Matt Friedman

1 week ago | politico.com | Matt Friedman

Matt Arco, a veteran Statehouse reporter, died suddenly Wednesday at just 39 of natural causes. Matt was practically the definition of a shoe-leather reporter until his beat changed about a year ago. He tailed Chris Christie through both his presidential campaigns, tracking him through Iowa and New Hampshire. When Gov. Phil Murphy traveled overseas, Arco was often there with him. He was a mainstay at Murphy’s COVID press conferences. In that sense, Matt was really a throwback.

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Matt Friedman

Good Thursday morning!Are we in for a fight between the feds and state over the administration of the election? Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba on Tuesday announced an “Election Integrity Task Force” aimed at enforcing President Trump’s March 25 executive order on elections that, among other things, would require people to show proof of citizenship to register to vote and directs states not to accept mail-in ballots received after Election Day.

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Matt Friedman

Good Wednesday morning!Next month marks 51 years since Gov. Brendan Byrne signed the state’s campaign public financing program — the first matching funds program in the country for gubernatorial candidates. “By providing public financing of gubernatorial election campaigns, we will remove from the office of the Governor the evil of the large, private contributions,” Byrne said at the time. Thirty-six years later came the Citizens United decision.

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Matt Friedman

Good Tuesday morning!Mikie Sherrill is the narrow frontrunner in the gubernatorial race. But so far, her Democratic gubernatorial rivals — save for some attacks from the two Steves (Sweeney and Fulop) — have been pretty soft on her. Today, it’s Ras Baraka’s turn to target Sherrill. He’ll be in Montclair for a speech “challenging the party’s failure to deliver real equity, and demanding answers from the Democratic establishment,” according to his campaign.

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Matt Friedman

Good Monday morning! On Friday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Gottheimer launched his “Nickel and Dimed” agenda. “We have to stop nickel and diming everyone,” Gottheimer says in a video, where he decries the $75 fee that small businesses have to pay to register annually. Fair enough. But I’m having a hard time reconciling this message with Gottheimer’s recent non-vote on a narrowly-passed resolution to void a rule by the Consumer Financial Bureau to cap overdraft fees at $5.