    Tim Pool is "best-friends-with-nazis" and a known liar, and not living in New Jersey (instead, in a remote compound in Maryland). There is no reason at all to believe he has a change in belief, much less any reason at all to mention him, especially using his 'experience' as a pro-gun argument.

wly_cdgr 5y ago

America runs on Dunkin'

fdemoz 5y ago

Democrats were calling parents terrorists and sicking the FBI on them, all the while, allowing for those parents daughters to be literally RAPED by other kids in the school and not doing a fucking thing about it. Actions have consequences. I don't think democrats have any clue how decimated their party is going to be in a few years.

inthegreenwoods 5y ago

How much did the GOP spend?

inthegreenwoods 5y ago

How much did the GOP spend and where did they get the money?

neves 5y ago

Does USA has laws about candidates publishing their spending? It looks like USA does not has laws to force candidates about his political party. I couldn't identify it from the candidate propaganda.

LatteLazy 5y ago
The truck driver is running as a Republican. That's a political part in the US (elsewhere it just means someone opposed to monarchy).

LurkingPenguin 5y ago

This is bad news. If too many truck drivers run for public office, the supply chain problems are only going to get worse.

fortytwo79 5y ago
Ha! I literally LOL'ed this. Well played.

EastOfTruth 5y ago

Probably has something to do with how Biden is doing.

rackjack 5y ago

Does anybody know how he ran his campaign/how campaigns are run in general? I genuinely do not know how people "campaign". Do you just hire people to walk around and knock on doors, Jehovah's Witness style?

cobertos 5y ago
There's probably more "official" ways, but you're allowed to do whatever you want to get people's attention, within election laws. I met a guy disc golfing once who got like, 10% of the vote for a state district senate seat just by getting his name on the ballot. Then he went and shook a bunch of hands and talked to people _at_ the election place to get people to vote for him (against the election laws xD) though people did. You just need to be known. Tape poorly made signs everywhere, shake hands, go on local TV. A local judge got elected who was mostly unknown save for a very popular local Christian television channel and the news did a story on her cause she just never showed up to serve and they couldn't boot her out.

op00to 5y ago

It’s hilarious the GOP walked right into Murphy’s trap. Murphy wanted Sweeney out, and this guy had the story and was in the right place at the right time to do it. The best part is Duff or Fudd or whatever the guys name is going to get destroyed by the educated political elite of NJ’s legislature. It’s like a toddler playing sports with adults. Next cycle that seat will have a D in it.

betwixthewires 5y ago
What exactly do you mean by "destroyed?"
- op00to 5y ago
  I mean that he won’t be able to deliver anything for his voters because he is part of the minority where the majority holds both houses and the governorship.

ajay-b 5y ago

Mr. Smith goes to Trenton. I am pleased that a blue collar person is engaged.

op00to 5y ago

Just going to share one of the Truck Driver more choice Twitter posts to show you what he’s about: Mohammed was a pedophile! Islam is a false religion! Only fools follow muslim teachings! It is a cult of hate! https://mobile.twitter.com/edwarddurr1/status/1168522758332080128 https://mobile.twitter.com/edwarddurr1/status/11685227583320...