The first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was administered this morning at University Hospital in Newark to frontline healthcare worker and nurse Maritza Beniquez.

Following the resignation of long-time GOP State Committeeman John Capo, Passaic County GOP Chairman Peter Murphy sent a letter to Acting NJGOP Chairwoman Pagliughi announcing his appointment of West Milford’s Matthew Conlon as Capo’s successor, with the consent of the party’s executive committee.

Conlon ran for Passaic County freeholder on the Republican ticket earlier this year.

The state’s electoral college formally awarded its 14 votes to Democrat Joe Biden for President and Democrat Kamala Harris for Vice President this afternoon at the Statehouse in Trenton.

The vote was officially administered by the Electoral College President, and First Lady, Tammy Murphy, who made the announcements following electors’ casting of their votes.

Following the vote awarding, meeting was adjourned at around 3:30pm.

First Lady Tammy Murphy was affirmed as the President of the New Jersey Electoral College, which is currently meeting this afternoon to formally award the state’s electoral votes to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

The nomination was made by Matt Platkin, and approved by unanimous vote.

Essex Dems Chairman Leroy Jones was affirmed as the Secretary of the Electoral College (seconded by Brendan Gill).

Murphy made the following appointments:

Counsel: Raj Parikh

Kelvin Ganges: Sergeant-at-arms

The members of New Jersey’s Electoral College will meet today, Monday, December 14, in Trenton to formally award the state’s 14 electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

The meeting will be held at the New Jersey State House in the Assembly Chamber.

Mico Lucide, Chair of Atlantic County Our Revolution, has announced his campaign for Atlantic County Clerk. His platform focuses on improving election integrity and turnout through voter education and a redesign of the county ballot from what he calls “an incomplete spreadsheet” to a more traditional office-bloc style ballot design.

“Democracy is all about being a part of the conversation,” said Lucide. “For too long, the conversation has been led by people with connections to power, money, and special interests. Everyday people need to be able to lead the conversation in our county. Only when our voters have confidence in our elections can their voices truly be heard. I am not putting the blame anywhere, but we can do better. The voters deserve it.”

Lucide is a Mays Landing resident and IT professional who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Pre-Law from Stockton University. He is active in local politics and has worked on various progressive campaigns as a member of the Democratic Party. In launching his campaign for County Clerk, Lucide also announced that he is stepping down as Chair of Atlantic County Our Revolution, a position he has held since its founding.

County Clerks have statutory authority over ballot design, and the design used in most New Jersey counties unfairly favors candidates based on their ballot position. A study by Julia Sass Rubin of New Jersey Policy Perspective found that a favorable ballot position on the “county line” can offer up to a 50% swing in vote share. This gives local party chairs substantial power to influence election outcomes. In some extreme cases, such as the ballot in Mercer County, candidate placement was doubled-up with two candidates for US House in one column, resulting in overvoting, which disenfranchised voters.

Outside of significant voter turnout in 2020 resulting from statewide mail-in voting, Atlantic County has struggled to surpass 50% turnout, with some recent years dipping as low as 34%. Lucide believes this can be improved by renewing trust in the election system and increasing voter understanding of the election process. This includes leading a concerted effort among election officials to reach new voters and communities with low voter turnout, and to increase accessibility by utilizing modern resources to disseminate information.

Lucide will be running in the Democratic primary. Current incumbent Ed McGettigan has not yet formally announced his intent to run for re-election. The 2021 primary election will be held June 8th, 2021.

Governor Murphy announced that the first COVID-19 vaccines will be administered on Tuesday at University Hospital in Newark:

BREAKING: New Jersey’s FIRST #COVID19 vaccines will be administered Tuesday morning at @UnivHospNewark. I will be there with Commissioner Persichilli, @ShereefElnahal, & @Rutgers_NJMS Dean Johnson.

Our first 76,000 doses will be for:
☑️Health care workers
☑️LTC residents & staff

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 13, 2020

From the Press of AC: ‘A city woman was arrested Friday after confronting and threatening to kill Mayor Marty Small Sr. at City Hall, police said Saturday.’

From the Trentonian: ‘New Jersey Assemblyman Anthony Verrelli of Hopewell Township identifies his occupation as senior representative of the Keystone Mountain Lakes Regional Council of Carpenters, but his profile description is woefully outdated.

Verrelli, a longtime carpenter bigwig, lost his full-time union job earlier this year amid the COVID-19 public health emergency. The powerful Democrat filed a lawsuit earlier this month alleging the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and affiliated unions terminated him for exposing union corruption.’

From the Bergen Record: ‘Police and protesters collided outside the Bergen County Jail on a damp and foggy Saturday evening, as detainees in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody continued a hunger strike in protest of living conditions inside the facility.’

Moments ago, protesters outside Bergen County Jail moved across the street to get closer. Police immediately threw several people down for arrests. #AbolishICE pic.twitter.com/Me7jndC40D

— NYC Protest Updates 2020 (@protest_nyc) December 12, 2020

Outside Bergen County jail just now. At least 1 protestor was pinned to the ground. Cops had zip ties, and were informing protestors they were now on private property. The protestors have been pushed away from the jail. I had to back away because the pepper spray was too strong. pic.twitter.com/LNUDJjWbMh

— Melanie Anzidei (@melanieanzidei) December 12, 2020

In the middle of all the chaos, at least one protestor appears to have been arrested by police. Moments after this, clouds of smoke erupted in the crowd and all you could hear was shouting. Now, things appear to have calmed down at least in front of the jail. pic.twitter.com/2vNlB9rZbX

— Melanie Anzidei (@melanieanzidei) December 12, 2020

“Se ve. Se siente. El pueblo esta presente.” — Just one of the many chants protesters are shouting in the streets of Hackensack tonight. @northjersey pic.twitter.com/A0u4fYWJt4

— Melanie Anzidei (@melanieanzidei) December 12, 2020

Protesters in Hackensack right now are marching down Hudson Street towards the Bergen County courthouse. They have been protesting for weeks in solidarity with ICE detainees in the Bergen County Jail who are on a hunger strike. @northjersey pic.twitter.com/WcmiOiHtmw

— Melanie Anzidei (@melanieanzidei) December 12, 2020

Protestors took a quick break outside the courthouse, before marching down Essex Street back towards the jail. Police in riot gear. Marchers occasionally slow down or stop to let others catch up — including one protestor in crutches. pic.twitter.com/hyqnkrglD0

— Melanie Anzidei (@melanieanzidei) December 12, 2020