Good Tuesday morning!

You’re free to believe that a district’s representation doesn’t need to reflect the ethnic background of its population. But most New Jersey Democratic leaders publicly laud diversity of representation and boast when they elect more women and minorities to elected positions.

So you would think that Democrats would see an opportunity in the 17th District, where 22-year incumbent Joe Egan, 85, is retiring. The district is made up of nearly equal parts Hispanic, non-Hispanic white and Asian constituents, along with a smaller but still very significant Black population. Yet since 2014, it’s been represented by three white men, the youngest of whom is 58: Egan, Assemblymember Joe Danielsen (D-Somerset) and state Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex).

But the only name to so far surface as a possible replacement for Egan is his son Kevin. If the district’s Democratic committee members select him for the seat, they won’t even increase the diversity of names representing the district.

New Jersey is run by political machines, and while I can’t tell you Egan’s intentions, his decision to announce his retirement after his uncontested primary served to help one of those machines keep its power. If potential candidates knew his seat would be open for the first time in 22 years, more people may have been interested in running for it. And it may have given the district’s Democratic voters a chance to elect a ticket that more accurately reflects it — that ideal Democrats claim to hold so dearly.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Making home addresses public has helped reporters uncover that Mark Meadows … was simultaneously registered to vote in three different states, that Justice Thomas sold property to Texas billionaire Harlan Crow and failed to disclose the transaction, and that George Santos lied about having a real estate portfolio. These stories show that allowing reporters access to home addresses can result in important scrutiny of public employees’ conduct.” — Jennifer Borg, Yale Law research fellow and former executive at North Jersey Media Group, on Daniel’s Law.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Ed Durr, Susan Bass Levin

WHERE’S MURPHY? — No public schedule

HIS POWER MAY BE DECLINING, BUT HE WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE BEST HAIR — New Jersey Democrats mull a future with a weakened George Norcross, by POLITICO’s Dustin Racioppi and Matt Friedman: After a generation of unrivaled influence in Trenton, George Norcross is right where a lot of his fellow Democrats want him. The 67-year-old insurance executive’s reign as one of the most fearsome political bosses in the nation is at an all-time low — and, depending how the next two statewide election cycles go, may not fully rebound. … His forced retreat raises questions about the future of Norcross’ South Jersey machine but also the direction of the Democratic Party throughout New Jersey. No governor of the past two decades has had success without his backing and cooperation. But beginning with Gov. Phil Murphy, who splintered the party when he decided to investigate companies tied to Norcross, Democrats have gradually become emboldened to defy one of the country’s last regional power brokers. “Everybody in the North and Central Jersey right now don’t want George to control the next governor,” said one North Jersey Democratic operative and veteran political adviser, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Every gubernatorial race before this, George was an enormous voice. What he said mattered,” the person added. “And now that probably won’t be the case unless a whole bunch of things change in very fast order.”

A 101.9 MASTRO SHORTFALL — New Jersey Transit prepares to adopt $2.9B budget, by POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: New Jersey Transit is expected to adopt a nearly $2.9 billion operating budget at its Wednesday board meeting. … On the short-term plus side, there are no fare increases this year, something Gov. Phil Murphy announced earlier this year. On the very bad side, there is a looming $917 million shortfall in the budget year that begins next summer, something that officials do not yet have a plan to close. It seems inevitable that the agency will need to raise fares, find some other source of revenue and, at the same time, find efficiencies if not cut service. Other public transit systems are facing similar revenue shortfalls following the pandemic, but New York and other states already have or are working on plans to fill the gaps.

—“NJ Transit has had many fiscal crises. Here’s why the one that’s looming will be worse, by

MURPHY PLEDGES TO BE SO ACCESSIBLE THEY’LL CALL HIM MR. BELVIDERE — “Mudslide leaves N.J. homes uninhabitable. Gov. Murphy tours storm damage,” by NJ Advance Media’s Brent Johnson: “The state was drying out Monday as Murphy and other state and local officials visited Warren County to survey the damage. What they found was water still flowing down through the mountain at the mudslide site as several displaced families said they couldn’t access the main road because of the situation. ‘I’d like to say I’m shocked beyond words,’ Murphy told reporters while standing along mud-splotched residential Mansfield Street in Belvidere, a few miles from the mudslide. ‘But the fact of the matter is: I’ve seen this all too often in the past six years.’ … The storm caused damage in many areas across the Garden State, with Murphy declaring a state of emergency Sunday afternoon. Warren County was among the hardest hit.”

ON BROADWAY — “100 days in, NJ’s takeover of the Paterson police is a work in progress. Here’s why,” by The Paterson Press’ Joe Malinconico: “From the drug addicts nodding off on the library steps to the vagrants shuffling around outside the liquor stores, Broadway had loomed as the embodiment of the ills that plagued Paterson. It was the gateway to the city that made residents and public officials cringe. That has changed in recent weeks after a police crackdown using state-funded overtime cleaned up the thoroughfare. Now community leaders are using Broadway as a barometer for evaluating the effectiveness of the state’s takeover of the Paterson Police Department, which recently passed the 100-day mark. ‘For the first time in decades, there’s safe passage,’ Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter said. … But Paterson Black Lives Matter leader Zellie Thomas offered a different assessment of the recent effort on Broadway, engineered by the Police Department’s state-appointed Officer in Charge Isa Abbassi, a retired New York City cop. ‘Abbassi has brought in this broken-windows style of policing on Broadway that’s infringing on people’s constitutional rights,’ Thomas said. .... ‘For many of us, the state takeover was about the lack of transparency and the lack of accountability in the Paterson Police Department,” said the BLM activist. ‘So far, I haven’t heard any of those things being addressed.’”

HEALTH — Murphy signs bill to create government authority for maternal and infant health, by POLITICO’s Daniel Han: Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday signed legislation to create a new governmental authority that he said will be a “global gold standard resource” for infant and maternal health. The signing of the legislation, S3864, sets up a legacy item on maternal health for the Murphy administration. The bill creates a new New Jersey Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Authority based in Trenton that will oversee the newly created New Jersey Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Center.

THE WIND PORT IS IN PAUL’S BORO — “LD4 Republicans hit Moriarty over offshore wind tax credit vote,” by New Jersey Globe’s Joey Fox: “Republicans in the 4th legislative district have begun attacking Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-Washington), who is running for the district’s Senate seat this year, over his recent vote for a bill allowing the offshore wind company Ørsted to access substantial federal tax credits. ‘This is a classic ‘Robin Hood in Reverse’ scheme that screws local ratepayers to bail out a multi-billion-dollar company,’ said Chris Del Borrello. … Only one Democrat voted against the bill: State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch). … Moriarty’s district, on the other hand, isn’t particularly close to the ocean; in fact, it’s closer to the Paulsboro plant where wind turbines’ foundations will be built. But 4th district Republicans evidently see the issue as one that could energize inland voters as well.”

TRANSPARENCY — “Daniel’s Law is bad for N.J. journalists — and everyone who wants government accountability,” by New Jersey Monitor’s Terrence T. McDonald: “I talked to Jennifer Borg, a media law expert, about Daniel’s Law, and while she called it well-intentioned, she said it goes too far by criminalizing the reporting of truthful information about matters of public concern in violation of both the First Amendment and the state constitution. Allowing reporters access to officials’ home addresses can result in important scrutiny of public employees’ conduct, she noted. ‘Making home addresses public has helped reporters uncover that Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, was simultaneously registered to vote in three different states, that Justice Thomas sold property to Texas billionaire Harlan Crow and failed to disclose the transaction, and that George Santos lied about having a real estate portfolio. These stories show that allowing reporters access to home addresses can result in important scrutiny of public employees’ conduct,’ Borg said.”

—New Jersey gears up to ban sale of gas cars

—Stile: “As congestion pricing plans appear headed to court, can’t NJ, NY find compromise?”

—“Monmouth Park owes $60 million to management firm: tax filing”

—“Protesters along the Jersey Shore join hands against offshore wind”

—“Latest push by Rutgers to combine medical schools blindsided some”

ROEING AGAINST THE CURRENT — “Altman sees Kean ‘chipping away’ at abortion rights,” by InsiderNJ’s Fred Snowflack: “Last week, CD-7 Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr. posted the following: “I commend the passage of the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. …’ It’s not really that simple. Prior to the vote referenced above, the House also voted on various amendments to the bill, including one to reverse the Pentagon’s post-Roe policy of reimbursing women service members who need to travel to another state to receive abortion services. Kean voted ‘yes’ on that as well. So did the state’s other two Republicans in the House. … While Kean’s “yes” vote was in line with virtually all other House Republicans, it comes from a man who has at times called himself ‘pro-choice’ in regard to abortion rights. Democrat Sue Altman is paying attention. ‘This stuff is going to come back to haunt him,’ she said in a conversation Monday morning.”

—Golden: “If Trump skips the debate, Christie loses his target”

RISE FOR SPAM — “Supreme Court enters fight over Rise Against Hate receiving South Jersey email addresses,” by The Courier-Post’s Jim Walsh: “A nonprofit group suing for the email addresses of municipal-newsletter subscribers can take its fight to the state Supreme Court. Rise Against Hate, an anti-racism and civil rights group, wants subscriber lists maintained by Cherry Hill, West Deptford and Bridgewater, Somerset County, a court record says. The Cherry Hill-based nonprofit plans to send unsolicited emails to the addresses in an effort to promote its activities, it says. But the requests for addresses, made under the state’s Open Public Records Act, have been under dispute since December 2020.”

BECAUSE THEY’RE TIRED OF CHANGING STUDENTS’ LITTER — “‘Getting harder and harder': Why are Monmouth County school superintendents quitting?” by The Asbury Park Press’ Joe Strupp: “Five Monmouth County school superintendents have announced plans to leave their jobs in the past four months, including the leaders of the county’s two largest districts. Only one of the departing administrators, Eric Hibbs of Marlboro schools, left to take a similar position within the state. The others either went outside New Jersey or took a different type of job. … Research suggests that superintendents have become overwhelmed with issues related to COVID-19, a more vocal and outspoken parental base and more community efforts to influence curriculum.”

—“Why hasn’t report on Bridgewater police response to mall fight been released?”

—“Cost of renovating landmark Loew’s Jersey theater balloons to $105 million”

—“Pumping up revenue, Newark hikes sewer and water rates”

—“Leaders, advocates spar over moving LGBTQ-themed memoir in [Cedar Grove] library”

—“Lower Township again renews club license over DEP objection”

RESTING ON MT LAURELS — “Why these NJ schools are so diverse, while many are segregated — affordable housing has been key,” by Gothamist’s Karen Yi: “Franklin Township Public Schools in Somerset County [is] one of the most diverse districts in New Jersey, according to a report card issued by the state education department. Housing advocates say the township is a model for the rest of the state because of its embrace of a set of nearly half-century old court rulings mandating affordable housing. … The nearly 50-year-old pair of Mount Laurel rulings were supposed to create more housing choices for low-income families, yet weak enforcement and political promises to end the mandate have let many municipalities sidestep the rulings’ intent. … A Gothamist analysis found 90% of towns that used the agreements to offload their affordable housing obligations to communities outside their borders currently send their students to schools that are whiter than the state average. Four-fifths of the towns that used the loophole sent their kids to schools that had more white students than nonwhite. Gothamist also found that almost all the towns that used the agreements have fewer students receiving free or reduced lunch than the state average.”

JUDGE SHORTAGE A BLESSING IN DISGUISE — “New Jersey ranks near the top in the country for personal injury lawsuits, a study says,” by The Record’s Kaitlyn Kanzler: “When it comes to personal injuries and filing lawsuits because of them, New Jersey ranks third in the country. A study conducted by personal injury lawyers in Florida looked at all 50 states to see which was most likely to file a lawsuit after an injury, with Florida and Ohio trending first and second, respectively. Personal injury suits are the top kind of lawsuit filed in the state, data supported by the USA TODAY Network New Jersey research shows.”

—“Mike Trout, Tiger Woods golf course a step closer; construction expected to start in 2024”

—“N.J. weather: These towns got hit with highest rainfall totals during weekend storms”