As the fall season of 2023 reaches its peak following the conclusion of the Halloween holiday and the commencement of the month of November, election day for this calendar year is now less than a week away. While there are largely no federal elections on the ballot in the vast majority of states this year in the United States, many significant statewide elections are being held in places throughout the union. In New Jersey, a notoriously “blue” state for the last several decades, the state legislature and government are up for grabs. For the first time in nearly twenty years, Republicans in the Garden State possess a theoretical chance of obtaining a “tied” chamber or a slight majority in Trenton. Democrats have enjoyed total control of the legislature in Trenton since the 2001 elections.
At the federal and national stage, though, many media pundits and high level political consultants and candidates are extremely focused on the upcoming 2024 presidential election which remains about a year away. While politics can change overnight and a years’ time on the calendar is lightyears in political terms, the 2024 presidential nominees are appearing more and more likely with each passing day. In the Democratic party, Joe Biden, the incumbent president, appears like the clear frontrunner for the party nomination. In the Republican party, while the field remains full of some challengers, Donald Trump maintains such a colossal lead that it would be a significant development if he were not the nominee next year.
One of Trumps challengers, the governor of Florida Ron DeSantis was on NBC news recently, a staunchly left leaning news network unfriendly to Republicans. DeSantis was attacked by Kristen Welker, a well-known progressive journalist on the program Meet the Press. While DeSantis lauded low crime rates in Florida, Welker pointed to the sunshine states 2% rise (from 12.9% in 2019 to 14.1% in 2021) in firearms deaths since he entered office.
