The Top 10 New Jersey Political Stories Of 2018

Whew, what a year it was! Patch gives a rundown of the top 10 political stories to come out of the Garden State in 2018. You know what they say: All politics is local. From property taxes to illegal immigration to drilling off New Jersey's coastline, here are the top 10 stories that affected you and your family this year, and will continue to affect you in 2019:

1. Legal weed: Will marijuana ever become legal in New Jersey? Don't hold your breath. It was well-hyped that state legislators hoped to legalize weed before the end of 2018, but with one week left in the year, that remains a pipe dream. (OK, we'll stop.) What's the reason for the current impasse? Trenton lawmakers all agree they want to heavily tax marijuana, but by exactly how much remains the bone of contention. Legislators are pushing for a tax rate in the 12 percent range, while Gov. Phil Murphy wants it to go as high as 25 percent, which he says will create enough cash to fund schools and fix the state's pension mess. But some lawmakers believe that taxing marijuana too high would create a black market, where pot would still be sold illegally at a cheaper price. Read that story: NJ Marijuana Legalization: 5 Hurdles Before Pot Is Sold In Stores

2. Snowgate 2018: Gov. Murphy's handling — or mishandling — of an early-winter snow storm resulted in backlash, ridicule and serious criticism. Many argued that the safety of millions of New Jersey residents was put at risk after the governor failed to have roads properly salted ahead of time.

Not only did Port Authority shut down, it took commuters hours to get home on clogged roads, a school bus full of Secaucus first graders was stuck in the snow for five hours, and one woman died after her car slid down a steep incline in the snow and was then hit by a train in New Providence. Even Chris Christie joined in, saying it took him nearly six hours to drive from Piscataway to Mendham. It was only salt in the wound when we learned that Murphy dined at a fancy Monmouth County restaurant on Nov. 15, the night of the storm. "The buck stops with me, period," Murphy said at an emergency next-day press conference. "Clearly, we could have done better. And we will do better." But the guv only endured more ridicule days later, after he directed trucks to brine roads on Nov. 28 — a day that called for heavy winds and clouds. Read that story: Murphy Administration Apologizes For NJ Nor'easter Mess

3. Phil Murphy staffer sex assault scandal: Another issue that made headlines this year was how the governor handled an incident where a top aide was accused of sexual assault, but still hired for a high-level position in the Murphy administration.

Albert Alvarez, a Latino Democratic organizer and Wood Ridge resident, was hired as the chief of staff for the Schools Development Authority, at a salary of $100K+ a year. He was hired despite the fact that he was accused of sexual assaulting a Jersey City woman while they both worked on Murphy's election campaign. The woman said he forced himself on her at her Jersey City brownstone just before the election last year. Alvarez was never criminally charged.

Murphy was only made aware of the alleged rape after the victim sent an email to him and his wife, Tammy; the victim contacted the governor after she reported the incident to the Hudson County prosecutor, who declined to pursue the case, citing a lack of evidence. The Wall Street Journal was tipped off and started asking questions; Alvarez quit the day before the Journal published their story.

The governor found himself the center of a firestorm over the incident, facing criticism from Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike. Murphy also later later acknowledged in a statement that in light of the allegations, Alvarez should not have been hired. Following the Me-Too era, the governor said his administration is now reviewing all the state's hiring policies to find ways to improve the system when it comes to allegations of sexual misconduct. Read that story: Calls For Probe After Alleged Sex Assault By Top Murphy Staffer

4. Midterms 2018: The predicted "blue wave" might not have occurred elsewhere in the U.S., but it certainly washed through the great Garden State. Widely viewed as a repudiation of President Donald Trump, four New Jersey congressional districts flipped from red to blue this October: In the 11th district Democratic newcomer Mikie Sherrill beat Republican Jay Webber. Sherrill, a former federal prosecutor, U.S. Navy veteran and mom, was able to turn blue a congressional seat that had been enjoyed by the GOP for 34 years. The 2nd District and the 7th district both flipped to blue, as well: Democrat Jeff Van Drew beat Republican Seth Grossman in the 2nd, and Democrat Tom Malinowski ousted Republican incumbent Leonard Lance in the 7th.

But the most stunning win occurred in the 3rd district down in South Jersey, where another political newcomer, Democrat Andy Kim, narrowly squeaked out a win against Republican incumbent Tom MacArthur, a staunch Trump supporter. It took weeks for MacArthur to begrudgingly concede that race, and Kim only won by a razor-thin margin. In fact, the only part of New Jersey that re-elected a Republican congressman this past fall was Monmouth and Ocean counties, where Rep. Chris Smith still enjoys the support of the 4th district. U.S. Senator Bob Menendez also decisively won victory over his Republican pharmaceutical executive opponent, despite the fact that Menendez was indicted on corruption charges. Read that story: NJ Election Results: Democrats Win Big In Local Races, Congress

5. New Jersey vs. Donald Trump, Round 1: Illegal Immigration: Speaking of President Trump ... In late November, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal — appointed by Murphy — issued a directive to all local law enforcement agencies, limiting the types of voluntary assistance they can provide to federal immigration authorities. For example, local New Jersey police can now no longer detain someone based solely on their immigration status, they cannot ask the immigration status of any individual (unless it's related to a serious offense) and, perhaps most poignantly, they cannot provide ICE access to any of their office equipment or crime databases.

Grewal issued his directive on Nov. 29, and on Dec. 3 ICE responded by vowing to step up illegal immigration enforcement in New Jersey. On Dec. 8, ICE announced they had arrested 105 people suspected of immigration violations. More raids are to come, the federal agency warned: Because of "limited cooperation with local and state authorities," ICE says it has "no choice" but to conduct more arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites in New Jersey. Read that story: 105 Busted In 16 NJ Counties As ICE Ramps Up: Find Out Where

6. New Jersey vs. Donald Trump, Round 2: Property Taxes: Yes, the hits to New Jersey just don't stop coming from the Trump administration. Trump first set of howls of anger from New Jersey homeowners in 2017, when he announced his tax reform would cap property tax deductions at $10,000. Then this past July, House Republicans unveiled the second phase of the Republican tax plan, which would make the SALT cap permanent. "As New Jersey's Yogi Berra liked to say, it's déjà vu all over again. Another day, another attempt by congressional Republicans to stick it to Garden State," U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-Passaic, said this summer of the plan. By the end of the year, Republicans appear to have backed off this proposal. Read that story: Trump, Congress Looking To Take More Of NJ Property Tax Deduction

7. New Jersey vs. Donald Trump, Round 3: Oil Drilling Off New Jersey's Coast: A new battle between Trump and New Jersey is looming on the 2019 horizon, and this one will take place off the Jersey Shore coastline.

The Trump administration is going full steam ahead on plans to open up the Atlantic Ocean off southern New Jersey for potential oil and natural gas drilling. That part of the Atlantic was protected under President Barack Obama's Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. The first step before drilling is seismic testing, the blasting that scientists say disturbs whales and other marine life, and the federal government is currently giving out permits for the blasting. New Jersey and eight other states are suing the Trump administration to prevent this.

Trump's even getting pushback from legislators in his own party on this issue.

“Not here, not now, not ever,” said Republican Rep. Chris Smith on Dec. 4. “Seismic airgun blasting in particular can deafen or seriously maim local marine wildlife, which rely upon sonar power for movement and can significantly affect local fish populations, which in turn harms our NJ fishing industries." Smith said he's signed a letter — with 93 signers — currently being circulated by Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), to ask the Department of the Interior to deny final permits for companies to conduct seismic airgun blasting in the Atlantic. Separately, Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a Republican Congressman from South Jersey, has also previously introduced a separate measure to prevent offshore drilling in New Jersey. Read that story: NJ Gov. Phil Murphy Signs Offshore Drilling Ban Bill Into Law

8. NJ Transit: Could there finally be light at the end of the tunnel for NJ Transit and its thousands of weary commuters? First there was the fatal crash in 2016 at the Hoboken train station. Then in September of this year, a pole came crashing through a train in the middle of the evening rush hour at Secaucus Junction. NJ Transit was put under the microscope in audit by state legislators this year, who found an unusual number of engineer absences, a number of mechanical issues and serious lapses in train safety. This came at the same time NJ Transit was already under a federal review for the past two years for possibly violating safety rules.

Murphy first criticized the Christie administration for not funding NJ Transit enough, but later admitted that even he may have initially underestimated the scope of how bad things had gotten. In the last two weeks of the year, Murphy approved a law that makes major reforms to NJ Transit, including adding more regular bus and train riders to its board of directors and creating a Customer Advocate and Chief Ethics Officer positions within the agency. But the future still remains worrisome for NJ Transit, with Trump still refusing to fund the Gateway Tunnel. Read that story: Murphy Signs Historic NJ Transit Reforms, Vows It Will Improve

9. Affordable Housing: 2018 also saw more towns in New Jersey forced to fulfill their affordable housing obligation, as required by the state under the infamous Mt. Laurel decision. Wealthy New Jersey towns like Princeton, Holmdel and Ocean City, all of which have spent recent years fighting the mandate with expensive taxpayer-funded litigation, were all told this year they must fulfill affordable housing requirements. Read that story: Judge Rules On Princeton's Affordable Housing Obligation

10. PARCC: Ah, the hated PARCC test. Parents, kids and teachers alike all can't stand the standardized test, required by the state Department of Education. No, 2018 did not see New Jersey completely do away with PARCC, even though Gov. Murphy once said he was ready to do as soon as he was sworn in. But in October the state proposed a set of rules that will mean fewer standardized tests. Even though the new regulations did not go as far as Murphy would have liked, it meant New Jersey became further and further removed from hated-PARCC. Parents and students seem appeased. Read that story: NJ Students: Get Ready For Fewer PARCC Tests

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