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YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
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Mes sa g e fro m t he Ed i t o r
YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
INSIDERNJ YEAR IN ADVANCE INTRODUCTION
P.O. Box 66
Verona, NJ 07044
insidernj@gmail.com
www.InsiderNJ.com
Heading into 2020, the thought was simultaneously serving as the co-chair of
President Donald J. Trump – whatever Trump’s 2020 New Jersey reelection
Max Pizarro
his national eventualities – would simply campaign. Still (see below) the defection
Editor-in-Chief
Max@InsiderNJ.com
drag Democratic incumbents back into uncorked a whole series of unresolved
office in New Jersey while perhaps even dramas.
giving them a shot at the ever-elusive 4th
Congressional District. While CD2 offers its own special prodi-
gious intensity, at least two other con-
But New Jersey decided to hatch a little gressional districts should prove very
surrealistic surprise, in the form of U.S. competitive in 2020: CD3, where in-
Rep. Jeff Van Drew’s defection (R-2) cumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Andy
from the Democratic Party, just in time Kim (D-3) seeks reelection, and CD7,
Pete Oneglia for a presidential election year. The stated home to U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-
General Manager reason? Van Drew couldn’t support the
7). Both districts were home to Republi-
Pete@InsiderNJ.com Democrats’ impeachment of the Repub-
can incumbents in 2018 and now the
lican President, who had solicited foreign
interference in the 2020 election. Democrats must defend their respective
Michael Graham battlegrounds. Most insiders see U.S.
CEO Even with the uniform change, Van Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-5) as too-es-
Drew, it should be noted, is the favorite tablished to defeat in a district he ripped
John F.X. Graham
in a district Trump carried by single digits from a movement conservative Republi-
Publisher
in 2016. The congressman’s Democratic can in 2016. For her part, CD11 incum-
Ryan Graham allies – running as “The Van Drew bent U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11) –
Associate Publisher Team” – lost in LD1 last year, failing to
withstand a challenge led by a candidate Continued on Page 5
3
4
YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
Message from the Editor Continued
herself the conqueror of a longtime in- avidly about sexual harassment while lethal fashion as they attempt to un-
tergenerational Republican in 2018 – their Murphy rivals will agree with dercut the governor. Several late and
carries too considerable a brand to them while attempting to make the critical 2019 wins by Murphy (in-
beat. It seemed unimaginable that overriding story about corruption and cluding the chairmanship) gave him a
Larry Casha, the man who lost to those infamous tax incentives under boost, but his test in 2020 will be
Sherrill conquest Jay Webber way back investigation by the state AG’s Office consistency, and heading off those
in 2007, that someone could summon and the Philadelphia-based U.S. At- deadening efforts by the South; big
the wiles to improve on the efforts of torney. The Sweeney-Norcross wing challenges for the nationally-focused
his own conqueror. And it already will, of course, agree that something chairman of the Democratic Gover-
proved so, as D.C. lobbyist Rosemary needs to be done in a general sense nors’ Association (DGA) in a presi-
Becchi pushed Casha aside this month about political corruption, not neces- dential election year.
to become the Republican option sarily targeted tax incentives, and –
against Sherrill with Casha’s support. capital s and capital h – sexual harass- Max Pizarro
ment. A bad year by South Jersey in Max Pizarro
While all of that is going on, we will, 2019, including a fumbling away and
Editor, InsiderNJ
of course, be watching the Statehouse, sideline observation relegation of the
where Democrats in the Sweeney- party chair’s contest, will only make
Norcross wing of the party will talk them recalibrate in more politically
Government Affairs Counsel
15 W. Front Street, Trenton, NJ 08608
(609) 394-0888 www.1868PublicAffairs.com
LeRoy Jones, Jr. / Idida Rodriguez / Rich Ambrosino / Patrick Torpey
5
6
YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
MURPHY’S EXIT OPTION MAY RESULT
IN RE-ENTRENCHMENT
There’s a school of thought, particu- Another Goldman Sachs fellow Certainly, the establishment contin-
larly given the fact that his former turned governor, Jon Corzine, faced ues to try to drum Murphy out of
state director now serves as Governor the awful prospect of having to pick a town, and he could hang around out
Phil Murphy’s chief of staff, that Cory horse in the 2008 presidential race, of spite. But the smart political career
Booker’s run for president merely and it ended up destroying his politi- money, Gary Cooper tin star in the
plugged New Jersey until the rest of cal career. He picked Hillary Clinton dirt move for Murphy is picking the
the country decided the 2020 prez over Barack Obama, thereby putting right candidate for president and then
contest. himself in the back of the pack when riding the Hanoi helicopter out of
eventual winner Obama assembled a New Jersey before it drags him asun-
If Booker were to end his campaign cabinet. Sick of the wretched river der. The trouble is the field is so
prematurely, he’d put Murphy in the town otherwise known as Trenton, chopped up with no clear and defined
pickle of having to choose a candi- New Jersey, Corzine had wanted frontrunner that many insiders see
date, a task complicated by the fact Treasury, and – twist on an old Neil only a brokered Milwaukee conven-
that in the most bifurcated of times, Kinnock phrase coming up – a plat- tion as the ultimate outcome. While
Murphy has labored to make himself form on which to stand to bash his such an eventuality could perhaps
a darling of the progressive movement former tormentors at Goldman. De- plays havoc with his chances, Murphy
in New Jersey, even if he personally nied, he found himself prodded into also could use his strong position
leans toward a middle class on a good a reelection rundown with Chris within the party (he is, after all, head
day kind of guy like Joe Biden. Christie, which he lost.
Continued on Page 8
7
YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
MURPHY’S EXIT OPTION MAY RESULT
IN RE-ENTRENCHMENT – Continued
of the Democratic Governors’ Associ- phy (unlike Corzine in 2009) would
ation) and finally prove his prowess as most certainly be the 2021 favorite.
a dealmaker, which is how he ad- Even if he didn’t want to be here at
vanced up the ladder at Goldman in that point, he could shake the one
the first place. and done tag that drags on the legacy
of his former Goldman alum, even if
It is said that Murphy – a former Am- they both couldn’t get to the bigger
bassador to Germany – would favor dance. Then again, in the minds of
Secretary of State and settle for noth- Murphy’s minders, reelection could
ing less than Ambassador to China. position the governor – provided he
Of course, Republican President avoids a Christie-like Bridgegate melt-
Donald J. Trump – complete with his down – for a 2024 prez run.
own little Wildwood, NJ-friendly
narrative, could win reelection, With Booker out of the contest now,
thereby propelling Murphy, a la Co- the calculation appears to be for Mur-
zine, into his own reelection posture. phy to go toward safe bet Biden.
The good news (or bad) is that Mur-
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YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
THE BOOKER SENATE TO PREZ PIVOT
Cory Booker certainly knows how to pivot.
For months, the Booker camp has Now it was time for that classic polit- work “to make justice and opportu-
been sending out emails to supporters ical act – a pivot. nity real for everyone must continue.”
insisting – contrary to reason and
fact – that his presidential campaign Years ago, I briefly had a state govern- And it added, “That’s why I’m run-
was alive and well. ment public relations job that really ning for reelection to the U.S. Sena-
wasn’t for me, but I do remember sen- tor.”
Just send Booker a few more dollars ior officials saying things like, “We’re
and everything would be fine and going to pivot.” Two days later, the Booker campaign
dandy; that was the message. It distributed another message making
seemed not to matter that the senator Up until then, I thought pivoting was sure everyone heard the “exciting
was now failing to qualify for debates. a basketball term, as in, move your news” that Booker is running for re-
Ignoring that, the campaign kept on pivot foot and you'll be called for election as a senator. And it asked re-
saying that Booker had tons of real traveling. cipients to become one of the
people support in Iowa. “founding donors” of Booker’s Senate
But in the political world, pivoting campaign.
And then – it was over. seems to mean you stop what you had
been doing and – presto – just start One supposes it’s good to put a failed
Booker pulled out of the race on Jan- doing something else. presidential campaign in your rear-
uary 13th, less than a month before view mirror as quickly as possible, but
the Iowa caucuses, where he had po- On January 13th, the Booker camp
sitioned himself to compete. was back with a message that said his Continued on Page 11
9
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10YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
THE BOOKER SENATE TO PREZ PIVOT
Continued
it still takes some gumption to simply
move on to another campaign with-
out breaking a sweat.
A few observations are in order.
One is that Booker technically was
running for the Senate at the same
time he was seeking the presidency.
Keep in mind that the state Legisla-
ture passed a bill allowing him to run
for both offices at the same time. That
was a bit crazy, but it is the essence of
politics.
A second observation is that Booker
now has to focus on New Jersey after
spending just about a year – he
launched his presidential campaign
Feb. 1 of last year – concentrating on
getting to the White House.
And if one surfaces, Booker may have electorate has moved on from him
The cynicism of Booker’s pivot, to redefine his message, or in other and his failed policies.
notwithstanding, his path to reelec- words, pivot again.
tion doesn’t seem all that complicated. “Cory Booker has failed New Jersey
Whatever occurs, Mehta in particular residents on every level,” added
Democrats far outnumber Republi- offered the returning New Jersey jun-
cans in New Jersey and Booker's Mehta. “From the poverty rates and
ior senator an appropriate New Jersey unresolved lead water crisis in
name recognition is pretty good. welcome home, when he said the in- Newark, to public health and educa-
And here’s a quiz for you – name the cumbent Democrat should seriously tion which continue to suffer under
Republicans seeking the GOP’s Sen- reconsider returning to the Garden him, the American public under-
ate nomination. State to run for “another failed Senate stands that Booker’s failed policies in
term.” Newark will also fail the rest of the
As of now, they are Stuart Meissner, country.”
Tricia Flanagan, Hirsh Singh and Rik “Cory Booker has been completely
Mehta. tone-deaf in terms of what issues are Even if miniaturized and in this case
important to the nation,” said Mehta. the outcome not in doubt, for
If there truly is a serious challenger to “If he runs back to New Jersey after Booker, the fun would not abate.
Booker in that group, it remains to be being absent for so many months, I’m
seen. sure he will find that the New Jersey
1112
YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
THE RACE IS ON FOR SENATE
IN THE GOP
As usual in New Jersey, there’s an ex-
citing – and irrelevant – Republican
Primary for U.S. Senate. As much as
it helps the national GOP (and the
individual egos of those running) to
believe New Jersey will rise in rebel-
lion of Cory Booker’s presidential
run by throwing him out of his sen-
ate seat, it won’t happen.
A big pharma guy with unlimited
money who was a pretty good can-
didate (Bob Hugin) in 2018 lost by
double digits to an incumbent
Democratic Senator (Bob Menen-
dez) who had been under indict-
ment.
GOP Senate candidate Tricia Flanagan and Grover Norquist
Booker is not losing in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by over a million registered voters to:
• Tricia Flanagan
• Rik Mehta – Pharmacist, Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law School, Attorney
• Stuart Meissner – Former Pprosecutor and Independent Candidate for U.S. Senate in 2013
• Natalie Lynn Rivera – Independent Candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018
• Hirsh Singh – Engineer
• Gary Rich – Former Monmouth County freeholder
Still, the crowded, self-convinced field will no doubt make for an exciting (if ultimately doomed to a general
election turf ) contest.
1314
YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
A ‘COMMON HOODLUM’S’ COMING OF AGE:
THE U.S. SENATE CANDIDACY OF LARRY HAMM
The tug of war for the soul of Both born in Washington, D.C., and then, in the early 1980’s,
Lawrence “Larry” Hamm between they came to New Jersey as babies, founded the social and economic
government and activism, pragma- 16 years apart, Booker the son of justice-agitating grassroots outfit,
tism and radicalism played out in his IBM executives to Harrington Park; the People’s Organization for
hometown of Newark, the cultural and Hamm the son of a truck driv- Progress (POP).
and political connecting point, ing father and seamstress mother to
where for years activism alone ap- the Central Ward of Newark. They ORIGINS
peared to have the decided upper- both attended Ivy League colleges,
hand; that is until now, as he Booker Yale and Hamm Princeton, For Hamm it started back in the
undertakes a street-level statewide and both saw Newark as the proving spring of 1967 when he threw rocks
run for elected office, 45 years after ground. But while Booker spent a at his elementary school as repay-
his power-defying bid for an at-large brief time as a tent-pitching protester ment for the school ejecting his
city council seat. before winning his first city council friend.
seat in 1998 and thereafter leaping
His direct challenge of U.S. Senator upward from one elected office to The school’s principal responded by
Cory Booker carries multiple layers the next (councilman, mayor, sena- ejecting him.
of dramatic resonance, overlapping tor, and, he had hoped, president);
storylines and even inevitability. Hamm lost his 1974 citywide shot
Continued on Pag 17
15New Jersey cannot afford to go backwards.
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16YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
A ‘COMMON HOODLUM’S’ COMING OF AGE:
THE U.S. SENATE CANDIDACY OF LARRY HAMM
His mother had cried when Hamm’s the front of a dry goods warehouse. been so young at the time all he re-
father died when the boy was four ally remembered about the incident
years old. He looked up at his grandfather, was the commotion caused by his
Claude Cobb, a boiler man and hellraising Aunt Gladys as she resis-
But with little Larry seemingly WWI veteran, and wanted to know ted but finally relented and went to
headed for oblivion on the streets of why everybody was so upset. the back of the segregated train.
Newark, his mother broke apart in Now his grandfather was trying to il-
the principal’s office and begged for Why were blacks overrunning the lustrate how race affected people on
her son to be readmitted. streets? a personal level.
“Your son,” the principal told her, “is “He was talking about his life,”
a common hoodlum.” Hamm said. “He hated the south.
He was from the south. He told my
Still, they let him back in. mother he did not want to be buried
down south.”
A mother’s tears hit harder than
rocks. Was his grandfather expressing affir-
mation of the necessity of black re-
Between his elementary and high sistance?
school careers, in the summer of
1967, long-boiling tensions in “I don’t know,” Hamm said. “The
Newark spilled with the July 12th discussion was not that deep. My
police arrest and beating of cab grandfather was not that militant.
driver John Smith at the 17th Av- He was a hardworking man, who
enue Precinct and subsequent rebel- “My grandfather didn’t start the dis- worked his whole life, got sick and
lion by blacks against the city’s white cussion with Newark,” said Hamm. didn’t go to work for two weeks and
establishment. “He started the discussion with his then he died. He’s buried in Glen-
service in the military when he was dale Cemetery in Belleville in the
“It happened about a mile away in the army and they went to France, veteran’s section five rows from my
from my house as the crow flies,” and the French people were asking father, who was a WWII veteran.”
said Hamm. “All the ingredients to see their tails. I was like, ‘tails??!!’
were there for an explosion. Some- That was the first real discussion I But on that night and in the after-
one told me Springfield Avenue was ever heard about race – the night of math of the initial eruption, Newark
on fire.” the rebellion.” was the warzone.
He stood on the front porch of the Hamm had gone down south before The regional news networks carried
building where he lived and looked the riot and was with his mother and coverage of the “riots”.
across the street at the violent spec- aunt on the train out of D.C. when
tacle of people in the sweltering the conductor made them move to
summer heat tearing garage doors off the back of the train. But he had Continued on Page 19
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18YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
A ‘COMMON HOODLUM’S’ COMING OF AGE: THE U.S.
SENATE CANDIDACY OF LARRY HAMM – Continued
mother sobbing in the principal’s of-
fice back in junior high.
At student orientation, he felt fo-
cused.
He was committed to full redemp-
tion, to being a good student and
making the most of an opportunity.
Then the student council president
– who was at that time called the stu-
dent mayor of the school – an llya
Kuryakin-lookalike who wore a
blond Beatles-style haircut, climbed
onstage. He was expected to talk
about student government, the up-
coming Halloween party, and
UNICEF collections.
“I saw contingents of national guard crowd amid TV cameras. It was leg- He proceeded to rail against the War
marching and rolling in, halftracks endary Olympic track star Jesse in Vietnam.
jeeps and trucks just like in the Owens, who signed one of his books
WWII movies, on 16th Avenue and for Hamm. “I was sitting there, and I had this
12th Street. Martial law was de- real conscious thing in my mind that
clared. We were under military oc- “I was 13 years old when I met this I had a second chance,” Hamm said.
cupation. Twenty-six people were great man, but the real depth of what “I had messed up. This is a personal
killed. Then the guard pulled out he had done – fighting the racism of thing, not a racial thing. But this kid,
two weeks after and what was re- the Nazis – had not sunk in to me,” whose name was David, he doesn’t
markable was the way things re- he said. talk about things asked for. He starts
turned so quickly to normal. I talking about Vietnam. So the prin-
thought school would be delayed, He touched the hand of greatness cipal gets up and tells David to stop
but they started in September, right somewhere within the embers of the talking about Vietnam. The princi-
on time.” rebellion. pal comes over and tries to physically
drag David from the podium. David
Before he went to Arts High School, THE MAN FROM UNCLE and the principal get into a fight on-
his 8th grade teacher took him to the stage in front of the whole audito-
top floor of Bambergers downtown Larry Hamm went to Arts High rium.”
where a man was signing books in a School still thinking about his
Continued on Page 21
19Wishing all a wonderful
2020 and beyond...
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20YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
A ‘COMMON HOODLUM’S’ COMING OF AGE: THE U.S.
SENATE CANDIDACY OF LARRY HAMM – Continued
Suddenly Hamm was thinking
something very different from what
he thought when he walked into that
room as a burgeoning academic.
“I thought, ‘I want to be in student
government,'” he said. “I already
knew the consequences of opposing
authority, having just been sus-
pended. But he was onstage fighting
the principal. I couldn’t find Viet-
nam on a map. But I knew this was
important. I knew I wanted to join
the student council, because if he
could put himself on the line like
that, there was something serious
going on.”
Hamm became deputy mayor, and
by the time he was a senior, he was
mayor of Arts High School.
future Newark Mayor Ras Baraka), High School’s government reps
“At that point, I was on the road to on the future site of St. Benedict’s. down to the Latin classroom where
political consciousness,” he said. a man talked to them about the po-
On his way to school each day, Larry litical situation.
While he was determinedly cam- Hamm walked past that headquar-
paigning at school, someone else was ters. “I never heard anyone talk that way,”
campaigning citywide against in- Hamm said.
cumbent Hugh Addonizio, and in Two men stood out front in green
1970, Newarkers elected Ken Gib- dashiki uniforms with black pants It was Baraka.
son their first African-American and afros.
mayor. A year later in March of 1971,
John Coltrane music flooded the Hamm – now a track and field star
“I didn’t work in the Gibson cam- area. in the mile – was organizing a stu-
paign,” said Hamm. “I was not con- dent walkout in the midst of a sec-
scious of what was happening in city “I didn’t go in, but I knew it was a ond teacher’s strike. The students
politics. I was tending to school pol- black thing,” Hamm said. “I saw learned that if they missed 35 con-
itics. It was happening around me.” them as something unusual.” secutive days of school they wouldn’t
graduate and go to college as
It was happening a block away, in One day during the 1970’s teacher’s planned. Hamm was heading – he
fact, where stood the headquarters of strike, and just prior to the Gibson hoped – to Princeton. He didn’t
poet-activist Amiri Baraka (father of election, the principal brought Arts Continued on Page 23
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22YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
A ‘COMMON HOODLUM’S’ COMING OF AGE: THE U.S.
SENATE CANDIDACY OF LARRY HAMM – Continued
He had been not even a year in of-
fice.
Three months later, as their young
star prepared to go to Princeton Uni-
versity, the Hamm residence received
a knock on the door.
It was an aide to Mayor Ken Gibson.
He had a question for Hamm.
“The mayor wants to know if you
would be a member of the Newark
Board of Education.”
There was a vacancy.
“I just got accepted to Princeton
University,” he told the aide.
“You want to go to school? You’ll be
want to be delayed. The principal way Hotel. Two-hundred students
found out about his planned protest got inside and went up to the sixth able to go to school and go to Prince-
and called him into her office. or seventh floor and sat down, deter- ton at the same time.”
mined not to move.
If he went ahead with the walk out, Hamm was focused.
he would be suspended, he wouldn’t Then Mayor Ken Gibson appeared.
graduate and he wouldn’t go to col- “I had gone into the lion’s den, sur-
lege. vived the teacher’s strike that threat-
“He came and told us he understood
ened our graduation, I had applied
why we were doing what we were
But he and the students were ready to Princeton, Harvard, and Yale and
doing, and told us if we worked with
to go. been accepted at all three.”
him he would end the strike,”
“I didn’t want to be called an Uncle Hamm said. “We weren’t on the
Still, he couldn’t resist.
Tom,” Hamm said. board side or teacher’s side. We were
kids who wanted to graduate. And
He would go to Princeton.
He went through with the walk out. yes, that lesson was eminently clear.
Ninety-percent of the student body I tell kids all the time: they have
But he couldn’t completely leave
joined him in the street, where they power. The mayor came to us. That
Newark.
marched to what at that time was the was the first time I saw Ken Gib-
Double Tree Hilton, now the Gate- son.”
Continued on Page 25
2324
YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
A ‘COMMON HOODLUM’S’ COMING OF AGE: THE U.S.
SENATE CANDIDACY OF LARRY HAMM – Continued
On July 1, the 17-year old assumed It would take a long time for Gibson on an anti-Gibson slate with Ralph
the oath of office as the youngest full to make Lieutenant Edward Kerr the Grant, Julia Grant, Jim Nance, and
voting member of a board of educa- city’s first black police director. Dennis Westbrooks.
tion.
Gibson – through intermediaries, He lost.
“I wasn’t even old enough to vote,” and never in person – was pulling
he said. Hamm on one side. But he went back to Princeton in
1974, this time with a factory
In four years he went from someone Baraka – personally, face to face – worker first wife and his first daugh-
who barely graduated, to a Princeton was pulling on the other. ter behind him, and graduated cum
University-bound member of the laude with a degree in politics.
Newark Board of Education. Then there was Latin class at Prince-
ton, which might has well have been Was it all an academic grind?
THE LOCAL COLLISION the actual experience of the Punic
BETWEEN GIBSON AND Wars. Hell, no.
BARAKA
“I was unprepared,” Hamm said of “On campus, we formed the People’s
Amiri Baraka was not happy with his studies. Front for the Libertion of Southern
Gibson, however. Africa, and got Princeton to divest
The Brick City revolution now ex- from companies that did business
The internationally recognized beat- tended to include Gibson as a major with South Africa,” Hamm said.
nik black power poet and self-pro- local disappointment – and a politi-
fessed communist lost faith in cal target. Then he went back to Newark.
Gibson almost immediately.
Baraka and his allies summoned THE ROAD TO A 2020 U.S.
On the heels of the 1967 troubles, their best people to oppose him as SENATE RUN
coming out of the 1969 Black and they approached the 1974 election.
Puerto Rican convention, Baraka Forty years of radical, unshakeable
and his followers put the pre-condi- Newark was too intense. activism followed.
tion on Gibson that if he became
mayor he needed to appoint a black Too urgent. Jesse Jackson for president.
police director.
Hamm dropped out of Princeton. Reparations for the sons and daugh-
Gibson didn’t. ters of enslaved Americans.
With Baraka’s backing and blessing
He installed, in fact, an Irish Ameri- and with his own African name Ad- Anti-police brutality campaigns.
can. humu Chunga (Swahili for “impor-
tant youth”) given to him by the Social and economic justice actions.
Baraka was livid. poet, Hamm ran for an at-large seat
Continued on Page 27
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5ൾൺඅ(ඌඍൺඍൾ/ൺඇൽ8ඌൾ5ൾൽൾඏൾඅඈඉආൾඇඍ
3+,//,36%85* %(7+/(+(0 &+(55YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
A ‘COMMON HOODLUM’S’ COMING OF AGE: THE U.S.
SENATE CANDIDACY OF LARRY HAMM – Continued
Hamm in a national presidential
campaign.
When Sanders reemerged as a 2020
contender, Hamm signed on without
reservation as chair of the Vermont
Senator’s New Jersey presidential
campaign.
“I will campaign in every city in New
Jersey,” said Hamm, ally of former
Working Families Director Analilia
Mejia of Elizabeth, who is now polit-
ical director for Sanders’s national
campaign.
“Beating Donald Trump is the floor;
Recreational marijuana legalization. “He was trying to out-warrior the
it is not the ceiling,” Booker said in
warrior,” he said, standing at the side
Adel Iowa on Sunday on the presiden-
Expungement. of fellow progressive state Senator
tial campaign trail ahead of the Feb.
Nia Gill (D-34), decrying Kerry’s fa-
3rd caucuses. “It gets us out of the val-
Abolish the electoral college. tally compromised aye vote for the
ley; it doesn’t get us to the mountain-
use of force in Iraq.
top. I am running for president
A near-fatal car accident.
because I want to get to the moun-
taintop!”
A second marriage.
Back in New Jersey, in Essex County,
Two more daughters.
it’s not about Booker, Hamm, the
Democratic candidate insists, when
A progressive independent bid for
asked about his likely incumbent op-
the assembly in the 28th District
ponent in the Democratic Primary,
against Senator Ronald L. Rice’s
his fellow Ivy Leaguer and Newark
(D-28) slate in 1987.
doppelganger who went the way of
elected office when the founder of
Ongoing anti-war efforts.
POP stayed street only to double
back now on the prospect of a colli-
Hamm stood on the steps of city hall
sion in his sixties.
the day after George W. Bush beat In 2016, Bernie Sanders with his so-
John Kerry and told people not to cialist message of universal health-
cry. care engaged an always impassioned Continued on Page 29
2728
YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
A ‘COMMON HOODLUM’S’ COMING OF AGE: THE U.S.
SENATE CANDIDACY OF LARRY HAMM – Continued
It’s bigger, Hamm argued.
Sanders is the national-sized expres-
sion of the people power agenda
Hamm awakened to in the 1960s
and dedicated his life to: the fair
housing for blacks activist arrested,
resurfacing in office with the same
uncompromising aims as himself.
The old arcs of history and influence
return and convergence.
“Taking Trump out is not enough,”
Hamm said. “Normal is what helped
get Trump into office. This is the had an agenda that was too radical,” thanks to my daughter Imani for
double V sign we have to have here, Hamm said. going to the track with me and tak-
just like the NAACP employed: vic- ing this picture yesterday. For my
tory against fascism abroad and vic- It was Tuesday, the morning of birthday she gave me a new pair of
tory against domestic fascism. Christmas Eve day, and, incidentally, running shoes. And to celebrate my
Candidates that were ‘normal’ Hamm’s birthday. birthday we went to the movies last
brought us to Trump.” night. It was fun and we both en-
After he finished his interview, the joyed the film. It was a good birth-
That said, “I am a Bernie Sanders old high school track and field man day. I am glad to be alive. At this
supporter working to make sure he who once met Jesse Owens in crisis- time in my life, I face many difficul-
is the nominee, but if he doesn’t get torn Newark, went jogging at Brook- ties and personal challenges, but I
it, I will support whoever the nomi- dale Park in Bloomfield, as he does have much to be thankful and grate-
nee is, because we must beat Donald annually at this time. ful for. I have been in the struggle for
Trump, who is the titular head of racial, social, and economic justice
nascent fascism in this country.” Hamm wrote on Facebook on this for the last 46 years of my life, since
occasion two years ago a sentiment I was a teenager. It is because the
But aren’t he and Sanders two inflex- he said he stood by this week: “I support and encouragement of so
ible radicals from another time, he is jogged 4 miles, 16 laps around the many of you that I have been able to
asked, two surviving emblems of an quarter mile track there. Last year I stay in this race, to last this long, and
age incapable of compromise? “They did three miles. Next year, weather to come this far. This is the last lap
said FDR [Franklin Delano Roo- and body permitting, I hope to jog and I am going to keep fighting until
sevelt] – who put people to work – 5 miles on my 64th birthday. My I cross the finish line.”
2930
YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
KEAN, JR.’S QUEST TO ABIDE WHERE LANCE
AND FRELINGHUYSEN COULD NOT
It seems inevitable that it would variation on a theme of perpetually aboard the Trump bandwagon.”
come to this for that last politically smiling noblesse oblige in the face of
surviving third of an aristocratic tri- an anger management-oblivious re- The “Trump bandwagon.” It
umvirate reduced now to a single- ality TV show star turned president amounted to a fairly cavalier dismissal
standing totem otherwise known as than his fellow purveyors of political of a name Republicans wanted to be-
Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, family dignity. lieve could project beyond the meaner
Jr., in the era of President Donald J. dimensions of what Trump had come
Trump. In his own endearing way, “I’m very disappointed in Tom to constitute for most Central Jersey
Trump already contributed to un- Kean,” Westfield Mayor Shelley voters. It was the last name of its kind
horsing those other remnants of the Brindle last fall said of the Republi- on the landscape; among the last op-
N.J. Republican Party round table. can state senator from her home- tions, in fact, from among that dwin-
town running to secure the dling fraternity of intergenerational
Scion of a still-surviving former gov- Republican nomination to run gentility that included former Gover-
ernor respected for his urbanity and against Malinowski in 2020. nor Christie Todd Whitman and the
never-let-’em-see-ya’-sweat state- eminently 2021 vulnerable state Sen-
house agility, Kean the younger ap- “We’ve worked well together,” said ator Kip Bateman (R-16).
parently has in mind a different the Democrat, “but he has jumped
Continued on Page 33
31
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32YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
KEAN, JR.’S QUEST TO ABIDE WHERE LANCE
AND FRELINGHUYSEN COULD NOT – Continued
They all had the examples right in
front of them.
Sons of fathers who respectively were
themselves a former congressman
and state senator, former U.S. Rep.
Rodney Frelinghuysen and former
U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance in the fate-
ful lead-up to 2018 grappled sepa-
rately with the jarring presence of the
country’s chief executive, who epito-
mized the opposite of everything
they prized in public: restraint, good
manners, good breeding, reluctance
to indulge in obnoxious endzone
dances, self-aggrandizement, and nent in a district owned by Republi- can Party’s replacement plan for
Twitter tantrums. cans going back to 1984. Obamacare out of committee, then
opposed the legislation on the House
“I think he ought to leave his tweets Facing his own 2018 reelection floor along with just 19 other mem-
at home,” a beleagured-looking Frel- prospects as Frelinghuysen folded, bers of his own party. Still, the con-
inghuysen told reporters in March of Lance, for his part, adopted a differ- gressman’s opposition to Planned
2017, in reference to the president. ent approach, digging in his heels Parenthood funding clung to him at
A year later, amid reports of the and publicly opposing Trump on precisely the wrong time, as the pres-
Trump Administration opposing the critical occasions in an attempt to ident’s perceived misogyny moti-
New Jersey Gateway Tunnel project present an independent-at-all-costs vated women voters to go to the
(for which the congressman had se- brand name in a 7th District adja- polls.
cured funding), ostensibly to stick it cent to Frelinghuysens where the
to the Northeast where support for same flames of rebellion roiled. Prodded by NJTV correspondent
the president was weak, Frelinghuy- Brianna Vannozzi in his debate with
sen pulled the plug on a run for a Unlike Frelinghuysen, who opted Democratic challenger Tom Mali-
13th term in federal office, gradually out of town halls rather than endure nowski, the uncomfortable congress-
disappearing from public view as the scourge of progressive scorn, man gave Trump a “B” grade.
howls ensued from fellow party Lance stuck his face in the fire, let- Malinowski drilled into the incum-
members about dereliction of duty ting people trample on him and bent. “We have a problem,” said the
and political cowardice in the face of Trump as cohabitants of the same Democrat. “We are not going to
a suburban-stampeding enemy. party at Raritan Valley Community solve that problem by saying, ‘oh, I
Leading an anti-Trump movement, College. While Frelinghuysen ulti- wish he wouldn’t tweet so much.’” It
Democrat Mikie Sherrill, a retired mately voted to repeal Obamacare,
Navy helicopter pilot, would land- Lance delicately tried to thread a
slide her stand-in Republican oppo- needle when he voted the Republi- Continued on Page 35
33
034
YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
KEAN, JR.’S QUEST TO ABIDE WHERE LANCE
AND FRELINGHUYSEN COULD NOT – Continued
was a running Malinowski theme.
Lance wasn’t sufficiently muscular to
oppose a menacing chief executive,
even if Trump’s White House
seethed over the Central Jersey Re-
publican’s gyrations, going so far as
to entertain talks with possible pri-
mary challengers if Lance didn’t sim-
ply consistently back their agenda.
Then Malinowski himself exposed
the congressman’s inconsistency
when he noted that Lance had voted
to gut the Affordable Care Act 60
times before tacking to a moderate Now comes Kean ($1 million in the their tax returns. “Kip Bateman
position as the prospect of a tough campaign bank as of late last year, needs to look at recent elections,”
reelection battle loomed. compared to his incumbent oppo- Save Jersey blogger Matt Rooney
nent’s $1.5 million), the most evi- told 101.5 FM’s Bill Spadea. “Ask
dent upholder of his father’s Leonard Lance. Ask Bob Hugin.
cross-the-aisle-friendly politics, Running away from Donald Trump
whose run for office, presumably on and leading with an apology is not
a ticket with an impeachment-sad- going to win back these people in
dled, reelection-seeking Trump, sig- New Jersey or anywhere else who are
nifies the denouement of the last voting against the Republican Party.
circle of New Jersey’s intergenera- You need to begin to explain to peo-
tional office-holding Republican ple what we stand for, create a real
families. His decision to run toward contrast with the status quo — these
Trump by running with Trump sig- nuts that we’ve got leading us like
nifies not only a departure from Frel- Cory Booker and Phil Murphy —
inghuysen and Lance, but from and then at that point people will
Whitman and Bateman, who have begin to take you seriously. [Bate-
repeatedly made their disgust mani- man]’s not going to get any good will
fest. that way.”
Lance went down fighting to Mali-
nowski, 47-52%, an ignominious, Whitman penned a viral op-ed call- When Kean kicked off, he obviously
serpentine-like end to the moderate, ing Trump unfit for office. Bateman attempted to emphasize his own
originally-strong-on-the-environment joined state lawmaking Democrats family’s history.
Republican who occupied the same in support of a bill specifically de-
senate minority leader seat that Kean signed to keep Trump off the 2020 InsiderNJ columnist Fred Snowflack
did before the younger man’s advance ballot in New Jersey by requiring was in the room that night in Clark.
up the party seniority ladder. presidential candidates to release
Continued on Page 37
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36YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
KEAN, JR.’S QUEST TO ABIDE WHERE LANCE
AND FRELINGHUYSEN COULD NOT – Continued
“I’m a Tom Kean Republican,” he
said… to an overflow crowd jammed
into the local American Legion hall.
Kean Jr., was announcing his candi-
dacy for the 7th District congres-
sional seat now held by Democrat
Tom Malinowski.
The reference was to his father, Tom
Kean Sr., who served two terms as
governor in the 1980’s.
The term, “Tom Kean Republican,”
is not merely the type of throwaway
line one often hears at political gath-
erings.
Over the years in New Jersey poli- ber of last year to help the candidate Kean, Jr. and Christie were never
tics, it has come to mean two things on the fundraising front, Perfect To- overly friendly, the seeds of their po-
– a moderate Republican as opposed gether PAC features the advisory litical acrimony exposed most dra-
to an uncompromising right winger presence of Bill Stepien, Trump’s po- matically during the governor’s 2013
and an official who sees the opposi- litical director, formerly political reelection campaign, when, hoping
tion as just that, not an enemy to be minder for Governor Chris Christie. to coattail pre-Bridgegate Christie
vanquished at all costs. A short time later, Snowflack wrote fever, the senate minority leader per-
about Christie’s political ally Bill sonally selected and championed Re-
But to Brindle’s point, especially Palatucci, urging people in an email publican senate candidates in South
given the wreckage around him of to forget about raising money for Jersey districts. Christie didn’t cam-
other genteel family legacies turned CD-7 Republican Primary candidate paign with those candidates. Nor did
to Revolutionary War-era stone, Rosemary Becchi, who at one time – his name appear on lawn signs with
Kean faces the prospect – amid the long before Kean jumped in the them as he burnished the North Jer-
preponderance of issues aimed by 2020 contest – flirted with the pos- sey support of Essex County Execu-
this administration at New Jersey sibility of receiving Trump-friendly tive Joe DiVincenzo and state
(overridingly on Gateway and support to oust Lance in the 2018 Senator Brian P. Stack (D-33), both
SALT), presumably out of political Primary. Republicans would later Democrats.
spite – of running against himself, or pry Becchi out of the primary with
against his father, by occupying the Kean and redirect her to CD-11 and Ironically – or not – one of those
same lane as the president. a general election matchup with South Jersey Democrats he left alone
Frelinghuysen conqueror U.S. Rep. was then-state Senator Jeff Van Drew
The alliances bespeak of same-fox- Mikie Sherrill (D-11). (D-2), whose Kean-supported and
hole mindset. Launched in Septem-
Continued on Page 39
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38YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
KEAN, JR.’S QUEST TO ABIDE WHERE LANCE
AND FRELINGHUYSEN COULD NOT – Continued
Christie-abandoned rival watched in deduction-limiting tax president was to actually advance the cause of peo-
horror as Van Drew, presumably on supposedly – but for a golf course ple in his own party rather than ac-
the strength of deal-making above and downbeat gambling mecca asso- quiesce to Democrats – become
Kean’s paygrade, walked back into ciation – a statewide nemesis. With what he beheld in the name of polit-
office with a 59-39% blowout vic- Van Drew especially, to a lesser ex- ical expediency? Or was he merely
tory. Now, deprived of Christie in tent Kean, and certainly by capital- the same enduring Republican, so
the governor’s office in a district izing on intra-party rivalries within loyal to the party and steadfast in the
Trump won by single digits in 2016, the Democratic Party, Trump forces belief of his own name, that even
but aided by the political connective hope to use New Jersey as evidence now he trusted in his ability to tran-
Trump tissue of key Christie allies of an enemy territory beachhead. scend – and inspire collective tran-
Palatucci and Stepien, Congressman scendence? Whatever the case, like
Van Drew, having switched parties In forging those closer ties to Lance before him, Kean will have to
from Democrat to Republican, wel- Trump’s GOP, had Kean – de- defend – for all his public expres-
comes Trump to a Wildwood cam- nounced by Christie in the after-
paign rally in a state where the SALT math of 2013 because of his temerity Continued on Page 41
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40YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
KEAN, JR.’S QUEST TO ABIDE WHERE LANCE
AND FRELINGHUYSEN COULD NOT – Continued
sions of moderation – a basically Re-
publican Party record in a district –
Brindle’s 2017 win, not to mention
Malinowski’s 2018 victory prime ex-
hibits – changed from the times of
leafy yore. Republicans in the district
still edge Democrats – 153K to
149K registereds – in a collision for
the independent vote.
His allies will deny it but his 0-2
record in federal elections – and the
infamy of a very shaky 2006 per-
formance on foreign policy in his
match-up with Bob Menendez, now,
at precisely the time, given the
weightiness of ongoing incoming
headlines, when Malinowski – a for-
mer foreign service official in the
Obama Administration – will be
able to speak surgically on Iran in a
well-educated district, arguably put
Kean in political hail Mary mode.
There’s buzz about this Malinowski
race being his Waterloo (an unfortu-
nate metaphor given the absence of
a Battle of Saorgio or Battle of the
Pyramids on his resume), which As- giving up in the brutal aftermath of matchup of middle aged white males
semblyman Jon Bramnick’s (R-21) his third federal loss. in an atmosphere of female political
public mulling of a 2021 gubernato- radiance, cadaverous traditions close-
rial run aims to quell. If Bramnick Over the last few days, Malinowski at-hand; at its best the CD7 contest
(who has consistently run away from and Kean made the reorganization arguably collides real-impact contra-
Trump) were to actually run for gov- rounds, each projecting barely veiled dictions, undertaken not only be-
ernor, he wouldn’t run again for the hot stove irritation at the presence of tween the two hardly demagogic
seat Kean presumably would aban- the other, civility in close unwilled principals but within a Republican
don in the aftermath of a win over proximity demanding their hands Party within a party, within the aus-
Malinowski (we assume Bramnick dart toward each other, just enough pices of a domineering, seemingly
would fill it for the duration of the to touch – and withdraw. At its very un-Kean-like personality.
term), or – amid inevitable internal worst a contest of insipid austerity,
grumblings – be faced to consider colorless in its head-to-head
4142
YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
MALINOWSKI TO KEAN: ‘BRING IT ON!’
MOUNTAINSIDE – When Tom be his opponent and that he wants “a under 40. In what may or may not be
Malinowski first launched his reelec- contest on the issues.” instructive, Kean Jr. ran statewide
tion campaign about 10 days ago in against Bob Menendez in the 2006
Hunterdon County, his opponent was When he addressed supporters, he U.S. Senate race with less than desir-
unknown. It would have been either joked that he and fellow freshman able results.
Tom Kean Jr. or Rosemary Becchi. Democrat, Mikie Sherrill, share a lot
of things. Now, they even share Re- As he said in his previous campaign
But when Malinowski had a second publican opponents, given the fact launch, Malinowski expects an acri-
“launch” of his reelection campaign Becchi’s campaign has relocated from monious race, noting, “This is going
Wednesday night – this time at the one district to another. to heat up pretty darn soon.”
Echo Tap and Grill in Union County
– the GOP landscape had shifted. In a more serious vein, Malinowski He said he’s prepared to be called a
Becchi was now running in the 11th spoke of Kean as a “big name Repub- “socialist” and a man who backs
District, so Kean would be Mali- lican.” “open borders.”
nowski’s opponent in the 7th.
How “big” a name Kean is remains to In turn, Malinowski said he’s going to
“Bring it on,” Malinowski said before be seen. Thomas H. Kean Sr. was a demand that Kean explain his support
addressing about 100-150 people in very popular two-term governor, but for Donald Trump, or as the congress-
the bar’s dining area. he left office more than 30 year ago. man said, “a man who is in love with
It certainly can be debated how sig- Kim Jong-un.”
He said he long assumed Kean would nificant the “Kean” name is to voters
43The time to make
New Jersey more
affordable and
competitive is NOW!
Q NJBIA will continue to call for
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ÌvÝÕÀÃÌÀÕVÌÕÀ>LÕ`}iÌ`ivVÌð
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44YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
THE CD2 DISASTER.
BUT THEN WASN’T THAT THE POINT?
Never underestimate the transactional It also created immediate havoc in e Democrats appeared just as di-
capacities of New Jersey. both parties, as incensed Republican vided, with the South Jersey political
candidates vying to take on Van Drew machine that helped give birth to Van
What they are exactly may not be im- (David Richter, Brian Fitzherbert, Drew now mostly backing Montclair
mediately clear – but don’t doubt they and Bob Patterson) found themselves University Political Science Professor
exist. at war with the base of their own Brigid Harrison, while progressives
party, charged up to back Van Drew ran the risk of cannibalizing them-
Jeff Van Drew’s decision to change on the strength of Trump’s endorse- selves among the likes of Atlantic
party affiliation from Democrat to ment of the defected Dem. It must County Freeholder Ashley Bennett,
Republican gave President Donald J. have been very strange, almost like a West Cape May Commissioner John
Trump a reelection year political toe- Stanley Kubrick movie, for someone Francis, and educator Amy Kennedy.
hold in an otherwise pretty blue state, like Richter, who overnight found e presence in the developing con-
one that fielded 11 of 12 Democratic himself in lurid debates on Facebook test of Kennedy, however, did play to
congresspeople in the 2018 mid-term with regional conservative voice
elections. Harry Hurley. Continued on next page
BEST WISHES TO OUR FRIENDS &
COLLEAGUES IN 2020!
45YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
THE CD2 DISASTER.
BUT THEN WASN’T THAT THE POINT? – Continued
an extraordinary reanimation narra- a mess, otherwise known as the CD2 the federal level? We don’t know. It
tive in the imaginations of some New contest in 2020. was an intriguing dovetail, on a race
Jersey Democrats. Kennedy also of- What did it mean in a transactional that more resembled a tortured alba-
fered the promise of something De- context? tross.
mocrats would need to compete in a
race the president’s presence had na- e feds (headed by a U.S. Attorney For the moment, Richter and Fitzher-
tionalized: deep pockets. appointed by Trump) had Van Drew’s bert – devoid of support in their party
former party benefactor under the that moved fast to Van Drew under
Van Drew welcomed Trump to a Jan. headlights in an ongoing investigation Trump’s political auspices – dropped
28th rally, which prompted public of tax incentives that benefited his out of the race; as the GOP left De-
declarations of outrage among the business interests. Was Van Drew tacit mocrats to fight over the identity they
Dems, and private-spilling-into-pub- public payment in hopes of making would project against a completely
lic agony among Republicans. It was that investigation go away, at least on Trumpified Van Drew.
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47YEAR IN ADVANCE 2020
THE CD3 DEBACLE:
NO TIME SOON
Andy Kim was never going to win any
charisma awards, but then he never
promised to be anything other than a
good government policy wonk with
impressive foreign policy credentials.
An added benefit proved to be his
fighting qualities as a candidate, as the
Democrat dethroned – yes, with some
help from a flailing midterm Repub-
lican president - incumbent U.S. Rep.
Tom MacArthur (R-3).
Now Kim has a reelection campaign
on his plate, and the prospect of going
up against Kate Gibbs, deputy direc-
tor for the Engineers Labor-Employer
Cooperative, ELEC 825, who will ob-
viously have some Building Trades
heft with her as she tries to gut
through a primary. Fellow BurlCo Re-
publican, former Hainesport Mayor Former Burlington County Freeholder and CD3 GOP primary candidate Kate Gibbs
Tony Porto, is also in the contest. So
is Barnegat Township Deputy Mayor The 2019 elections showed Ocean’s in 7 or 11. Kim ended up excelling
John Novak, a self-professed Make enduring GOP profile, and some where people thought he would: pol-
schizophrenia in Burlington, which icy fine-pointing; but his office also
America Great again contestant run-
voted in countywide Democrats, but proved competent with constituent
ning out of the Ocean County half of
persevered with Republicans in 8th service. Conventional wisdom pointed
the Ocean-Burlington congressional
District. If Republicans completely toward a Kim v. Gibbs or Richter (on
district against two Republicans from the strength of his financial connec-
lost their base of operations at ground
BurlCo. Tossed out of CD2 when tions, Trump political connections and
zero of the county, stars like Assem-
Trump’s backing of Van Drew sig- blyman Ryan Peters and Assembly- the prospect of landing Ocean) gen-
naled to Republican organizations to woman Jean Stanfield are coming off eral, but Gibbs or Richter would still
back the former Dem, millionaire solid wins. have to get through the maw of either
businessman David Richter launched Ocean or Burlington respectively. It
his CD3 candidacy in late January, in- Overall, the Third was never going to would be an organizational challenge
tent on snagging the line in Ocean be as Trump friendly as the 2nd, but to say the least for Gibbs or Richter,
County. Already in possession of the then it would not quite create the not to mention Ocean County and
BurlCo GOP line, Gibbs showed no same chords of righteous Gateway Burlington County GOP chairs Frank
signs of relenting. and SALT deduction rage stirred up Holman and Sean Earlen.
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