Republican Middlesex County Sheriff’s candidate Anthony D. Gallo campaigned with Nutley Commissioner (and 2017 Republican gubernatorial candidate Steven L. Rogers) on a late summer week of whichever crisis you care to name…

WHO’S UP

Jon Bramnick and Nancy Munoz

Facing animated Democratic Party challengers in a Trump-softened LD21, the Republican incumbents this week picked up endorsements from the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA). It doesn’t hurt in a general election season that heavily favors Democrats.

Ryan Peters and Jean Stanfield

Like Bramnick and Munoz, Republicans in the Burlington County-dominant 8th Legislative District (war veteran assemblyman Peters and his running mate, Sheriff Stanfield) landed a critical battleground district endorsement, arguably even more meaningful in a district perceived to be the most or among a handful of the most competitive in the November elections.

Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey

The NJEA spared the fate it reserved for Democratic incumbents from South Jersey Democrats when the organization backed the Monmouth-based Democratic ticket from LD11.

Andrew Zwicker and Roy Freiman

Like Houghtaling and Downey, the battleground district LD16 Democratic incumbents could collect the backing of the labor organization while also relying on the heft of the same South Jersey-centric organization scorned by the NJEA.

Elizabeth Warren

A Monmouth University Poll this week showed the presidential campaign of the Massachusetts Senator trending in the right direction. according to Monmouth, “The poll finds a virtual three-way tie among Sanders (20%), Warren (20%), and Biden (19%) in the presidential nomination preferences of registered Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters across the country. Compared to Monmouth’s June poll, these results represent an increase in support for both Sanders (up from 14%) and Warren (up from 15%), and a significant drop for Biden (down from 32%).”

Emma Vigeland

The hard-nosed Rebel HQ correspondent showed some old school chops on Monday when she covered the street protests of Newark residents enraged by lead contamination of the city’s water supply outside the MTV awards.

Charity Jeffries

The Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo and Assemblyman John Armato in LD2 replaces Frank Mahoney as president of the Young Democrats of Atlantic County. The leadership switch became official at their August meeting.

Joe DiVincenzo

It wasn’t all pretty (see below) but the Essex County Executive stepped up to announce the Essex County Improvement Authority’s bonding of $120 million for the embattled City of Newark to use only for its pipe replacement program.

WHO’S DOWN

Cory Booker

Hit with hard questions in the aftermath of the Newark lead contamination crisis, the junior senator from New Jersey hardly had his feet under him to savor a two digit bump in the polls, according to Monmouth (he’s still in single digits) or appear poised to take advantage of colleague U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-NY) exit from the contest.

Joe Biden

It’s grim. That Monmouth University Poll shows the former vice president trending in the wrong direction (an outlier, yes, but Patrick Murray stands by the poll). Then – even as Booker thrashes amid boss-land headlines back home – Biden got zapped for hs own T-Bone-style war story in a Washington Post piece.

The Baraka Administration

Joe D. sort of came to the rescue, but Newark still faces a huge crisis and – for the first time during his tenure as mayor – the Mayor faces real questions about leadership and the capacity to overcome the city’s ever-destructive transactional tentacles.

Thomas Ganley 

Having pleaded guilty on April 8 to second-degree sexual assault of a 16 or 17 year-old girl, the disgraced Catholic priest received four years in the can.

Mark Caliguire and Christine Madrid

The GOP can make a larger argument about how they don’t want the endorsement of a trough-expansive public organization anyway, and the lack thereof proves independence, which is what the people (not the party bosses) want. Still, in this environment, the NJEA’s willingness to put money on the LD16 Democratic incumbents (allies of South Jersey, even as the organization tries to make a punishing point by withholding support in South Jersey districts) bodes well for Zwicker and his freshman running mate Freiman.

Gina LaPlaca and Mark Natale

It’s arguably the most competitive assembly rave on the map this November, and it will no doubt prove a long and grueling campaign season for all the principals involved, but on this day at least, the Democratic ticket ate the immediate loss of the NJEA’s endorsement of Republicans Peters and Stanfield.

Michael Amoroso and Matthew Woolley 

As with the LD16 candidacies of Caliguire and Madrid (see above), the Republican challengers to incumbent Democrats Houtaling and Downey couldn’t capitalize on NJEA anger to give the same hope to the GOP that exists in LD21 and Ld8.

New Jersey

Let’s not forget this, from 4 News:

The Trump administration has dealt another blow to Hudson River tunnel and bridge projects connecting New York and New Jersey, diverting money Congress had intended to go mostly to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor to a passenger rail terminal in New Orleans and new rail cars in Wisconsin.

The so-called Gateway project was left out last week when the Federal Railroad Administration announced the selection of 10 rail projects in 10 states, totaling more than $272 million in grants from the fiscal 2017 and 2018 appropriations bills. The current century-old bridge and tunnel between New York and New Jersey are major choke points on the Northeast Corridor, the busiest U.S. passenger-rail route.

For more on the debacle, please go here.