Noticias

President Donald Trump’s approval rating is 18 points underwater among New Jersey likely voters, according to Thursday’s numbers from the latest Fairleigh Dickinson University poll. 

Dan Cassino, the executive director of the poll, said Trump’s approval ratings in New Jersey — 37% approve and 55% disapprove — are in line with national polls.

“Trump’s approval has been low nationally, and he isn’t any more popular in New Jersey than anywhere else,” Cassino said. “If Republicans want to make a play for the state, the administration’s immigration policies, or at least how they’re being enforced, are going to be a problem.”

Thursday’s release is the third set of numbers stemming from the FDU poll conducted earlier this month. On Tuesday, the poll showed Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) leading Republican Jack Ciattarelli by 8 points in the race for governor. On Wednesday, a batch of data showed 27% of voters in the state disapprove of the new GOP budget bill.

Trump’s approval breaks down largely along partisan lines. Among Democrats, he is unsurprisingly down 5%-92%; among Republicans, Trump’s approval is 88%-10%. Among independents, Trump is underwater 28%-56%. The release noted the approval rating is “almost identical” to the 29% approval Trump received from independents in the Gallup poll.

Trump holds a major presence in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy. Sherrill has accused the GOP former assemblyman of cozying up to Trump, especially in the wake of the president’s endorsement of Ciattarelli.

“Last year’s Presidential election was much closer than anyone was expecting in New Jersey,” Cassino said. “But if Trump had the opportunity to turn that into lasting support in the state, it seems to be gone now.”

The poll also included questions about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. About 55% of respondents said the Trump administration is doing “too much” to deport undocumented immigrants, while 10% said they are doing “too little” and 34% said “about the right amount.”

“A lot of what we’re seeing on immigration is thermostatic public opinion,” Cassino said. “When policy swings one way, voters tend to go to the other, so being tough on immigration was always likely to lead to voters saying that you’re going too far.”

The poll found 28% of voters are very or somewhat worried that they, a family member, or a close friend will be deported. That number goes up to 50% among Hispanic respondents.

“We haven’t seen the sort of large-scale immigration raids in New Jersey that have happened in California, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t scared,” Cassino said. “In a state with so many immigrants, those policies hit harder here than in other states.”

The FDU poll surveyed 806 New Jersey likely voters between July 17 and 23 with a margin of error of +/- 3.4%.

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A nineteen-year-old New Jersey man who died as a defender of The Alamo in 1836 will now be honored with a state flag at the Texas historical landmark thanks to the sharp eye of Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris Plains) and the help of Gov. Phil Murphy.

Webber was in San Antonio visiting his daughter, an Air Force officer, when he decided to tour The Alamo and noticed a series of state and global flags honoring those who served didn’t include New Jersey.  The nine-term lawmaker found out that one New Jerseyan, Richard Lucius Stockton, the scion of one of the state’s most prominent families, had protected The Alamo.

So Webber contacted Murphy, who got on it quickly, and made sure a state flag was sent to The Alamo.   They added it to their collection this week.

Stockton was from Princeton; his grandfather’s half-brother was Richard Stockton, one of five New Jerseyans who signed the Declaration of Independence.

The younger Stockton was a teenager when he enlisted in the Texas Volunteer Auxiliary Corps and was sent to San Antonio along with a man named Davy Crockett.  After his death, his sister was able to claim land in Texas based on her brother’s service. She married Edwin Ward Moore, who became the commander-in-chief of the Republic of Texas Navy.

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New Jersey joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration Tuesday, arguing the new GOP budget bill “unconstitutionally blocks” Medicaid funding from being used for essential medical services at Planned Parenthood health centers.

Attorney General Matt Platkin joined a coalition of 22 states suing over the provision, which they say will unjustly block Americans from receiving cancer screenings, birth control, and STI testing. The provision, included in the Trump-heralded One Big Beautiful Bill Act, would affect 20 health centers across the state and tens of thousands of patients, according to the attorney general’s office.

The U.S. Department of Justice has argued “the bill stops federal subsidies for Big Abortion,” though federal law has largely prohibited federal funds from going toward abortions since the 1970s. A federal judge in Boston, in a separate but related lawsuit, has already blocked the provision from taking effect. The White House has called that ruling “absurd.”

“The Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans’ blocking of Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood health centers is a direct attack on individuals who rely on accessible, affordable healthcare,” Gov. Phil Murphy said. “This decision strips away essential care—including comprehensive family planning services, cancer screenings, sexually transmitted disease testing, and more—for some of our nation’s most vulnerable populations. In New Jersey, we will continue to fight to ensure all have access to the healthcare services that they need.”

The lawsuit, led by California, was filed in federal court in Massachusetts. The lawsuit argues the provision exceeds Congress’ authority to limit Medicaid spending.

“It’s frankly outrageous that Congress and the Trump Administration have targeted essential reproductive health care services for millions of women as part of their radical anti-reproductive freedom agenda. We will not stand idly by as this Administration recklessly threatens access to lifesaving medical care,” Platkin said. “New Jerseyans rely on Planned Parenthood health centers to receive cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, birth control, and wellness exams. This unlawful attempt to block federal Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood would make those services much harder to access for many of our state’s low-income residents.”

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Trump earlier this month, is unpopular in the Garden State, according to one poll. A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll found 27% of likely voters in the state approve of the bill, while 61% disapprove. The wide-ranging bill is expected to knock hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans off of Medicaid or food stamps, though many tax bills will likely go down across the state.

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Election officials disbursed $43,731 in public matching funds to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s gubernatorial campaign on Wednesday, according to a release. 

Candidates could receive a maximum of $5.5 million in the primary under the matching funds program. Baraka has received $4,663,026, or about 85% of the cap. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, former state Senate President Steve Sweeney, and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop have hit the cap.

State Sen. Jon Bramnick has reached about 60% of the cap, while conservative radio personality Bill Spadea sits at about 52% of the cap.

ELEC has now disbursed a total of $38.3 million in public matching funds for the primary.

Under New Jersey’s public financing program, first enacted during the state’s 1977 elections, candidates for governor are eligible to receive $2 for every $1 they raise, as long as they both meet a minimum threshold of $580,000 raised and don’t go over a spending cap of $8.7 million. (More public funds are available for Sherrill and Ciattarelli, who won their respective primaries.)

Candidates have until Nov. 5 to file for additional matching funds. Candidates don’t have any more spending to do in the primary, but there are sometimes campaign debts to pay off. At the end of last month, Baraka’s campaign reported $99,275 in debt; since that filing, he’s received about $88,000 in matching funds.

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