In an email blast this morning, the Malinowski campaign expressed confidence that the CD7 Democratic incumbent will win despite a narrowing lead over GOP challenger Senator Kean.  The campaign says that as of Sunday evening, Malinowski leads by 5k votes, a margin of just over 1%.

“The results so far have been roughly in line with our expectations. We knew that many Democrats returned their mail-in ballots early and that many Republicans returned theirs closer towards Election Day. Since ballots are counted generally in the order they have been received this trend has been borne out in the results, with our lead slowly narrowing as more votes are tallied.

As of Sunday evening we lead by nearly 5,000 votes — just over 1% — with several thousand ballots left to count. This race will be close, but based on our data we remain confident that when the results are final, Tom Malinowski will be re-elected.”

Governor Murphy announced he will sign an executive order limiting the indoor capacity ahead of Thanksgiving. As per the Governor on Twitter:

Effective tomorrow: Indoor gatherings are limited to a MAXIMUM of 10 people

Effective Nov 23rd: Outdoor gatherings are limited to a MAXIMUM of 150 people

The following indoor gatherings may continue under the current rules – limited to 25% of a room’s capacity, up to 150 people:

Religious services/celebrations and political events
Weddings
Funerals/memorial services
Performances

The announcement comes as the state registered its largest one-day increase in cases on Sunday, with 4,540 new cases reported since Saturday.  Governor Murphy tweeted ‘these numbers are ALARMING and continue to rise’.

The statewide COVID-19 count stands at 279,274 cases and 14,765 fatalities (and 1,801 probable fatalities) as of Sunday; the viral transmission rate is 1.38.

It’s an increase of over 10,000 new cases in just the past few days, and 4,540 new cases reported since Saturday.  Governor Murphy tweeted ‘these numbers are ALARMING and continue to rise’.

The last record day was April 17th, which saw 4,391 cases reported, according to NJ.com, which notes that ‘it is difficult to directly compare cases from April to now because there were far fewer tests being done in the spring when supplies and testing sites were more limited. It is likely the virus was more rampant in April.’

Democratic Party redistricting picks:

LeRoy Jones – Essex County Democratic Committee Chair

Gary Taffet – Middlesex County power broker

Steve Sweeney – Senate President

Cosmo Cirillo – West New York Commissioner

Diane Testa – Fairview Administrator

No progressives. No representatives from Gov. Phil Murphy’s office.

Priorities:

Protecting Sweeney, who resides in a red zone of the state;

Tweaking state Senator Joe Lagana (D-38);

Tweaking state senator Joe Cryan (D-20).

Hard to make significant incursions.

Questions?

Do they squeeze state Senator Ronald Rice (D-28)? Do they squeeze Senator Nia Gill (D-34)?

“Someone,” a source told InsiderNJ, “will draw the short straw.”

The fact that the governor did not have a pick perturbed allies who wanted Murphy to have a stronger hand.

LD25 GOP Assemblywoman Aura Dunn’s campaign released the following statement today declaring victory in the special election:

With approximately 91% of ballots counted out of 124,000 returned ballots canvassed in New Jersey’s 25th Legislative District, Assemblywoman Aura Dunn (R-Mendham Borough) today declared victory in the Special Assembly Election with a decisive, and growing, 4-point, 4,353 vote lead.

“In a year when a record number of Republican women were elected to Congress from across the country, I’m proud and humbled to be selected by the voters to add another female legislator ready to get things done for us in Trenton,” said Assemblywoman Aura Dunn, who was appointed earlier this year to fill the vacancy left by Anthony Bucco moving up to the Senate. “I’m pleased that voters embraced the bipartisan message Senator Bucco and I ran on, and endorsed my long professional career advocating for children, military families, and vital educational programs like Sesame Street. As someone who was born on Medicaid and raised on food stamps, I know I have a special responsibility in Trenton for the countless number of struggling families across New Jersey who need a voice from someone who has walked in their shoes. I pledge to always be a voice for affordability, and to always have their back.”

“I want to thank the endless stream of volunteers and supporters of our campaign, our staff, as well as my family who have sacrificed so much over the last year. I’m proud of the campaign Tony and I ran, building a grassroots campaign that pulled together so many people who are as much of a part of this victory as I am. Finally, I want to thank Ms. Draeger and wish her the best in the future,” added Dunn.
“With the campaign behind us, I’m ready to get my full focus back to helping families and businesses navigate and survive the pandemic, and continue working across the aisle as I have already done on issues like mental health and preservation of vital services provided by our schools.”

The Morris County Board of Elections released updated vote totals last night and posted on the Clerk’s website this morning, showing a 3,962-vote lead for Assemblywoman Dunn in Morris County, on top of a 391-vote lead in Somerset County. This increased Dunn’s margin of victory district wide to 52-48%. Canvassed ballots that have yet to be counted are projected to be 12-points more Republican, based on publicly available voter registration records. Provisional ballots are estimated at approximately 5,000 in District 25, though not expected to reverse the current results.

While Dunn was appointed to the Assembly in January by the county party committee in District 25, Dunn ran in a special election to fill the remainder of the current legislative term until January 2022. She will be on the ballot again in 2021 for a full, two-year Assembly term beginning in January 2022.

The votes are still being counted and Tom Malinowski’s lead continues to drop; it’s now roughly 4,300 over Republican Thomas H. Kean Jr. in CD-7.

Malinowski’s dwindling lead has been a steady occurrence since he led by almost 30,000 on Election Night.

Democrats are certainly noticing.

Blue Wave, a liberal group, sent out a message last night that bluntly stated, “Tom Malinowski is in trouble.”

The group was looking for volunteers to help “cure” ballots.

This is when campaign workers make sure a voter is able to “fix” a mail-in ballot that has been rejected for a minor discrepancy – like a mismatched signature.

Democrats planned an all-day operation today to do just that.

Republicans, of course, know how to do this too.

History for Morris County Democrats will have to wait – another year at least.  Barring an unforeseen development, a Democrat is not going to be elected to the county freeholder board.

Cary Amaro of Randolph had taken an early lead in her quest to unseat incumbent Republican Tayfun Selen, who was appointed to the board to fill a vacancy last year.

Amaro’s lead actually stood up for about a week as votes were tabulated. But Selen, of Chatham Township, grabbed the lead a few days ago and it has been widending ever since.

This morning, Selen was up by about 8,000 votes -128,724 to 120,774.

This means that Doug Romaine will remain the answer to the political trivia question of, “Who was the only Democratic freeholder in Morris County history?”

Republicans are gleeful they’re going to hold the seat.

Losing is losing, but Dems must take solace from the fact they have at least made county politics in Morris more competitive.

Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz is quarantining following the announcement that her husband has tested positive for COVID-19.  She said yesterday that she had tested negative two weeks ago, but took another test and is awaiting the results. See her statement below:

What’s happening in CD-7?

On election night, incumbent Democrat Tom Malinowski led Republican Tom H. Kean Jr. by about 28,000 votes and was the presumed winner.

Malinowski still has the advantage, given the fact he’s still ahead, but his lead is shrinking seemingly day by day as votes are slowly counted by the six counties that make up the sprawling Seventh District.

Now, it’s down to about 6,200.

Votes remain to be counted in Union and Somerset counties where Malinowski has been getting close to 55 percent of the vote. That could theoretically offset additional counting in Republican leaning counties like Morris and Hunterdon. Then again, Kean picked up some votes this afternoon when the Union vote count was updated.

This was a pretty nasty race, so some late-minute drama may seem appropriate.

Still, this has to be a nervous time for Malinowski and a hopeful one for the Kean camp.

A Kean win here would be comparable to winning a baseball game by scoring five runs in the bottom of the ninth.