Democrats In Competitive South Jersey Races Have No Courage

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately, but I was on the road working.

I’m back and the first thing I learned is that Democrats in competitive South Jersey Legislative District completely lack courage.

The issue is a bill (A5207/S3361) that passed both houses back in June. The bill, according to NJ.com, bans local and private jails “from signing contracts to hold federal immigration detainees.”

According to the NJ.com piece Governor Phil Murphy unceremoniously signed the bill Friday:

Murphy, a Democrat who is running for re-election in November, quietly signed the bill the day after he returned from his trip. He did not release a statement about why he signed it.

I can only guess at the reason Murphy quietly signed the bill – my guess is that Murphy already has enough problems with possible illegal immigrants given his women’s professional soccer team’s involvement in an alleged visa fraud scheme.

Murphy obviously has a reason to be sneaky about signing the bill. His lack of courage in supporting this bill can easily be explained.

What really jumped out at me is the South Jersey Democrats in competitive races who didn’t even have the courage to vote on the bill.

According to the roll call LD8 state Senator Dawn Addiego is listed as “Not Voting,” on the Assembly side Assemblyman Ryan Peters and Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield both voted “No.”

In the competitive LD2 race Assemblyman John Armato and Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo each showed a complete lack of courage and are listed as “Not Voting.”

In LD8, where Stanfield voted no to the bill in the Assembly, she is challenging Addiego for the Seante seat. Stanfield’s Assembly runningmates are Brandon Umbra and Mike Torrissi. In LD2 Armato is running for reelection and his runningmate is Caren Fitzpatrick, an Atlantic County Commissioner. They are being challenged by former Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian and Claire Swift, a former NJ Deputy Attorney General. On the Senate side Mazzeo is running against former Assemblyman Vince Polistina.

I can only guess the reason Addiego, Armato and Mazzeo did not have the courage to vote on a bill banning local and private jails “from signing contracts to hold federal immigration detainees,” is they feared taking a stand when it comes to illegal immigrants.

It is time for Addiego, Armato and Mazzeo to tell South Jersey voters where they stand on illegal immigration. Not voting is unacceptable!

We know where their opponents, Stanfield, Umbra and Torrissi, stand, and that’s on the side of the rule of law. If you want a better, safer South Jersey, the choices in LD8 and LD2 are clear.