NJ Spotlight News
Election: NJ Republicans and Democrats cautious, optimistic
Clip: 10/8/2024 | 4m 55sVideo has Closed Captions
Democrats and Republicans confident in their candidates at state level
Bob Hugin, chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee, is optimistic about the election outcome extending from the federal level to the state level. Even before July, when they switched from President Joe Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate, New Jersey Democrats were confident their state candidates were OK.
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NJ Spotlight News is a local public television program presented by THIRTEEN PBS
NJ Spotlight News
Election: NJ Republicans and Democrats cautious, optimistic
Clip: 10/8/2024 | 4m 55sVideo has Closed Captions
Bob Hugin, chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee, is optimistic about the election outcome extending from the federal level to the state level. Even before July, when they switched from President Joe Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate, New Jersey Democrats were confident their state candidates were OK.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipWell, today marks exactly four weeks out from the November general election.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are making their final push in their high stakes race.
But New Jersey has a few consequential seats on the ballot as well, Congressional seats that are being targeted by both parties as they look to control the balance of power in the House.
And a lone U.S. Senate race to replace Democrat Bob Menendez after he was convicted on federal corruption charges.
It's a sprint to the finish line as candidates try to shore up their base and make sure voters go to the polls.
Senior political correspondent David Cruz has a preview of the key races to watch.
Just four weeks to go now to the latest, the most consequential election of our lifetime.
Strategists are strategizing the candidates are rallying and voters are kind of wringing their hands.
It's always seems like we're going through an election of our lifetime, but particularly in 2024 with the presidential election.
I feel that it really is in my mind and what I hear from working class folks in communities and on the ground where working families is doing a lot of outreach to working class voters, people of color.
Is that, you know, this election really is about two futures.
There's still this notion of whether or not the election will be certified or the election will be acknowledged as a that it actually happened and that we will have a fair transfer of power or certification and all that sort of stuff.
I think that's a political democratic political narrative they're trying to put on people to scare them.
State Republican Chairman Bob Hugin says we are going to survive 2024 just fine.
His optimism extends from the federal level to the state level.
He says the future of New Jersey is Republican candidates Curtis Bashaw, running for Senate, and Congressman Tom Kean Junior, running for Congress in the seventh Congressional District.
Kaine's being challenged by Sue Altman, a Democrat who has gone from this You're wrong to this.
Sue Altman gets it.
Sue grew up in a family of cops.
It goes back generations and imagery fresh that Hugin says will fool no one.
The person, for instance, who was retweeting posts about defund the police is now doing ads with police.
Well, let's be careful.
She did.
She did an ad with two sheriffs that are being, you know, politicizing their roles beyond belief.
And listen Sue Altman's an extremist.
But Tom Kean most recently seen here, doggedly avoiding questions from NJ Spotlight reporter Ben Hulac still won't come out of his public shell.
But it's a strategy that has worked well for him so far.
Then there's Democrat Andy Kim and Republican Curtis Bashaw running for the Senate seat in a race that favors Democrats almost always.
Bashaw who has electoral history and name recognition to battle, had his first face off against Andy Kim this week interrupted analyst Mike Rasmussen was a panelist that night.
This is now what people know about him.
And that is unfortunate.
Voters are certainly capable of sorting it out and saying, you know what?
He debated for 90 minutes after this.
He got all his points across.
He was clearly fine.
But it's still not the thing you want to have people take away from the debate.
And then Andy Kim of course, to the rescue.
Again.
Right, Mr. Human.
Mr. Human Response.
Even before July, when they switched from Biden to Harris, New Jersey Democrats were confident their state candidates were okay.
But when it comes to the top of the ticket, the world does not revolve around Jersey.
In fact, the same seven states that generally swing the election will do that again.
It's going to be a nail biter.
We all know that everything is very close.
Everything is within the margin of error.
But, you know, I'm confident that, you know, at the end of the day and it probably won't be at all on election night, you know, that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will will be the victors.
There's almost exactly one month ago to election Day.
That's a blink of an eye in politics, but still plenty of time for things to happen that can change it all.
I'm David Cruz.
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