Texas Weekly Online

Former Obama staffer, ex-congressman among candidates in crowded Democrat primary for Mikie Sherrill’s seat

Former Obama staffer, ex-congressman among candidates in crowded Democrat primary for Mikie Sherrill’s seat

As Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., prepares to resign her congressional seat, a crowded Democrat primary stable has emerged with nearly a dozen hopefuls ranging from moderate establishment types to far-left candidates. Sherrill, who represents New Jersey’s 11th District in the House of Representatives, was elected Governor of the Garden State during this most recent Election Day’s Democrat sweep seen across blue states and cities nationwide. Her resignation, as of yet unscheduled, will trigger a special election for the House seat. 11 candidates have expressed interest in the race, including former Obama administration staffer Cammie Croft, former House Rep. Tom Malinowski, and Governor Murphy-endorsed Brendan Gill, his former campaign manager. Cammie Croft called on Governor Murphy in a statement released just days after Sherrill won the governorship to set up a date for the special election. FORMER HOUSE DEMOCRAT TARGETS TRUMP IN BID FOR POLITICAL COMEBACK “In these extraordinary times, New Jersey’s 11th District deserves representation in Washington — not weeks or months of uncertainty,” said Croft. “Just like the Governor-elect has in Congress, the residents of this district need someone in Washington fighting like heck to bring down the cost of groceries, energy, and healthcare and rein in the Trump administration’s abusive and corrupt policies.” According to FEC filings, Croft has $176,000 cash-on-hand by the September 30 filing date. In those same filings, Morris Township mayor and candidate Jeff Grayzel has over $310,000 cash-on-hand. “I am 100% in the race,” Grayzel told the New Jersey Globe. “My full intention is to run for the seat should Mikie win the election, as many believe she will. The timeline for a special election in early 2026 is already very short, and planning for this kind of race takes time.” DEM REP MIKIE SHERRILL SKIPS 145 HOUSE VOTES AS NJ GOVERNOR’S RACE HEATS UP Former House Rep. Tom Malinowski has also thrown his proverbial hat in the ring and is especially active on social media. While not currently residing in NJ-11, Malinowski has pledged to move in-district should he win the special, according to reporting from the Washington Examiner. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., has endorsed Tom Malinowski via X in a video posted on Nov. 17. “I’m happy to endorse Tom Malinowski for Congress! I’ve known Tom for over 12 yrs, far longer than anyone else I know in Jersey politics, when we worked under President Obama,” the senator wrote. “Politics right now needs courage. People able to stand against the pressures of politics and special interests. @Malinowski has shown that in his actions.” Malinowski, a former House Rep. for New Jersey’s seventh District, lost his seat when the area was redistricted to include much of NJ-11. NEW JERSEY DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR HOPEFUL ATTENDS ‘NO KINGS’ PROTEST, VOWS TO FIGHT TRUMP ‘TOOTH AND NAIL’ The former Rep. all but asked for Sherrill’s endorsement in a campaign video posted to X earlier this month announcing his run. “I’m running for Congress again to pick up where my friend Mikie Sherrill left off,” Malinowski said in the video. Governor-elect Sherrill’s office did not offer comment to Fox News Digital on any plans to endorse Malinowski or any other candidate. Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill has the endorsement of over 60 Democrats in-county according to reporting from the New Jersey Globe and enters a crowded field as a well-established party operative. “I’m running for Congress because our president, enabled by bootlickers in Congress and Wall Street, is wreaking havoc on our streets, hollowing out our economy, tearing down our American values. I’m running to fight back against Donald Trump and his crooked buddies, and to make sure that everyone has a place at the table,” Gill stated in a campaign video. John Bartlett, the only other candidate with a sizeable war chest according to FEC filings, still had around $200,000 left over from his 2018 House run, which was unsuccessful at the time. He currently serves as a commissioner in Passaic County. The FEC also notes Democrat candidates Anna Lee Williams, Justin Strickland, and Marc Chaaban. There is only one Republican listed in the race in the FEC filings, Joe Hathaway, mayor of Randolph Township. “Thank you, New Jersey,” Governor-elect Sherrill wrote in a post on Nov. 12. “Next week, I intend to submit my resignation in order to serve as your 57th governor.” “To my House colleagues: Do not become a rubber stamp for an agenda to take food and healthcare away from kids. To the country: Stand strong. Don’t give up the ship,” Sherrill concluded. Sherrill won the District in 2024 with a healthy lead, receiving 56.34% of the vote, according to the New Jersey State Board of Elections. The Cook Political Report has designated New Jersey 11 as “Solid D.”  The primary does not yet have a set date. The office of Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Biden’s Saudi fist bump drew heat in 2022 — Trump just rolled out the red carpet

Biden’s Saudi fist bump drew heat in 2022 — Trump just rolled out the red carpet

President Donald Trump made a point to shake the hand of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House Tuesday in a warm welcome — in contrast to former President Joe Biden, who came under scrutiny for fist-bumping the Saudi prince in 2022. Biden’s fist bump occurred during a trip to Saudi Arabia in July 2022, and attracted criticism due to U.S. intelligence reports that indicated that bin Salman signed off on the 2018 assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.  But when bin Salman arrived at the White House Tuesday, Trump indicated that the Saudi prince deserved a more formal greeting. “And Trump doesn’t give a fist pump. I grab that hand,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “I don’t give a hell where that hand’s been, I grab that hand. Remember Biden? He travels for 20 hours, he gets out and he gives a fist bump. No. When you get out of the plane and you got the future king and the man who is one of the most respected people in the world, you shake his hand, you don’t give him a fist bump, right?” TRUMP, SAUDI CROWN PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN TO MEET AT WHITE HOUSE AMID DIPLOMATIC SHIFTS IN REGION “We don’t want to ask you about that,” Trump said, referencing bin Salman. “But I can’t imagine you were thrilled.” The Saudi leader’s arrival Tuesday came with full pageantry. A red carpet rolled across the South Lawn, military honor guard and an Air Force flyover underscored the formal state-level welcome. Biden’s 2022 fist bump with bin Salman occurred as he stepped out of a vehicle outside the Al Salam Royal Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Afterward, Biden brushed off questions about the interaction from reporters, but told them he suggested to bin Salman that he believed the crown prince was “responsible” for Khashoggi’s death. The exchange prompted former Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan to characterize the gesture as more offensive than a handshake. 9/11 FAMILIES URGE TRUMP TO PRESS SAUDIS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AHEAD OF MBS VISIT TO DC: ‘OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE’ “The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake — it was shameful,” Ryan said in a statement. “It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking.”  More than a year later, in September 2023, Biden shook hands with bin Salman when they met in person at the G20 global economic summit in New Delhi. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in 2021 that bin Salman gave the green light on the operation that took Khashoggi’s life. Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident, was brutally murdered in Istanbul at the Saudi consulate in 2018. Still, bin Salman has denied the veracity of those reports. When asked Tuesday about Khashoggi, bin Salman said that it’s “painful” to hear of the death of anyone for “no real purpose,” and said that “we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.” Trump also came to defend bin Salman Tuesday, and accused a reporter who asked about U.S. intelligence reports linking the prince to Khashoggi’s death of embarrassing bin Salman. “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Trump said Tuesday. “Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it. And would you leave it at that? You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question.” Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for comment and has not yet received a reply. 

Trump admin pours $1B into massive effort to restart nuclear reactor at historic meltdown site

Trump admin pours B into massive effort to restart nuclear reactor at historic meltdown site

Three Mile Island is getting a jolt back to life, courtesy of a $1 billion Trump administration loan to restart its nuclear reactor. The Department of Energy announced Tuesday a cash infusion in the form of a $1 billion loan to Baltimore-based Constellation Energy to restart a nuclear reactor at the site that has the potential to better secure the Mid-Atlantic grid and power as many as 800,000 homes on renewable power. The Three Mile Island site in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania melted down in 1979 when a loss-of-coolant malfunction released radioactive iodine, but one of the reactors remained operational for several years. “One of the biggest challenges American people have faced over the last several years has been the rising price of electricity … and when we arrived; the Trump administration; in town there were plans to close 100gW more of affordable, reliable, secure dispatchable electricity generation,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. ARMY’S NUCLEAR COMEBACK: SWEEPING NEW PROGRAM AIMS TO BREAK ‘TYRANNY OF FUEL’ AT BASES ACROSS THE GLOBE “We want to bring as much net addition of dispatchable, reliable electricity onto the grid to stop these price rises in electricity and increase American capacity to generate firm, reliable, electricity so we can reassure manufacturing in our country, and we can stay ahead in the AI race,” Wright said. While Reactor Unit Two has remained offline since its malfunction that March morning, Reactor Unit One kept running until the 2010s, when its owners shut it down, citing primarily economic reasons. Constellation Energy previously announced it had hoped to use the site in the future to power AI data centers after forging a deal with Microsoft. ‘WEB OF DARK MONEY’ TIED TO OBAMA, DEMS FUELS GREEN OPPOSITION TO CRUCIAL TRUMP ENERGY PLAN In July, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a public meeting at Penn State—Harrisburg to discuss reopening the facility, now called the Crane Clean Energy Center. Energy Department Loan Programs Office director Greg Beard told reporters Tuesday that a $1 billion loan has been extended to Constellation to restart what was Three Mile Island. Beard said the 800MW potential of the site is crucial to supporting regional power grid facilitator PJM with “stable, affordable baseload power.” TRUMP’S ENERGY PRICE PROMISE IS COMING DUE. HE HAS THE POWER TO SOLVE THE CRISIS Beard said the project could come to fruition as early as 2027. Wright said some of America’s biggest energy challenges come in terms of affordability with rising utility rates for the past several years. When Trump took office, he said, he reversed previously ongoing efforts to close up as much as 100gW of affordable and reliable energy through coal and gas, while adding several nuclear plants closed during the Biden years. The secretary called the Three Mile Island project “exactly what America needs” and proof the Trump administration is looking at an all-of-the-above approach to American energy dominance. Beard added there is an “active pipeline” of applications to his office for support for future nuclear, coal, oil, gas and critical minerals projects – and that his office is actively seeking and reviewing projects that can reinvigorate the energy supply chain. LIZ PEEK: TRUMP WHITE HOUSE FIRED UP ABOUT KING COAL’S RETURN TO POWER Constellation signed a 20-year lease agreement for the Three Mile Island site in late 2024, and renamed it after former CEO Christopher Crane. The effort to reopen the once-infamous site in the middle of the Susquehanna River upstream from Columbia and downstream from Lemoyne also has bipartisan support. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro previously called the state’s nuclear industry a key player in green energy. “[It provides] carbon-free electricity that helps reduce emissions and grow Pennsylvania’s economy,” he said.