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<\/a>Although it will appear at the bottom of the ballot, one of the two things that will be on the ballot in every district in New Jersey is a ballot question: Public Question #1, School Projects Bond (2018)<\/a>. The legislature wants to borrow half a billion (with a “B”) dollars to spend on education-related projects. They actually wanted to borrow a full billion, and they passed that, but Governor Murphy wisely said we should consider how badly that would put the state in debt (after all, when you borrow money by selling bonds, you commit yourself to paying it back with interest from future tax revenues). Since 2007 the state has authorized $1.475 billion in bond sales, the largest chunk of that $750 million in 2012 for state colleges. No one appears to be opposing this, which is probably sensible since New Jersey voters consistently pass such bills. Of the half billion, $350 million is slated for schools as career and technical grants and school security projects, another $50 million for college career and technical education grants, and $100 million for something labeled “school water infrastructure grants”. The governor is right that we should consider just how much debt we can afford to commit to the future, but the Democratically-controlled government is probably not going to think about that any time soon.<\/p>\n The other vote that will be state-wide is the re-election bid of our Democratic senior Senator Bob Menendez<\/a>. He was last elected in 2012; we commented on his indictment previously<\/a>. Pundits consider his seat one which the Republicans might take, in the person of Bob Hugin<\/a>, a former biopharmaceutical executive. Also in the race are four “third party” candidates, all unfamiliar independents, Tricia Flanagan<\/a> of New Day NJ<\/i>, Kevin Kimple<\/a> of Make it Simple<\/i>, Natalie Lynn Rivera<\/a> of For the People<\/i>, and Hank Schroeder<\/a> of Economic Growth<\/i>.<\/p>\n Two years ago incumbents won in eleven out of twelve New Jersey Congressional districts. You can find them listed and linked in web log post #123: The 2016 Election in New Jersey<\/a><\/i>. The one exception, also named and linked there, is the Democratic Congressman in our Fifth District, Josh Gottheimer. To save space here, we will will skip the details about the districts and just give the candidates, by district:<\/p>\n Once again, my advice is first to become informed, and then once you are informed to vote<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #270, on the subject of New Jersey’s 2018 Election Ballot. The election is less than a month away, so it’s time to look at what we will see on the ballot. Although it will appear at the bottom of the ballot, one of the two things that will … Continue reading #270: New Jersey’s 2018 Election Ballot<\/span> \n