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Former President Donald Trump echoed in one of his multiple statements today taking credit for Glenn Youngkin`s win in Virginia. President Trump endorses a slew of problematic Republican candidates for the Midterm Election. More than 28 million young children are now eligible to get vaccinated after the CDC director signed off last night on a low- dose two-shot Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. NBC News projects that Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) wins the New Jersey governor`s race.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New York City where the police unions threatened to — the mandate would relieve upwards of 10,000 officers. That number at the beginning of the week was only a whopping 34. And according to the police commissioner, there — 85 percent of the NYPD staff are now vaccinated.

All right, that is tonight REIDOUT. Don`t worry, joy will be back tomorrow. “ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES” starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC HOST (voice-over): Tonight on ALL IN.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It clearly was a fair election and I applaud the governor-elect.

HAYES: The most important takeaway from a bad night for Democrats, including an ongoing Trump problem for Republicans even as he fades from relevance. And the conspiracies he indulged move on without him or JFK Jr.

Plus, my interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci as the first shots go into the first arms of kids under 11 years old.

And does anyone really think that adding more guns into these types of situations is a good idea?

Today`s high stakes hearing in the Supreme Court where conservatives are on the add gun side when ALL IN starts right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES (on camera): Good evening from New York. I`m Chris Hayes. You know much of the coverage of the election results last night in Virginia and New Jersey and elsewhere use words like shocking and surprising. And I have to say, that does not really scan for me.

The election results were in many ways incredibly expected. That New Jersey gubernatorial race was closer than almost anyone thought it would be. And I should tell you, the Associated Press has called the race for incumbent Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, but the NBC News decision desk is still waiting to see additional information.

In Virginia, remember, before election day, the polling averages showed a neck and neck race right down to the wire. In fact, polls have been trending towards Republican Glenn Youngkin in the final stretch of the election. Frankly, all that tracks with what we would expect in this political moment.

Historically, incumbent Democratic governors do not do well in New Jersey. Should Governor Murphy pull off a very narrow victory, he`ll be the first Democrat to win a second consecutive turn in New Jersey since the 1970s. And in the last 12 gubernatorial elections of Virginia, only one has been won by the party holding the White House, which was ironically enough, Terry McAuliffe`s narrow victory back in 2013.

Here`s the basic situation. When a party is in power, as the Democrats are in the White House, it often mobilizes the opposition party. It`s part of the political gravity it is held for decades. I mean, heck, look back to the 1930s, all right, 1934 aside, which was an anomalous situation, when the Democrats under President Franklin Roosevelt got absolutely blown out in the 1938 midterm elections.

That`s after they did all the New Deal stuff everyone loved. The man was so popular. He was elected president four times and even he suffered the same kind of political backlash to his presidency that we`re seeing last night. In many ways, just an unavoidable part of our political reality in a divided country.

There`s another interesting angle in Virginia, which is that in many ways, Republicans kind of turned back the clock a little bit. They nominated a very Bush-era-style candidate circa 2003. And Glenn Youngkin is a private equity baron in a vest. He talks about economic issues. And when he pushes talking points that are meant to flirt with and stoke white backlash, he does so in a coded way with dog whistles about education.

And while I think that kind of coded talk and who it is intended to appeal to is bad, obviously. There`s no designing it has been a successful strategy for Republican candidates for decades, dating back to Richard Nixon`s talk about law and order Ronald Reagan`s speech on welfare and states` rights in Mississippi.

But that`s different in appreciably than the much more explicit racism that we saw from Republican candidates under Donald Trump`s leadership. Like, with this guy named Corey Stewart also in Virginia, he narrowly lost the Republican primary for governor in 2017 and was the Republican candidate for Senate in 2018. He ran statewide, openly flirted with alt-right talking points, argued that removing the Confederate flag from Virginia was akin to the quote — state “losing its identity.” That was not Glenn Youngkin`s campaign.

Glenn Youngkin very much tried and successfully achieved having it both ways. He did stoke white grievance politics to mobilize the Republican base, the ad of the white mother who is upset that her kid was being taught Toni Morrison`s Beloved. But he did while not alienating the kind of white suburban voters who trended towards Democrats in the Trump era.

I think the appeals best symbolized by this picture of this person attending Glenn Youngkin rally on Monday with the Confederate flag sewn into the back of their jacket. That person knows exactly what Youngkin means for him to hear when Youngkin talks about education.

[20:05:01]

And the fact that Youngkin can win while sort of half embracing Donald Trump and also keeping him at arm`s length, that clearly has the former president panicked about his own influence over the Republican Party because here`s the thing. Last night results, I think, prove that in large parts of the country, and maybe everywhere, the Republican Party does not need Trump anymore.

The MAGA base, white rural voters will show up for elections to vote for Republicans without Trump standing on the ballot, which is why we`re seeing this increasing sense of desperation from the ex-president. Trump released a flurry of statements in the run up to the election endorsing Youngkin and talking about how much the two men liked one another and share policy goals.

And then over the weekend, he turned to Fox News to make sure everyone understood how important Donald Trump would be for Glenn Youngkin`s campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think he should win. I mean, he should win. I`ll be honest, my base has to turn out. If my base turns out, he`s going to win. And I hope they turn out. I really want them to turn out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: It`s a sentiment Trump echoed in one of his multiple statements today taking credit for Youngkin`s win. “I would like to thank my base for coming out in force and voting for Glenn Youngkin. Without you, he would not have been close to winning. The MAGA movement is bigger and stronger than ever before.

You can smell the desperation coming off that statement, the multiple statements he put out saying the same thing. Nearly a year out from office, Trump says his movement is stronger than ever, but I`m not so sure. We`re an interesting moment right now, right? I mean, the reality of what happened last night, the image of Glenn Youngkin, private equity baron up there, you know, talking about education and normal Republican issues, is kind of a version of normal politics for lack of a better word.

At the same time, we are watching this metastasizing abnormality of American politics that is continuing to grow underneath the surface. All you have to do is check on what the Trump movement was up to yesterday. To start with, at least seven Republicans who were in D.C. for the January 6 insurrection were elected in state and local races last night, although they say they did not actually breached the Capitol with the violent mob.

The real action was in Texas of all places where you might have seen this hundreds of people, including many supporters of the far-right conspiracy theory known as QAnon, which espouses among many, many bonkers claims that a satanic cabal of politicians and celebrities are involved in a massive child sex trafficking ring. They gathered in Dealey Plaza in Dallas. That, of course, the site where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated back in 1963.

And they did that because some QAnon supporters believe that President Kennedy`s son, JFK Jr. who tragically died in a plane accident back in 1999 actually faked his death and is going to return to the public stage to announce that he will be Donald Trump`s vice president.

And what`s interesting about this, and I think, noteworthy, why we`re covering, why we`re showing you this footage, this was not a big hyped-up event. This isn`t one of those things where lots of press coverage leading up to this rally and there`s more reporters and there are, you know, protesters. In fact, it caught a lot of reporters by surprise. They kind of stumbled onto it through social media, hundreds of people just congregating.

Of course, JFK Jr. did not materialize last night and the hundreds of QAnon supporters went home disappointed. But that`s a little glimpse into where at least part of the MAGA movement is right now. And so, Republicans, they need to decide whether they want to return to the kind of, you know, coded politics of the past before Trump, or run with a guy whose diehard supporters believe a dead man is going to ascend to the vice presidency before Trump can enact swift retribution on all their perceived enemies.

Alex Wagner is a co-host of Showtimes The Circus, a contributing writer at The Atlantic. She covered the gubernatorial race from the ground in Virginia. Former Congressman Tom Perriello represented Virginia`s Fifth Congressional District from 2009 to 2011. He has a new opinion piece in the New York Times today titled Youngkin`s victory in Virginia as a warning, also a roadmap. And they join me now.

Tom, let me start with you because I was in Charlottesville on election night in 2010 where you lost that race in the — in the big sort of Tea Party backlash. You have — you have personally experienced this. What do you make of what happened last month?

TOM PERRIELLO, FORMER VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVE: Look, I think it is a warning in time for Democrats to avoid next year the losses that we had in 2010. First of all, it was a much closer election. We saw the Democratic coalition turnout in a close race. But really, at the end of the day, I think we saw that simply being anti-Trump is not enough. Democrats are going to have to show the results that they`re producing for everyday folks.

It`s a good reason to get the Biden build-back agenda passed and past faster. And actually saw with the delegates, many of whom are running to the left of the ticket, they actually survived and kept most of the gains from 2017 that they lost seats by running on having expanded the minimum wage, expanding Medicaid and health care benefits and delivering a paid family leave.

So, I think where Democrats can show those results, in addition to naming the hatefulness, that is Trumpism 2.0, there`s still time to put together a winning formula for next year.

[20:10:29]

HAYES: Alex, you did some reporting, you did great interview with one mom in Virginia who I keep thinking about because when we asked her, you know, what`s your issue of the curriculum, she basically said, well, there was an assignment that sort of ran down Andrew Jackson for, you know, ethnic cleansing, and I didn`t really like that very much. And I thought, OK, well, that`s a real grievance. I mean, that`s not invented. That`s — your kid really did have an assignment that really did call Andrew Jackson, you know, purveyor of ethnic cleansing, and you really don`t want him to learn that.

But I also wonder, like, how much this sort of education issue and all that stuff, how much that was playing, and how much it`s just like, this is what a kind of national environment that`s in a kind of backlash moment looks like?

ALEX WAGNER, CO-HOST, THE CIRCUS: Well, I mean, I think you have to look at a couple of different weather patterns in Virginia. The first is that the state has seen just dramatic racial diversification in the last 25, 30 years. And there have been a lot of growing pains to put it lightly around that, right?

The NAACP has had its sights on the Virginia School System for a while because of racist incidents. It`s filed complaints with the Attorney General`s Office. And as a response to that, and current events, like, for example, the murder of George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery, or Breonna Taylor, the school system has tried to be more inclusive in its curriculum.

Now, conservatives in the state magnified by the dark money conservative movement and you know, Fox News, have called it critical race theory. But what`s happening is a bid to make the curriculum taught in schools more inclusive, more accurate in terms of history, and more responsive to the needs of a diverse and changing population. That`s a new problem to have.

As much as we talk about Glenn Youngkin as kind of a throwback to Republican politicians, if you`re the problem that he`s kind of trying to tackle, if you will, in Virginia, is very much a 21st-century one. How do we talk about race and structural racism in our history of racism in America in a way that is inclusive and accurate. And what that woman that I spoke to, she`s the head of the Loudoun County Republican Women`s Club, a former GOP strategist, and a mom of six, the issue she had was the way those lessons were being taught denigrated whiteness.

And that`s the fundamental problem for these parents and this anti-CRT movement. They don`t like the way whiteness is being portrayed in these new, more inclusive lessons. And that is a complicated issue to solve all around.

HAYES: Yes, and I should be clear —

WAGNER: And so, it`s different, and it`s also the same.

HAYES: Yes. I mean, I should be clear. Like, people have all sorts of grievances in it. But given education system, I think that actually, when you look at Youngkin`s messaging, he was very smartly talking about things like teacher pay. Like, he cut ads on teacher pay. Everyone is talking about the CRT part, and that was part of it, but he was out there saying, like, we`re going to raise teacher pay.

I also think, Tom, again, I think this satisfies no one because everyone after an election like this has their sort of like, they talk their book about like, well, it was because of this or that. You know, Biden was elected because Donald Trump drove a lot of people nuts. And the country went through a once-in-a-century catastrophe that he abjectly mismanaged. And the promise was like, we`re going to get back to normal, whatever normal is, something better than this madness.

And, you know, it looked like that was happening in the spring. And then the summer, it felt a lot less normal. It was like Delta was back, places were closing, again, all this stuff. And I just think like, there`s supply chain stuff, that it`s bad vibes, gas prices are high, people feel like, this is not normal. And like, that`s the Occam`s Razor story of what we`re seeing.

PERRIELLO: Well, look, I want to agree with that and then also go back to a really important point that Alex made. So, first of all, I think voters are angry, and they keep voting for change. And I think some people misread Biden`s nomination as being this desire to return to the old but in fact, he was changed relative to what Trump represented.

Now, Biden is the president. So, when voters are angry, they want something that`s different from that. And Youngkin did a very good job of presenting himself as the outsider who is ready to drain the swamp of Richmond with equal sort of credibility to Trump doing so in D.C. But the fact was, he was able to pay Terry McAuliffe as the insider. The ads I was getting for the last two weeks were about all of the corporate PAC donations that Terry McAuliffe had taken in earlier campaigns.

So, I think as Democrats think about where they need to position themselves, right now being anti-establishment or at least being against the corruption is a good position to take, not trying to revert to an old D.C. consensus which is much of what people are reacting against.

[20:15:09]

To Alex`s point, I think this both presents a painful truth and an opportunity. We would expect if you look at times when a white majority has essentially ceded power, you have reconstruction, which ended with an ethnic cleansing. And you have California in the 1990s, which ended with a multiracial coalition that is held more or less since that time.

It is not hard for Democrats to be the party of public education. We want kids to have schools that are safe and teach accurate history, not fairytales. And many of those parents, White, Black, and Brown want their kids to be learning real history. And when we talk about it that way, even when some of those things are uncomfortable, we want our kids to learn critical thinking skills. That`s how they`re going to compete in today`s work environment. And we shouldn`t be afraid of that.

Part of what`s happened is Democrats have wanted to unilaterally call for a detente in the culture wars because the Democratic Party doesn`t support CRT and doesn`t support defund. Therefore, it`s not surprising that if only one side is fighting this war that they are winning it very much handedly.

So, we should talk about being pro-teacher, talk about being for a safe and accurate curriculum as we see Confederate monuments that were propaganda monument down, we see monuments to Black Liberation go up. That is true history. It`s also inspiring history when it`s taught the right way.

HAYES: Alex Wagner and Tom Perriello, we`ll just end up saying it`s an amazing story of America that the former CEO of the Carlyle Group — Carlyle Group got himself elected governor. It`s just an incredible story to see. Thank you both.

PERRIELLO: As an outsider, yes.

HAYES: Yes. One reason a fairly generic candidate like Glenn Youngkin was able to win an increasingly radicalized Republican Party is that his state party fixed it so you don`t have to beat a diehard MAGA candidate in the primary. But there are much Trumpier candidates out there that could cause major headaches for Republicans and we`ll explain next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:00]

HAYES: In the lead up for last night`s election in Virginia, it was difficult to paint Republican Glenn Youngkin as Trump in a fleece vest. He was able to present himself successfully as a kind of neutral, affable rich dad. He was able to emerge from the convention process that spared him the kind of primary in which he could be outflanked by some hardcore MAGA candidate.

That`s not the case and a lot of the upcoming statewide races across the country. So, for the upcoming Midterms in 2022, Donald Trump has even more incentive now to put his stamp on the party`s primaries. Again, you could feel the desperation coming from him as he watched this unfold yesterday.

The question Republicans now faces how many Glenn Youngkin`s can be a field as opposed to how many Sean Parnells. Sean Parnell is an Afghanistan war veteran from Western Pennsylvania. He`s in the running to fill retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey`s seat which is a critical seat for Republicans hoping to take back the Senate.

Parnell is also endorsed by Donald Trump. He has his complete and total endorsement. And while he is running for this important seat, he is in the midst right now of a divorce and custody battle for his three children. On Monday, Parnell`s estranged wife, Laurie Snell, testified under oath that he allegedly and I`m going to quote here, “choked her until she beat him to escape, and once called her a whore and a piece of S while pinning her down.”

She also testified that after 2008 Thanksgiving trip, Parnell “Briefly forced her out of her vehicle alongside a highway after raging at her, telling her to go get an abortion.” She testified the alleged abuse extended to their children saying that on one occasion, Parnell slapped one child hard enough to leave fingerprint-shaped welts to the back of the child`s T-shirt. And that he once got so angry, he punched a closet door with such force, it swung into a child`s face and left a bruise.” She said, Parnell told his child that was your fault.” Sean Parnell denied the claims. He said he will present his case in court next week.

Parnell was not alone. He`s just one of many candidates with similar, let`s say, problematic profiles of Trump has endorsed, candidates that have a big chance of being on the ballot next year`s midterm election and in the 2024 general election.

Michael Steele is a former chair of the Republican National Committee, and he joins me now. You know, Michael, there`s a history here. We saw it in 2010. It happened again in 2012 of Republicans having a shot at the Senate and ending up with candidates that lost them races that they probably should have won. Christine O`Donnell in Delaware is a really famous one.

How do you think of this now with Youngkin having secured this victory, having never had to run into primary and compare that to what these primary fields look like in a lot of these center races?

MICHAEL STEELE, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: And Chris, you just put your finger on a very important difference between the race that we just saw unfold and the races that are about to come up. What Virginia Republicans did and the country should know, in Virginia, you can choose whether to go into an actual primary where on election day, you have a primary day and voters from across the state go vote, or you can have a party convention in which the party officials will meet and they will decide who, you know, with the activists and, you know, Central Committee Chairman and so forth, who the nominee of the party will be.

Instead of the primary they chose the convention because they wanted to tailor-made the result. They wanted to get the candidate who could be competitive enough in a race across the state —

HAYES: The fix was there.

STEELE: You could put it that way. Exactly.

HAYES: I mean, they were — I mean, like, they were doing — in some ways, they`re doing what the establishment supposed to do.

STEELE: But it`s a good fix.

HAYES: Right.

STEELE: Yes.

HAYES: But yes, they wanted it to be Youngkin and they didn`t want — they didn`t want Corey Stewart or whatever, right.

STEELE: Right. And that`s perfectly OK and perfectly fine. Parties have those — have those options in some states to do that. Here`s the rub across the rest of the map though. What you`re seeing now in the races, as you`ve identified from Herschel Walker in Georgia and Parnell and others, is that they go through — they go through this primary where typically hard-edged party loyalists come out. We say the most conservative part of the party on the right, the most liberal progressive part of the party on the left. We saw that play out in — I was in Buffalo or in the race up there.

So, the reality of it is now this is the space and you set it up perfectly and put your foot where Trump is going to really come into play. This race, as I`ve looked at it now, this race that we just saw in Virginia was Trump`s sort of like, OK, I want to get a good one here.

Trump was not happy about this way this played out because he was basically kicked to the curb and told to stay there.

HAYES: Yes.

STEELE: But he — but now he can make the claim, I got one.

HAYES: Interesting.

STEELE: I got a governor elected in a blue state, right. And that pivots him and sets him up well to look at all these other races, Chris, where they`re going to be clamoring if they`re not already and many are, to get that endorsement to push them to their primary and set them up for what they think is going to be a very aggressive competitive race against Democrats next fall.

[20:25:45]

HAYES: Yes. And there`s a few things that I think are interesting here. One is, you`ve got the — you`ve got the bio problems of someone like Sean Parnell. I mean, in most normal circumstances, like you don`t want someone — and I have no idea whether these allegations are true or not, but you don`t want to field a candidate whose ex-wife is saying, he abused me, he told me to go get an abortion, he hit our kids so hard that — you know, I mean, you don`t — that`s — you know, you don`t want that, right?

STEELE: Right.

HAYES: You`ve also got this — the other thing about Youngkin was that again, Trump changed so much about politics that returned to the old normal feel fresh. Like, Youngkin didn`t seem like he was going out of his way to be like an obnoxious jerk all the time to everyone, which is normally how politics work. Again, across the spectrum, try to be likable.

And then you`ve got — you look over this Ohio Senate primary and you`ve got — it seems like they`re all competing with each other to be as obnoxious as possible in the hope that that`s what gets the — that`s what gets the Trump endorsement.

STEELE: And that`s what happens when you have a system set up the way it is in these — in these races where there — where there is an actual primary and the MAGA base is expected to turn out. Youngkin — I have not met a governor like Youngkin personally. I know of him. We have a mutual — lot of mutual friends. And he is that guy in many respects that we saw in this campaign.

He is a family man, a businessman. He`s very approachable. And I think you`re going to see that on the back end up. Now, you can have policy debates, but what you`re looking at strategically is how he approached the election —

HAYES: Right.

STEELE: Given that he was not a Trump — a Trump guy.

HAYES: That`s the question though. The question for me is, can you — here`s the thing that I want Republican strategist to realize, which I think is true. You don`t need Trump.

STEELE: You don`t.

HAYES: Those people are going to — they`re going to crawl over broken glass to vote against the Democrats now, Trump or no Trump because you already have them. You don`t need him. You`re better off without him. And I wonder how much Republican strategist get that message from this?

STEELE: A lot more than one may think. Certainly a lot more than you may hear in a public square coming on a program like this talk about it. It is — it is — you know, as we`ve seen with a lot inside my party over the last few years, there are a lot of hushed tones and sidebar conversations and nodding heads and rolling eyes and oh my God.

HAYES: Right.

STEELE: And then they get out in public, and they`re like, you know, Donald Trump is the best thing to happen to the Republican Party, and they head off stage and throw up in the trash can.

HAYES: Right.

STEELE: So, this is — this is the reality that the party now finds itself. And what I think you`re going to see in some races are candidates coming out and saying, bunk that, I`m going to stand firm on conservative Republican principles, I`m going to run my race, and I`m going to make my case and take my chances. Because to your more important point, what a lot of folks know to be true, you don`t need Trump to win. That was proven last night.

HAYES: It was.

STEELE: Maybe by accident, maybe deliberately, but it was proven last night.

HAYES: Michael Steele, thank you so much. It was great.

STEELE: You got it, buddy.

HAYES: Coming up, it`s the moment millions of Americans have been waiting for, kids 5 and older can get that vax. Dr. Anthony Fauci is here to walk us through what this means for families and schools right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take a big breath, big breath.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Great job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good job. You did it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was great.

TOM COSTELLO, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: How do you feel?

CARTER GIGLIO, RECEIVED 1ST VACCINE DOSE: Halfway vaccinated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations. Are you happy about it?

GIGLIO: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you happy?

GIGLIO: Because I`m halfway there to doing no masks and stuff that I couldn`t do before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Do you feel like maybe this gives you a little bit more protection?

GIGLIO: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Did you need convincing to do it or you were ready to do it?

GIGLIO: I was ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: The day that millions of parents cross country, myself included, have been waiting for has finally arrived. More than 28 million young children are now eligible to get vaccinated after the CDC director signed off last night on a low-dose two-shot Pfizer vaccine for children ages five to 11.

While most kids don`t get as sick as adults from COVID, more than two million kids aged 5 to 11 have gotten COVID, more than 8300 were hospitalized, 173 died. Although again, when you think about that out of two million cases. Vaccinating kids will not only help keep them safe, it will help slow down the spread of the disease too. It should bring general community transmission down.

Families are already signing their kids up with the vaccine, millions of doses already been shipped across the country. Because this is an entirely new vaccination program with smaller doses and smaller needles than the regular shot, it is unclear just how quickly it will move along.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health. He`s also the Chief Medical Adviser to President Joe Biden, and he joins me now.

First of all, Dr. Fauci, how does this work in the next week just the immediate, you know, distribution? Like, is this already Present geographically across the country? Can people expect to go to their local pharmacy or their pediatrician and get the shot?

[20:35:08]

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: Well, yes, very, very soon, Chris. The preparation for this in anticipation of the favorable response of the regulatory agency, the FDA, and then, as you mentioned last night, when the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices made the recommendation by a unanimous vote, to make this vaccine available to children 5 to 11.

We were preparing for this for quite a while to the point where by the time we get just a few days into November 8, we will be at full speed. So, it`s inching up to that over the next few days. But clearly, by the time we get into next week, we`re going to have all systems go. Namely, have the product available appropriately in pharmacies, in pediatric offices, in children`s hospitals, and in places of distribution for the children. So, we hope to really be able to put a full-court press on this and hopefully, get as many of these children vaccinated as possible.

HAYES: So, what I`m hearing from you — I just want to be crystal clear on this. Right now, if you`re for adult doses in anywhere in the U.S., it`s very easy to find vaccination almost anywhere. I mean, they exist to chain pharmacies. You could walk in. It`s not like in the battle days of like, reloading a website.

What I`m hearing from you saying a week out from today, you`re hoping that we`re in roughly a similar situation of if you want to take your kid to go vaccinate, you can do it.

FAUCI: Exactly. That`s precisely the case. We`re aiming to be November 8 at full speed.

HAYES: Got you. There are — I am not a parent who is reluctant, hesitant, worried about giving my kids the vaccine. In fact, I`m one of those who`s going to do it as soon as possible. There are parents I think, who are vaccinated themselves who are not generally vaccine resistant, who may feel a little more concern, anxious about kids. Parents tend to be a little more, you know, worried anxious about kids, what goes in their kids bodies. How do you think about the messaging there and about the patients and what the — what level of uptake you`re anticipating?

FAUCI: Well, first of all, we absolutely have to respect the concerns of parents, because parents are going to have valid questions. And it`s up to us in our communication to answer those questions and to make that information available widely. I mean, you want to have trusted messengers. Some of the best trusted messengers in these cases would be pediatricians, or family members, or people who have had vaccination as an adult, and can talk about the results.

The data are very clear, Chris, the efficacy data and the safety data. Our FDA particularly when it comes to children are very, very scrupulous in figuring out whether or not we have a benefit-risk ratio that`s favorable to the benefit, and they clearly came out with that. And that`s the reason why they authorized it. And that`s the reason why we had a 14 to zero recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, whose job is to look out for both the safety of the children as well as the protection from the vaccines.

So, we got to get that message across to parents and not put down or be put off by they`re very, very valid questions. We like them to ask questions. We believe we have the data to back up the answers.

HAYES: The vaccination for kids aged five to 11, and obviously, there are kids younger than five, but it strikes me as a real milestone in this respect. At some point in my life, I hope we`re not going to be living in the midst of a pandemic. There`s a sort of technical public health term for what makes something a pandemic.

Diseases can go from — infectious disease and go from pandemic endemic, right? We have the flu season every year. We have other endemic of coronaviruses that travel around that bring what`s called the common cold. It seems to me — like, when do we get to that? Because the current situation is kind of unsustainable. It`s been unraveling in a million different ways. And I think you see it bubbling up socially, politically, culturally.

But some universe in which we say, look, this thing is out there like the flu. It presents some risk. We`re going to take steps to mitigate against it. But it will not like hang over our society.

FAUCI: Right. Right. And I think we can get there. So, let me just very briefly explain. You characterize it quite correctly, Chris. You have a pandemic, a pandemic phase, when things in many respects are out of control. Then you get a turning around of a deflection of the dynamics of the outbreak.

From there you go into control, and control is a wide bracket, because better than control is elimination. For example, we`ve eliminated polio from the United States. We`ve eliminated Malaria from the United States. The next one down is eradication. I don`t think we should be aspirational about eradication. I don`t think that`s going to occur.

[20:40:09]

Hopefully, we may ultimately be able to eliminate it. But given the transmissibility of this particular virus, I don`t think that`s something that we`re going to see in the future, in the reasonable future. But control is where we want to be. And we want to be at control at a low enough level of background infection in the community, with a large proportion of individuals vaccinated, and those who in fact, were infected, they will have a degree of protection for a period of time. We`re recommending that they ultimately wind up getting vaccinated too so that you have a veil of protection over the community. So, even though you haven`t eliminated it, it`s not having an impact on our way of life. That`s what I would consider adequate control.

HAYES: I mean, just in terms of my mental preparation — so I`m watching cases are going back up in Europe where — which is quite vaccinated in some countries even more vaccinated than us. I`ve watched the experience in New York City, which is a high vaccination threshold comparatively, had a case rise from Delta, but kept that hospitalization and fatality low.

And I guess I just wondering like, we should expect cases to go up this winter. They`re going to go up. If we`re at sufficient thresholds of vaccination, can we basically look at this as not the kind of looming threat to our healthcare system and our well-being and our mortality, morbidity that it has been in the past?

FAUCI: The answer to that is yes. If we continue to get people vaccinated, and now we have 28 million children from 5 to 11 who are eligible to be vaccinated, we have not as many as we`d like, of the adolescents who are going to get vaccinated, about half of them are, we want to get that number up.

If we continue to really eat away at that recalcitrant number of around 60 million and get more people vaccinated, we`re obviously going to have cases because when you get the cold weather, you put people indoors, sometimes they even pull back on mitigation. But we certainly want to make sure we don`t get severe disease among a significant number of people, or hospitalizations.

If we can go in a steady way to keep people more and more vaccinated — you mentioned Europe, it`s very interesting, Chris, if you look at the profile of Europe, and look at the countries that are high vaccinated, namely more than 70 percent of the population has at least one dose, the cases are way down.

If you look at those countries in Europe, which are mostly Eastern Europe that have let`s say, less than 60 percent of the population, you see a big blip up just continuing to prove that vaccination is the answer.

HAYES: All right, Dr. Anthony Fauci, well, hopefully, I`m going to be getting that for my kids soon. Thank you for making some time tonight.

FAUCI: Good to be with you. Thank you for having me, Chris.

HAYES: Coming up, the case before the Supreme Court that could mean more guns on the streets of New York and everywhere else for that matter. The details of that case and what it could mean for you just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know who you are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know who you are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can leave freely but we will find you and we know who you are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You won`t be allowed in public again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: It`s been a really big very noticeable rise in what I call anti- social behavior over the past 90 months during the pandemic basically since the start of the once-in-a-century pandemic. According to NBC News, more than 750,000 people have died of COVID in this country. There have been more than 46 million confirmed cases.

During the first few months of the Coronavirus pandemic, some 22 million U.S. workers lost their jobs. People have been forced to change everything about their life, their lifestyles, work, learn from home or work in dangerous environments, and fear getting the virus, and wear masks, and get brand new vaccines. And these are stressful times. And in the stressful times people have been sort of losing their minds.

We`ve seen it in lots of places in stores and schools and airplanes. Just about everywhere, people are forced to be near other people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) It`s a hoax. I don`t have to wear a mask. We`re not going to wear a mask.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is America. I don`t have to do what you say. It`s 2020.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I`ll get real close to you and cough on you. How`s that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You gave me one warning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your wife came unmasked. You`re wife just came off unmasked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She came off unmasked because you guys are causing a scene. Turn around. Turn around. Face everybody, Frank. Face everybody, Frank. Go ahead. Turn around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: That`s just a snapshot. You`ve probably seen a lot of these videos. It`s a real problem. I mean, incidents of unruly behavior on airplanes specifically alone have skyrocketed. In 2019, 146 investigations were initiated by the Federal Aviation Administration. The number so far this year is 950. That`s what the graph looks like. It`s six and a half times higher in the years and even over. Look at that spike.

But it`s not just people yelling or refusing to wear a mask in public. There`s been a real escalation of interpersonal violence in this country. According to NPR, the number of murders in the U.S. jumped by nearly 30 percent in 2020, compared with the previous year, and the largest single year increase ever recorded in the country.

Again, we just have the largest single year increase in murders ever recorded. So, the question for you. Would you think now is an ideal time to have more people carrying more guns in a country that really does seem like it`s processing a lot of trauma and is on very nerves.

That is exactly what the Supreme Court is considering right now, and the outcome could be truly terrifying. That`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:50:00]

STEVE KORNACKI, MSNBC NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the biggest single Democratic vote-producing county in New Jersey. So, we know whatever comes in here, particularly given the exact precincts, we`re talking about here in Essex County, we know it`s going to be a big Murphy vote that still comes out of there.

The other thing we`ve been waiting on has been absentee vote, has been vote by mail. And the vote by mail just tends to be overwhelmingly Democratic. Some of these counties it has taken them an exceptionally long time to get that vote by mail counted up and reported out. One of the reasons for that in New Jersey, they did not allow the counties until midnight on election day to begin processing all of these mail ballots they received. So, there was a backlog there, it seems it took some extra time.

So, every reason to believe that the vote still to come in here in New Jersey is only going to help Murphy. But the final margin, wherever it lands here, I don`t think it`s going to be too much more than what you`re looking at right now. This is, as you said, this was the scare of Phil Murphy`s life here.

Certainly, the Murphy campaign, not even Republicans in New Jersey thought this thing was going to be that competitive. Biden wins by 16 a year ago. Maybe Murphy wins by a point and a half.

HAYES: And quickly, I think the story here — I was running the numbers. Virginia was a high turnout election. Here you get Ciattarelli getting about 66 percent of Donald Trump`s vote total a year ago, and Murphy getting about 46 percent in raw numbers. So, just an enormous Democratic turnout drop off as one of the big stories here in this.

KORNACKI: Well, and I think also, Democratic drop off Republican enthusiasm because some of these areas, I mean, like Ocean County here, you had you know sky high enthusiasm here. It`s not just that Ciattarelli got 68 percent of the vote here, the raw number of votes that Ciattarelli got out here.

[20:55:13]

Chris Christie won this county. This was one of the big reasons Chris Christie got elected governor way back in 2009. Ciattarelli got more votes out of this county than Chris Christie did. When we saw this come in last night, we`re saying Holy Cow, Ciattarelli might have a chance here statewide. So, Republicans, and especially I think in — you see in Ocean County, a couple of these other counties in South Jersey, that enthusiasm and that turnout was so high for Republicans, in fact, that the state senate president here, a Democrat, looks like he`s going to go down to defeat losing to a Republican candidate who spent the grand total of $161.00 on his campaign because of that Republican tide in some of these areas.

HAYES: All right, Steve Kornacki at the big board, thank you so much.

KORNACKI: You got it.

HAYES: That`s a big news out in New Jersey tonight. Turning now to what happened in Washington D.C. today. The Supreme Court heard arguments of other — to keep New York State`s strict gun restrictions that required gun owners to obtain a special license to carry firearms outside the home.

It seems like a reasonable enough ask. If you want to carry a gun, you need a license. It`s kind of like driving a car. But the conservative majority on the court seems skeptical denying some people the ability to just walk around with a gun is constitutional. And with what we`ve seen in the increase in violence across the country, what could possibly go wrong with even more people armed?

Kris Brown is a president of the Brady — of Brady, the National Campaign to prevent gun violence, and she joins me now. Chris, just to frame the constitutional question here, my understanding is, the court is considering whether to issue an opinion saying that the Second Amendment requires every state to just let anyone carry a gun that wants to whenever.

KRIS BROWN, PRESIDENT, BRADY: Yes. I mean, that`s basically correct, Chris. New York has had a permitting system for over a century that just says that we need to decide when someone wants to carry a gun in public in Times Square, whether or not they have a good reason to carry that gun.

And at issue in this case is that permitting system whether or not someone should have to state a strong reason because of a concern for their own safety to carry a gun in public anywhere at any time. And it`s not just New York, about a quarter of all of us here in America live in states with those kinds of permitting systems.

So, the scope of what`s before this court is really an interpretation of the Second Amendment that we`ve had since our very founding, actually, since before that. The idea of a government that was espoused by John Locke was whether or not we have a right to basic public safety. Whether we can walk down the street or go to the movies, or go to the public square, and not be afraid of violence.

And that`s why these permitting systems exist, Chris, and that`s why they work. They have worked. And they`re really important to protect and preserve our public safety. And let`s not forget that we had an insurrection on January 6. And against that backdrop, we didn`t have so many guns that were brought into the District of Colombia because of strong laws in D.C. and many other places.

This is not an esoteric argument. This is an argument that matters to every American and the stakes are really high with this case.

HAYES: Yes, in fact, we had multiple messages, text message, board traffic among folk going to that saying, leave your guns because D.C. is super strict. I mean, there`s real evidence of that.

You know, there`s a moment today in the arguments where Sam Alito, you know, made it seem like the subways of New York were — would be you know, it was like from the film The Warriors or the Wild West and asked, well, wouldn`t people need to, you know, carry guns on the subway to defend themselves.

I have to say, as someone who just took the subway here that it was perfectly safe and happy to not have the whole subway car armed. But those conservative justices sound very, very sympathetic to this argument.

BROWN: You know how I felt about that, Chris, and I`m sure that they were referencing back to Bernie Goetz, vigilante justice, this notion that seemed to be undergirding some of the more conservative justices, that somehow in the Constitution, there is a right. And it`s not found in the Second Amendment. Is not found anywhere else for vigilante justice doesn`t exist. In fact, it`s quite the contrary.

So, it is alarming. I`m just hoping that in the end, people recognize that we have an epidemic of gun violence that the laws we have work, and that a well-regulated militia is completely separate and apart from our ability to protect ourselves and our kids in this country.

HAYES: Yes. Call me old-fashioned. I think the state should have a monopoly on legitimate use of violence but that`s just me. Kris Brown, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

That is ALL IN on this Wednesday night. “THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW” starts right now. Good evening, Rachel.

By LOUIS C. HOCHMAN, TALIA WIENER AND JAIMIE JULIA WINTERS
news@montclairlocal.news

Montclair voters have approved a move to an elected school board — putting aside the municipality’s long-held practice of mayoral appointments, and taking on the process seen in 97% of New Jersey school districts.

The referendum before voters Tuesday (and in the weeks leading up to it, through early voting and mail-in balloting) was the latest version of a proposal Montclarians have rejected five times since the 1960s. When Montclair last put a referendum question on a change to an elected board before voters in 2009, the question was defeated 57% to 43%.

The vote this election bucked that trend — and wasn’t close. Even with some votes yet to be counted, the victory for the pro-elected side of what’s been a fierce community debate for months was so lopsided as to be insurmountable.

In unofficial results reported by the Essex County Clerk’s office around 11:30 p.m. on Election Night Tuesday, 8,187 backed the change to a Type II school system with an elected board — 70.69% of the vote tallied to that point. Just 3,394 voted to keep the current Type I system with a mayor-appointed board.

“This election was about the basics of local democracy and public services: About residents in our township enjoying the same voting rights as in other communities, and then using these rights to ensure that our most precious residents — our children — are given the best public education possible,” Vote Montclair, the group that successfully petitioned to put the referendum question on the ballot, said in a statement posted to its website late Tuesday.

The results as of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday included 31 of the township’s 35 voting districts. They didn’t yet count provisional ballots, which wouldn’t be counted for days. They include early votes and mail-in ballots received and counted by Essex County up until that point. As of Monday, the Essex County Clerk’s office had received 2,915 of 5,982 requested mail-in ballots.

The measure does more than just change the method of selecting school board members. Two more members will be added to the current seven-member board, through a special election early next year. Going forward, board elections will be held every November, for three seats at a time.

Montclair will cease to be a so-called Type I district, which in addition to having a mayor-appointed board, has a separate Board of School Estimate to approve budgets and fix costs for capital expenses before they’re sent to the Township Council for bonding. The BoSE will be dissolved. The change will be effective as soon as the vote is certified.

As a Type II district — the kind seen in most New Jersey municipalities — the school system’s budgets will generally be approved by the school board itself. If they exceed a 2% cap on year-to-year property tax levy growth, they’ll go to voters for approval. Capital improvement bonds will go before the public as well, either in regularly scheduled or special elections.

Vote Montclair, in its statement, said the effort to move to an elected board “can be measured in decades,” and that the debate over the matter had often been “bitter.”

“Advocates of both positions were at times too quick to level charges of underhanded tactics and shadowy financial connections,” it wrote. “But it is clear that most who have been in the fray have been driven by what they truly believe is in the best interests of the Township, and its children. Those who are now celebrating should be especially mindful of this. And everyone should be grateful for the enormous contribution of many of those who opposed this referendum, who in some cases fought for years for the cause of educational equity, often at no small personal cost.”

It urged a focus on ensuring the elected board would “benefit from smart, independent-minded, focused and driven members of our community.”

Carmel Loughman, communications chair for the League of Women Voters of the Montclair Area, which supported continuing with the Type I, mayor-appointed system, said the group was glad to see a “decent turnout for the election.” Proponents of both sides got their points across in forums, letters to the editor and newspaper guest columns, she said.

“Of course we are disappointed our position was voted down,” Loughman said. “We hope that all the excitement and energy spent on the campaigns will be devoted to addressing school issues. The League will be happy to moderate BOE candidate forums when the time comes. Montclair is a great community. We will work together to keep it that way.”

Proponents of the current system had argued low turnout in most school elections means the appointed system can actually better represent Montclair, saying mayors can choose appointees who represent a variety of skills and backgrounds, and who come from throughout the township. And they said elections invite electioneering, with the potential for monied special interests to dominate campaigns.

Some advocates for appointment said candidates in an elected system could be pressured to cut school spending and avoid capital improvement projects. And many worried an elected system might jeopardize Montclair’s cherished magnet school system, or the busing that makes it possible.

Sergio Gonzalez, a former board member passed over for reappointment by Mayor Sean Spiller earlier this year, disputed that idea at a forum run by Montclair Local. He said the magnet system — Montclair’s answer to a 1967 case that mandated it desegregate its schools — is “part of the value that draws people here, and they make a choice. Look at the map. It’s a blue town. … It’s in our blood. It’s in our DNA. There’s zero risk to the magnet system.”

Proponents of the elected system argued it better holds board members accountable to voters. They’ve said it’s easier to avoid the influence of special interests in nine elections for board members over three years than in a single election for mayor once every four years — pointing to the example of current Mayor Sean Spiller, now president of the powerful New Jersey Education Association, who saw substantial financial support from the union during his 2020 campaign (when he was the NJEA’s vice president).

And they’ve said issues including years of infrastructure problems, a rapid succession of six superintendents since 2012 and delayed or deferred spending on capital improvements have showed the current system wasn’t working.

The League had advocated for an advisory committee to help mitigate a concern Spiller’s dual roles present a conflict of interest. Representatives of Vote Montclair noted that nothing in New Jersey law can require such an advisory group exist; a mayor could disband or disregard it at any time.

The debate saw little consensus among elected officials or community groups. For instance, the Montclair NAACP chapter declined to take a position on the matter, even as its own education committee endorsed a move to an elected board. Roger Terry, the chapter’s president, said late Tuesday the Montclair branch “supports our entire community and whatever is in the best interest of our most precious commodity, our children.”

On the pages of Montclair Local’s opinion section, Councilman Peter Yacobellis argued for an elected board, saying Montclair voters should trust themselves to guide the school system, and that power over the district shouldn’t rest in the hands of any one mayor. Councilman David Cummings, in another guest piece for Montclair Local, advocated for an appointed board, saying an appointed board brings the community a selection of members with diverse backgrounds and experience — and cautioning low turnout at school elections could mean a small handful of people make big decisions for Montclair schools. Councilwoman Lori Price Abrams, in yet another guest piece, made many of the same arguments, also warning of a risk to the magnet system and saying a Type II system could move large capital improvement projects ahead faster.

Abrams and Yacobellis, in separate statements late Tuesday night, each stressed looking ahead. Abrams said she respects the choice of the voters, and that all those involved in the debate over the referendum “share a commitment to excellence in education through curriculum, enrichment opportunities and buildings which facilitate learning for every kind of student.” Yacobellis called Montclair a special town with a unique history, and said he hopes “all of this passion turns into people having sustained participation because that’s what it’s going to take to truly change things.”

And Councilman Bob Russo — a former mayor who said recently he favored an appointed board, but thought proponents of an elected one had made points worth considering — told Montclair Local he congratulates those who supported the referendum, and hopes they’ll “work together with me and the council to implement the new system of governing our schools.”

Where that leaves HVAC upgrades

The change also upends a process in recent months to bond for $15.5M in district-wide HVAC repairs, and eventually much more.

School leaders see a proposed HVAC project as the most urgently needed work at the district’s aging facilities, where they’re struggling to address issues including parents’ and staff member’s coronavirus safety concerns. But it only represents a portion of their total recent request of the Board of School Estimate and Township Council.

On Aug. 16, the school board sent the BoSE a formal request for $60 million in bonding. Then, when the BoSE met Sept. 30, school leaders outlined about $150 million in requested bonding, to be spread out over years — with the $15.5 million HVAC work up first.

School officials had proposed the extensive projects hoping to get ahead of the election and the possible district type change. But the clock ran out, with no project approved by the BoSE or ever sent to the Township Council.

Now, for the HVAC project to move forward, the school district would have to schedule a special election — at its own expense. Any borrowing rates will be based on an assessment of its own credit, not that of the township, which has a AAA bond rating.

Yacobellis, in his statement, urged the board of education “to consider what level of investment is needed in the short term and begin the process of putting a bond to the voters as soon as possible.” He’d been among those who pushed for the board and BoSE to begin moving a bond ahead even as the election loomed.

Angry residents called into a recent Township Council meeting accusing Deputy Mayor Hurlock, who chairs the BoSE, and its other members of stalling — which he denied, saying school officials had been slow to communicate and unclear in plans they sent, causing unnecessary delays.

Hurlock told Montclair Local Tuesday he was still waiting to hear back from district officials to schedule a next meeting on on the HVAC work. He’d received a request for a BoSE meeting from the district’s business administrator, Nicholas Cipriano, the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 22, he said. On Monday, Oct. 25, Hurlock responded to the request with an offer for a meeting on Thursday, Nov. 4 — in the event Montclair remained a Type I district, and the BoSE still had a role to play — he said.

A meeting on Oct. 25 would not have provided time for proper notice to the public, and board members were not all available the rest of the week, Hurlock said.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. on an Election Day that asked voters to weigh in on another term for Gov. Phil Murphy, or a change in administration that would elect former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli to the state’s top post, along with a slew of municipal, county and school officials across New Jersey.

Voters also decided who will represent them in the statehouse and whether the state should expand college sports betting in New Jersey.

With Murphy seeking to make history by becoming the first Democratic governor in the state to win reelection in over 40 years and Ciattarelli looking to continue the trend of one-term ousting, there is sure to be a lot to follow as Tuesday rolls on.

We will update you here as key races are called. You can find election results for statewide, county and municipal races here.

Concern at Murphy headquarters as results roll in

The mood at the Murphy campaign’s headquarters was pensive late Tuesday night as the race was too close to call.

Ciattarelli was leading through the night, but Murphy was closing the deficit as more results came in after 11:30 p.m.

Supporters were waiting for more definite results from Essex and Bergen counties.

Still, some faithful standing near the front of the ballroom wore glum faces as they watched cable news results that appeared to favor Ciattarelli as more and more New Jersey districts reported results in the competitive race for governor.

While Murphy banners hung above the crowd projected the candidate’s optimistic message — Stronger, Fairer, Forward — some Democrats appeared to be bracing for the worst as the 11 p.m. hour began and, according to the Associated Press, Ciattarelli was building a lead. 

“We are still hopeful,” said Fern Wolkin, from Cedar Knolls, a member of Moms Demand Action, a gun control group, as she watched the CNN reports flash on stage.

“There are still precincts out there that are favorable to Democrats.”

Upbeat mood at Ciattarelli campaign headquarters

The mood at Ciattarelli’s campaign at the Bridgewater Marriott was celebratory as of 10:50 p.m. with results through the evening showing Ciattarelli in the lead

The room burst into cheers with each new results update. Diane Allen, Ciattarelli’s running mate, took the stage just after 11 p.m. and addressed the audience.

‘I’d stay around if I were you,” she told the crowd. “We’re being cautiously optimistic, but Jack is hanging in there!”

And as the night worn on, the mood inside the ballroom was a mix of mounting excitement with lip biting tension as voters huddle in groups and checked updates on their phone.

They were optimistic. The Steve Miller Band was pumping through the speakers and barring a few rows of chairs laid out for seniors, everyone was literally hopping from one foot to the other.

Bergen Dems subdued awaiting results

Those gathered at the Bergen County Democratic gathering in Hasbrouck Heights was subdued as early polling numbers showed the county incumbents behind in every race including clerk, sheriff and both board of commissioner seats.

Though Sheriff Anthony Cureton is still serving his first term, County Clerk John Hogan is running for his third and Commissioners Tracy Zur and Steven Tanelli were first elected in 2012. 

Dignitaries including Congressman Josh Gottheimer and the early leaders in the District 37 Senate and Assembly races Gordon Johnson, Ellen Park and Shama Haider took the stage as County Chairman Paul Juliano urged the crowd of more than 100 to remain calm and wait for the final numbers.

“We’re waiting for more numbers and the governor is in a dogfight but we’re going to wait and see,” he said.

Meanwhile about three dozen supports of Bridget Anne Kelly, Hogan’s opponent, gathered in Allendale to wait it out.

The crowd was jubilant and expectant each time her former colleague in Gov. Chris Christie’s administration, and Bridgegate co-conspirator, Bill Baroni updated those assembled with the latest numbers.

NJ Legislature races rolling in

Results from the state assembly and senate races are coming in. Check our district-by-district vote totals here. In addition to the latest tabulations for the public questions.

NJ election results 2021:Governor, Senate, Assembly race results

Tune into our live election broadcast at 9 p.m. 

The USA Today Network New Jersey will be providing an election live stream, where we’ll share results as they come in, provide analysis of this year’s key races and discuss the policies that will impact you and your family.

We’ll be broadcasting live from our studio as well as the campaign headquarters of Gov. Phil Murphy and challenger Jack Ciattarelli. 

You can watch at the player below at 9 p.m.

ACLU, League of Women Voters’ lawsuit fails

Polls on Election Day will close at 8 p.m. as scheduled after a Superior Court Judge dismissed a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and League of Women Voters that sought an extension due to numerous issues with new voting machines in place this year. 

“I can’t find that anybody would be disenfranchised based on the evidence provided,” said Judge William Anklowitz.

He noted that the late hour of the hearing, which began after 6:30 p.m., “would cause such disarray as to call the integrity of the process into question.”

In their lawsuit, the ACLU of New Jersey and League of Women Voters detailed a series of issues plaguing polling locations this year, from issues with electronic poll book connecting to the Internet and poll workers refusing to admit voters while the issues were being sorted out.

In Paramus, a chance to catch up with neighbors

Shafeq Zarif came out to his local polling site Tuesday not for any one issue, but rather his yearly civic duty to have a say in his community.

“It’s our responsibility as a citizen to understand issues that are going on locally and nationwide,” said Zarif.

Not only was voting important to make your voice heard, but it was also a nice way to catch up with neighbors, said resident Carolyn Fox. Although Fox knew that early voting was in place this year, she was so used to coming on actual Election Day that she decided to make the trip out on Tuesday afternoon instead.

Montclair holds referendum on BOE

Larry Doby Jr. said the “big issue” in town this year is the school board referendum, in which residents are asked whether they support moving from an appointed school board to one elected by voters.

It is the sixth time the issue has been placed on a ballot since 1940.

“They’re trying to change something that has been that way for a long time,” Doby said, referring to Montclair’s status as one of only 3 percent of school districts in the state with a board of education appointed by the mayor.

Doby doesn’t know which is the best system but worries that the financial pressures of running a campaign will mean “people with money are the ones who get elected.”

“It’s a tough call,” Doby said. “I just hope the kids don’t suffer.”

Story continues below gallery

In Teaneck, residents decide two municipal referendums

A steady stream of residents took time out of their Tuesday afternoon to vote at the Richard Rodda Community Center in Teaneck. Many called it their civic duty while some referred to it as a privilege to participate in democracy.

The township has a contentious Board of Education election, as well as two municipal questions on the ballot, including one asking voters to approve a switch to a green energy supplier.

Don Wassum voted because he was concerned about the clean energy referendum. “We’ve tried this before and it’s just too expensive,” he said. “There is a real problem in the world but the people creating should be able to do it for people to afford.”

Other voters, including Laverne Lightburn, wanted to come because of how “nasty” the school board election was. She said she would like to see a return of the civil behavior that used to be present in town. She also supports the One Town One Vote initiative, which sponsored the first ballot question, regarding moving the township’s council election from May to November.

Early voting had a strong start in NJ

Even before polls opened Tuesday, tens of thousands of voters cast their ballots early.

This year marks the first time that New Jersey residents were able to vote early through in-person voting — which may have led to fewer people at the polls on Tuesday.

New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way said during a Monday press conference that, as of Sunday, 495,336 people voted with a mail-in ballot and 207,863 voted early at one of the 139 early voting locations.

The early voters were trending more Democratic than Republican, according to the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

Hot button issues drive voters

In Ramsey a ballot drop box outside the public library was seeing as much traffic as the voting booths inside.

Local voter John Sciabicia said he was against “CRT,” or critical race theory, being taught in the schools. CRT is an academic concept, which looks at how racism has affected history. The theory has become a hot button issue at the local school level. “I don’t want it taught here in Ramsey,” said Sciabicia, whose children attend Catholic schools.

Voters in other parts of North Jersey, including Ridgewood, also cited critical race theory as one of their concerns in this year’s elections.

In Wayne, a mix of issues brought out voters, but many said the local Board of Education race was at the top of the list.

Christine (who asked that her last name not be published) said she was voting for change on the state and school board level. As the mother of a 17-year-old high school student, she said, “It’s important that parents have a voice in what is taught in schools.”

Camille Ludwig, 84, said her opposition to the college gambling state question is what inspired her to vote. She said allowing residents to wager on college sports is a terrible idea and should be voted down.

Ridgewood’s first November election yields good turnout

In Ridgewood, which held its first November council election this year after decades of spring elections, cars were lined up for spots in the jammed library parking lot. Turnout was good, a poll worker said.

Voter Katie Lahey said she was primarily concerned about the top of the ticket. “I’m not a parent or anything,” she said, so didn’t feel as informed on local races.

First-time voter Dave Castro, on the other hand, had researched local candidates. He was interested in the regulations concerning masks and COVID vaccines in schools and public areas. He felt very strongly that the village downtown is “a centerpiece” and supported council candidate Paul Vagianos. 

Maureen Careri called this election a “crazy time” and thought critical race theory was being “pushed down our throats.” She said she votes a party line.

Another resident who gave her name as Kathleen said she voted early and was just stopping by the library. She thought residents got “good recompense” for their dime on property taxes.

Cynthia Fitzgerald, by contrast said, “I don’t see the value of the high taxes we pay,” and wanted a “more conservative fiscal approach” on the local school board.

Small town issues carry weight in Ringwood

Joseph Walker, Ringwood’s former chief of police, arrived at borough hall at about 8:30 a.m. to cast his ballot. A 12-year member of the Lakeland Regional High School Board of Education, which includes Ringwood and Wanaque, Walker was running unopposed for another three-year term on the board. Still, Walker said he was there to vote with other issues on his mind.

“Locally, my concern is radio issues in the police department,” he said. “We bought new radios a few years ago, but we need antennas.”

Walker, who was among a light stream of voters entering polling places in Ringwood, said interference among existing communications nodes requires an investment some local candidates running for re-election have not supported. Walker said he also had some concerns about growing representation by candidates affiliated with teachers’ unions on local boards of education.

“They’re pretty restricted in terms of what they can be involved with ethically,” he said. “I’m a union guy, always been a union guy, but right is right.”

In Wyckoff, voters’ concerns heard

There was a steady flow of voters at the polling place at Wyckoff Public Library.

After casting his ballot, Bob Skor said he was focused on the governor’s race because he feels “taxes are too high, and there’s too much spending of money on non-citizens.” He’s also worried about inflation.

Rich Brockel was happy to be voting in person on Election Day. He said early voting and mail-in voting is “not the same.” A retiree who cares about education, Brockel said his pension had been frozen for 10 years, even as the cost of living has gone up. He feels he’ll get that back under Gov. Phil Murphy.

Susan Gurak, a grandmother who voted while toting children’s books, said she believed it was time for a change in governor. The school board elections caught her interest, too. “I’ve been too complacent about it,” she said. “There’s a lot to be discovered.”

Amy Pressman, a pre-K teacher whose children are not in school anymore, was most concerned about COVID-19 mandates and vaccines.

In Sussex, confusion on where to vote

Election confusion began in Sussex County well before the polls even opened after residents of three areas in the county were sent sample ballots with an incorrect polling place location.

In a statement posted on the county Board of Elections’ website, the board said all residents of Andover Borough, and those in Frankford District 2 and Stanhope District 1, were affected by the error. They were later sent special notices with the correct information. However, alerts were posted online advising affected voters where to go.

Andover voters must go to the Senior Citizen/Community Center on Tranquility Road, according to the online notice. Frankford District 2 voters can vote at Frankford Firehouse No. 1 on Route 206, and Stanhope District 1 voters’ correct polling location is American Legion Post 278 on Route 183.

The notice was also posted on the Frankford and Stanhope municipal websites. Frankford attributed the error to “a glitch in the Board of Elections system.”

The mix-up comes a year after more than 1,600 previously uncounted ballots were discovered in a bin at the board office following the July primary election.

Although the misplaced ballots did not change the outcome of any contested races, the oversight caused the Board of Elections to announce several new protocols in the vote-counting process to prevent a repeat for the general election.

Meanwhile, at one of four polling locations in Hampton Township, with a population of around 5,000, voter traffic was light, but steady.

Poll takers inside the Baleville Congregational Church said it was “smooth sailing” as just over 100 residents had stopped by as of 12:30 p.m. 

Concerns over governor’s race

Just after the polls opened at 6 a.m., Billy Houston cast his ballot in Morris Plains, where dozens of people arrived before sunrise to vote in the tiny suburban community.

Houston, a 42-year-old project manager, husband and father of two elementary school children, said he voted for incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy, citing education and taxes as his top concerns. “I like the job the governor has been doing,” he said.

Others were not as happy with incumbent Murphy.

Brian Thorne, a 59-year-old engineer, cast his ballot for Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli. “I don’t like what’s happening in the state,” said Thorne, adding he felt Murphy was acting like a dictator and socialist. “Taxes are too high.”

There was an early computer glitch that caused delays at the polling location. A sign suggested masks were preferred, with about half of the voters donning masks in the first hour.

Margie Underhill, 64, was given a provisional ballot when poll workers could not find her registration for Election Day. She voted for Ciattarelli, citing taxes in New Jersey.

MaryBeth Dematteis, who voted at Forest Avenue School in Verona with her daughters Shea and Sofia, said the governor’s race is about “women’s rights and the right to choose.”

Turning to her daughter Shea, she said, “That’s your future.”

In Dover, voters head to polls

In nearby Dover, a diverse community in western Morris County, a slow trickle of voters headed to Dover High School in the morning hours. As voters walked to the polls, they passed candidates in tents.

Standing out in the cold, Board of Education candidate Daniella Mendez spoke with voters as they headed to cast their ballots. Mendez said her platform is about equity and inclusion, noting the LGBTQ+ community needs representation, especially local students. If elected, Mendez would be the first transgender woman in elective office in Morris County.

Some voters in Dover were turned off by the political mudslinging in this year’s elections.

Scott Miller, 58, a chief information officer and lifelong Dover resident, said he disliked the negative campaigning on both sides this year. He planned to split his vote between parties, declining to reveal who he is voting for.

Also in Dover, Gail Rodriguez, 70, said she voted for Ciattarelli because she thinks the state is headed in the wrong direction. “People of value are leaving” the state, said the retiree. “Taxes are high.”

Hogan, Kelly vote in person

Rather than vote early or by mail, John Hogan and Bridget Kelly, the candidates for Bergen County clerk, voted in person on Election Day.

Hogan, who voted in Northvale, and Kelly, who voted in Ramsey, are each seeking to be the official in charge of overseeing county elections.

Polls open across NJ

Polls opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. That’s assuming you didn’t go for early voting this year. 

Where do I go to vote on Election Day?

If you’re not sure where your polling place is, the New Jersey state department has a tool to search for it. 

Key races

The race attracting the most attention is the governor’s race, with Murphy and Ciattarelli dominating the news cycle and the polls. But there are also three independent candidates on the ballot: Madelyn Hoffman, Joanne Kuniansky and Gregg Mele.

Every seat in the statehouse is also on the ballot, with 80 in the Assembly and 40 in the Senate.

There are also different municipal races throughout the state. That includes the Bergen County Clerk race, which pits incumbent Democrat John Hogan against Republican challenger Bridget Kelly, who was famously caught up in the Bridgegate scandal.

Also in Bergen County is the race for sheriff, in which Democratic incumbent Anthony Cureton is facing Republican challenger Robert Kugler, the police chief of Saddle Brook who has been indicted on corruption charges.

In Teaneck, voters will vote on a ballot question of whether to move the township’s municipal elections from May to November, as well as to start a renewable energy program.

Here’s an in-depth look at some of the key races to watch across the state. 

There are also two questions for voters to decide that require a constitutional amendment. 

The most significant is one asking whether to allow sports betting on college games played in New Jersey and by New Jersey teams. 

The other asks whether nonprofits should be able to use proceeds from games of chance, such as bingo and raffle tickets, to support their operations. Some nonprofits already do, but approval Tuesday would open it up to all. 

Is the post office open on Election Day?

Post offices in New Jersey will be open as usual, as Election Day is not a federal holiday. Mail will be delivered as normal. Same goes for FedEx and UPS. 

Staff writers Julia Martin, Mike Kelly, Katie Sobko, Krsitie Cattafi, Dave Zimmer, Jessie Gomez, Linda Voorhis, Lori Comstock, Mike Davis, Kyle Morel, Marsha Stoltz, Mary Chao, Melanie Anzidei and Liam Quinn contributed to this report.

TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy is trying to fight off a stiff challenge from Republican Jack Ciattarelli in the race for New Jersey governor.

As of 11:20 p.m., with 66% of the vote in, Ciattarelli held a 51-48 lead, according to tabulation by The Associated Press.

READ MORE: Democrat Eric Adams Elected New York City’s Next Mayor, Republican Curtis Sliwa Concedes

Of note, Essex and Passaic counties, which tend to be Democratic strongholds, have yet to release results, CBS2’s Meg Baker reported.

No Democrat has won re-election for governor in the state since 1977. Murphy carried an 8-point lead in the polls heading into Tuesday, but Ciattarelli had been narrowing the gap and believed he had the momentum coming into Election Day. He had been telling supporters Murphy was going to be one term and done as governor, CBS2’s Jessica Layton reported.

READ MORE: New Jersey Election Results 2021

Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman, was out in his hometown of Raritan early in the morning, just hours after he held a rally there Monday night, talking to voters, especially those undecided or unaffiliated with a party, and urging them to get to the polls with just a few hours left. He had been campaigning on the slogan “Let’s Fix New Jersey,” promising small business owners and homeowners better times would be ahead if he was elected.

“If you like high property taxes and New Jersey being the worst place in the country to do business, if you like waiting five hours in line at motor vehicles, to get your unemployment check or go to state government, vote for Phil Murphy. But if you want change, you do that by voting for Jack Ciattarelli,” he said.

READ MORE: Bridget Kelly Takes On Incumbent John Hogan For Bergen County Clerk

Baker was inside Convention Hall on the Asbury Park boardwalk, where Murphy’s slogan “Stronger Fairer Forward” was prominently displayed. However, the mood in the room, initially joyful as the Democrat jumped out to a big lead, started to change as Ciattarelli took the lead after 10 p.m.

Some of the governor’s first-term accomplishments he touted while campaigning included raising the minimum wage, enacting paid sick leave, and investing in child care to make the state a fairer place to live.

He also pushed for stricter gun laws, a focus on the environment and investment into wind energy, maternal health, and fighting for federal help with aging infrastructure like the Portal Bridge project that starts this spring to bring much needed relief to NJ TRANSIT and AMTRAK commuters.

“I’m proud of what we’re running on. I’m proud of the stuff we’ve done, like what we’ve done with this extraordinary mayor here in Newark. But again, we’re not taking one vote for granted,” Murphy said earlier in the day.

Both candidates packed their schedules with back-to-back events Tuesday, urging their supporters to go the polls. The election’s outcome hinged on turnout after only 3.2% of registered voters participated in the state’s first ever in-person early voting.

New Jersey voters said major issues this election cycle include education, the state’s budget and, of course, COVID-19. Both candidates were vaccinated, but Murphy has been extremely pro-vaccine and pro-mask in public. Ciattarelli did not require proof of vaccination or mask wearing at his campaign party in Bridgewater on Tuesday night, Layton reported.

MORE NEWS: Watch: Eric Adams Delivers Victory Speech

CBS2’s Jessica Layton and Meg Baker contributed to this report.

Whether inspired by what they called their civic duty or motivated by tense local politics within the confines of their small towns, voters across North Jersey headed to local polling locations Tuesday to have their voices heard.

Voters cast their ballots to decide the fate of various races across the state, including the heated gubernatorial race between Democratic incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy and his Republican challenger and former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli. It was the only race for governor this year other than in Virginia.

Murphy was seeking to be the first Democratic governor in the state to win re-election in over 40 years while Ciattarelli sought to continue the trend of one-term ousting.

Across New Jersey’s small towns, voters shared a similar sentiment — the lead-up to this year’s election was often nasty at the local level, and many condemned the tensions that arose surrounding certain issues.

Even before polls opened Tuesday, tens of thousands of voters cast their ballots early. This year marked the first time that New Jersey residents were able to vote early through in-person voting — which may have led to fewer people at the polls on Tuesday.

New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way said that, as of Sunday, 495,336 people had voted with a mail-in ballot and 207,863 voted early at one of the state’s 139 early voting locations. The early voters were trending more Democratic than Republican, according to the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

Bergen County this election season was a hotbed for high-profile races, including a runoff between County Clerk John Hogan and his Republican challenger Bridget Anne Kelly, who played a central role in the Bridgegate scandal eight years ago, as well as between County Sheriff Anthony Cureton and his Republican challenger, indicted police chief Robert Kugler. In either race, a Republican unseating the sitting Democrat would be a major upset.

Voters on Tuesday also decided the fate of who will be the next state senator to fill the seat of longtime Democrat Loretta Weinberg. Many expected Democratic candidate Gordon Johnson, a former law enforcement officer who has served in the state Assembly for 19 years, would secure that seat.

Though many were drawn to the polls to decide who will be New Jersey’s next governor, voters in North Jersey were also energized by referendums and issues at the town level.

In Teaneck, a steady stream of residents took time out of their afternoons to vote at the Richard Rodda Community Center. Many called it their civic duty while some referred to it as a privilege to participate in democracy. The township had a contentious Board of Education election, as well as two municipal questions on the ballot, including one asking voters to approve a switch to a green energy supplier.

Resident Don Wassum said he voted because he was concerned about the clean energy referendum. “We’ve tried this before and it’s just too expensive,” he said. “There is a real problem in the world but the people creating should be able to do it for people to afford.”

Other voters, including Laverne Lightburn, wanted to come because of how “nasty” the school board election was. She said she would like to see a return of the civil behavior that used to be present in town. She also supported the One Town One Vote initiative, which sponsored the first municipal ballot question, regarding moving the township’s council election from May to November.

Ridgewood on Tuesday held its first November council election after decades of spring elections, and cars lined up for spots in the jammed library parking lot. Turnout was good, a poll worker said.

Resident Maureen Careri called this election a “crazy time” and thought critical race theory —an academic concept that looks at how racism has affected history — was being “pushed down our throats.” She said she votes a party line.

Critical race theory also brought at least some voters to the polls in Ramsey, where John Sciabicia said he was against “CRT” being taught in the schools.“I don’t want it taught here in Ramsey,” said Sciabicia, whose children attend Catholic schools.

Taxes were also on voters’ minds. In Ridgewood, Cynthia Fitzgerald, by contrast said, “I don’t see the value of the high taxes we pay,” and wanted a “more conservative fiscal approach” on the local school board.

Paramus resident Carolyn Fox said in-person voting on Election Day was a nice way to catch up with neighbors. Although Fox knew that early voting was available, she was so used to coming on Election Day that she decided to make the trip out on Tuesday afternoon.

In nearby Montclair in Essex County, education was high on voters’ minds.

Larry Doby Jr. said the “big issue” in town was the school board referendum. Doby, the son of the late baseball great Larry Doby, the first Black baseball player in the American League, attended Montclair public schools.

“They’re trying to change something that has been that way for a long time,” he said, referring to Montclair’s status as one of only 3% percent of school districts in the state with a board of education appointed by the mayor.  A question on the ballot asked Montclair voters to decide, for the sixth time since 1940, if school board members should be elected instead of appointed.

“It’s a tough call,” Doby said. “I just hope the kids don’t suffer.”

In some parts of the state, residents ran into some issues with voting. Residents of three areas in Sussex County were initially sent sample ballots with an incorrect polling place location, according to the county Board of Elections. In Hopatcong, at the firehouse polling location on Hopatchung Road, the venue was reportedly down to just one machine around 7 a.m. but was back up and running with two by 8:30 a.m., according to a post on Facebook. Some said there were lines early due to polling staff learning new software, which voters used for the first time to sign in this year.

Despite early voting this year, there was a steady stream of voters heading into Paramus High School on Tuesday afternoon hoping to cast their ballots.

In and around Morris County, voters began hitting the polls early. Just after the polls opened at 6 a.m., Billy Houston cast his ballot in Morris Plains, where dozens of people arrived before sunrise to vote in the tiny suburban community.

Houston, who is a 42-year-old project manager, husband and father of two elementary school children, said he voted for incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy, citing education and taxes as his top concerns. “I like the job the governor has been doing,” he said.

Others were not as happy with the governor, a reflection of the contentious weeks leading up to the election and controversy over Murphy’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brian Thorne, a 59-year-old engineer, cast his ballot for Ciattarelli. “I don’t like what’s happening in the state,” said Thorne, adding he felt Murphy was acting like a dictator and socialist. “Taxes are too high.”

There was an early computer glitch that caused delays at the polling location. A sign suggested masks were preferred, with about half of the voters donning masks in the first hour.

Margie Underhill, 64, was given a provisional ballot when poll workers could not find her registration for Election Day. She voted for Ciattarelli, citing taxes in New Jersey.

In nearby Dover, a diverse community in western Morris County, a slow trickle of voters headed to Dover High School in the morning hours. As voters walked to the polls, they passed candidates in tents.

Standing out in the cold, Board of Education candidate Daniella Mendez spoke with voters as they headed to cast their ballots. Mendez said her platform is about equity and inclusion, noting the LGBTQ+ community needs representation, especially local students. If elected, Mendez would be the first transgender woman in elective office in Morris County.

Some voters in Dover were turned off by the political mudslinging in this year’s elections.

Scott Miller, 58, a chief information officer who is a lifelong Dover resident, said he disliked the negative campaigning on both sides of the aisle this year. He planned to split his vote between parties, declining to reveal who he voted for.

Also in Dover, Gail Rodriguez, 70, said she voted for Ciattarelli because she thinks the state is headed in the wrong direction. “People of value are leaving” New Jersey, said the retiree. “Taxes are high.”

Election confusion began in Sussex County well before the polls even opened after residents of three areas in the county were sent sample ballots with an incorrect polling place location.

In a statement posted on the county Board of Elections’ website, the board said all residents of Andover Borough, and those in Frankford District 2 and Stanhope District 1, were affected by the error. They were later sent special notices with the correct information. Alerts were also posted online advising affected voters where to go.

The mix-up came a year after more than 1,600 previously uncounted ballots were discovered in a bin at the board office following the July primary election.

Meanwhile, at one of four polling locations in Hampton Township, with a population around 5,000, voter traffic was light, but steady.

Poll takers inside the Baleville Congregational Church said it was “smooth sailing” as just over 100 residents had stopped by as of 12:30 p.m. to make sure their votes counted.

For the first time in state history, there were options for early in-person voting this year — there were three polling locations in Sussex County — but not everyone took advantage of it, for various reasons.

Ronda Konik said it was a “timing” issue as to why she didn’t vote early, but also said she enjoys voting at her usual location each year, and called it a tradition.

Staff writers Katie Sobko, Lori Comstock, Stephanie Noda, Julia Martin, Krsitie Cattafi, Dave Zimmer, Jessie Gomez, Kyle Morel, Marsha Stoltz, Mary Chao, Melanie Anzidei, Liam Quinn, Nicholas Katzban, Linda Voorhis and Albina Sportelli contributed to this report.

Melanie Anzidei is a reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: anzidei@northjersey.com

Twitter: @melanieanzidei 

Stafford Township Police received a troubling report that some of the candy found in a child’s trick-or-treat bag on Halloween was laced with cannabis.

Listen to Vin Ebenau mornings on Townsquare Media Jersey Shore Radio Stations, email him news tips here, and download our free app.

The child who received cannabis laced candy was trick-or-treating in the Ocean Acres area of town near Anchor Avenue in the “Oaks” section, according to police.

Stafford Police learned of the cannabis candy being given out and have begun an investigation.

You’re encouraged to report any related incidents to Detective Dunfee at 609-597-1000 extension 8444 or via email at Rdunfee@staffordpolice.org.

“Parents, as always, PLEASE CHECK all of your child’s candy to ensure it’s safety.”

12 Times Being High Cost NJ Residents & Towns

Stafford Township Police received a troubling report that some of the candy found in a child’s trick-or-treat bag on Halloween was laced with cannabis.

Listen to Vin Ebenau mornings on Townsquare Media Jersey Shore Radio Stations, email him news tips here, and download our free app.

The child who received cannabis laced candy was trick-or-treating in the Ocean Acres area of town near Anchor Avenue in the “Oaks” section, according to police.

Stafford Police learned of the cannabis candy being given out and have begun an investigation.

You’re encouraged to report any related incidents to Detective Dunfee at 609-597-1000 extension 8444 or via email at Rdunfee@staffordpolice.org.

“Parents, as always, PLEASE CHECK all of your child’s candy to ensure it’s safety.”

12 Times Being High Cost NJ Residents & Towns

An influential advisory panel voted Tuesday that all children ages 5 to 11 should get Pfizer’s pediatric COVID-19 shots, putting the U.S. on the brink of a major expansion of vaccinations — and a final decision is expected within hours.

The Food and Drug Administration already has OK’d kid-size doses — just a third of the amount given to teens and adults — as safe and effective for the younger age group.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally recommends who should receive FDA-cleared vaccines, and its advisers decided Pfizer’s shots should be opened to all 28 million children ages 5 to 11.

If the CDC’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, signs off, it will mark the first opportunity for Americans under 12 to get the powerful protection of any COVID-19 vaccine.

Last week, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said 205,000 pediatric doses of Pfizer vaccine have been ordered and locations in all counties would begin receiving supplies as soon as the FDA gave the OK.

Shots into little arms could begin this week, as Pfizer already is packing and shipping the first orders, millions of doses, to states and pharmacies to be ready.

Persichilli said in addition to the county sites there would also be 1 mega-site, 65 primary care sites, 35 acute care hospitals, eight chain and 40 independent pharmacies, 27 federally qualified health centers, seven local health departments and six urgent care locations receiving pediatric vaccine supplies — with more providers being added every day.

Separate areas for children have been specially decorated at one of the Essex County COVID vaccination sites, as seen in photos shared to Facebook by Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo on Friday.

“Today is a monumental day in the course of this pandemic,” Walensky told the advisory panel earlier on Tuesday.

She said while the risk of severe disease and death is lower in young children than adults, it is real — and that COVID-19 has had a profound social, mental health and educational impact on youngsters, including widening disparities in learning.

“There are children in the second grade who have never experienced a normal school year,” Walensky said. “Pediatric vaccination has the power to help us change all of that.”

Doctors who’ve cared for hospitalized youngsters hope parents embrace Pfizer’s kid shots, saying they’re safe and far better than gambling that a child will escape a coronavirus infection.

“I’ve seen plenty of children in this age group that have been seriously ill,” said Dr. Matthew Linam, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “The risk of significant infection is still very real in this population.”

There have been more than 8,300 hospitalizations of kids ages 5 to 11, about a third requiring intensive care, according to government data. The CDC has recorded at least 94 deaths in that age group.

And while the U.S. has seen a recent downturn in COVID-19 cases, experts are worried about another uptick with holiday travel and as winter sends more activity indoors where it’s easier for the coronavirus to spread.

Pfizer’s kid shots contain a third of the vaccine dose that’s already been used to vaccinate millions of people 12 and older.

The 5- to 11-year-olds will receive two shots, three weeks apart, the same schedule as everyone else — but a smaller amount in each shot, using a smaller needle.

A study of 2,268 youngsters found the kid-size vaccine is nearly 91% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 — based on 16 diagnoses among kids given dummy shots compared to just three who got the real vaccination.

The FDA examined more children, a total of 3,100 who were vaccinated, in concluding the shots are safe. The younger children experienced similar or fewer reactions — such as sore arms, fever or achiness — than teens or young adults get after larger doses.

That study wasn’t large enough to detect any extremely rare side effects, such as the heart inflammation that occasionally occurs after the second full-strength dose, mostly in young men and teen boys.

The FDA ultimately decided the benefits from vaccination outweigh the potential that younger kids getting a smaller dose also might experience that rare risk.

The FDA’s decision came after its own advisers struggled with whether every young child needed a vaccine — a key question in Tuesday’s deliberations, too.

Youngsters hospitalized with COVID-19 are more likely to have high-risk conditions such as obesity or diabetes — but otherwise healthy children can get seriously ill, too.

And many pediatricians and parents have clamored for protection for youngsters so they can resume normal childhood activities without risking their own health — or the fear of bringing the virus home to a more vulnerable family member.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

By DIEGO JESUS BARTESAGHI MENA, TALIA WIENER and LOUIS C. HOCHMAN
news@montclairlocal.news

At several Montclair polling locations Tuesday, workers and voters alike said things seemed slow and calm — even with a contentious referendum question on the Montclair ballot and a closer-than-once expected governor’s race being decided on the statewide stage. 

But many of those weighing in on this year’s decisions didn’t need to go to the polls on Election Day at all. It’s the first year New Jersey has allowed early voting. And as of Monday, the Essex County Clerk’s office had received 2,915 of 5,982 requested mail-in ballots — a return rate so far of just under 49% — according to a database readout the clerk provided to Montclair Local.

Members of community organizations that often keep close tabs on elections said they’d seen just minor issues.

Cary Chevat, the communications chair of the Montclair NAACP as well as the corresponding secretary for the Montclair Democratic County Committee,  said there were a few machines that were late to start working, and construction on Bloomfield Avenue obstructed some voters trying to get to a polling place at the Montclair Fire Department on Pine Street. Christa Rapoport, chair of the Montclair Civil Rights Commission, said county officials were aware of the issue, and Montclair Police Department officers were on site helping residents get through a detour.

“Voting has been light as of this morning, but Montclair tends to vote late, so I expect that voting to pick-up later in the day,” Chevat said. Overall, he said, the day seemed to be going smoothly.

Carmel Loughman, communications chair of the Montclair League of Women Voters, said she found an updated process for voting in person “very cumbersome, but hopefully it has enough checks and balances to dissuade anyone from challenging the validity of an election.”

The new process involves electronic poll books, replacing traditional paper ones. The check-in process on the electronic poll books keeps a voter from doubling up with a previous mail-in or early vote. Those who’ve registered to vote by mail, but whose mail-in ballots haven’t yet been received, are given provisional ballots to fill out. Those are tabulated once mail-ins arrive and are counted, to rule out the possibility of a duplicated vote. 

It also involves electronic systems that automatically tabulate ballots voters first fill out by hand.

The League is among the groups that has staked out a position in what may be the biggest issue for Montclair voters — a referendum question asking if the community’s school district should change from a Type I system, with a mayor-appointed board of education, to a Type II system, with an elected one. It would also expand the school board from seven to nine members, and disband the separate Board of School Estimate, which approves school budgets, and which fixes costs for capital improvements before sending them to the Township Council for bonding. In a Type II system, budgets would typically be approved by the school board, but would be sent to voters if they exceed a 2% cap on yearly property levy growth. Capital improvement bonds would go to referendums.

Elected or appointed BOE? Breaking down the issue

The League favors the appointed system, but advocates for an advisory committee to make recommendations to the mayor — in part a response to concerns that the current mayor, Sean Spiller, is also president of the powerful New Jersey Education Association, which some in the community argue is a conflict. It says low turnout means school board elections aren’t always representative of communities, and that a mayor can select members with a diverse selection of backgrounds and skills. It also warns voters 

The referendum question was the result of a successful petition by Vote Montclair, which argues a series of school board elections — for three seats in any one year — can better protect the district against outside campaign money or special interests than a single mayor’s election every four years. The group also says elected boards are more accountable to residents. Sergio Gonzalez, a former Board of Education member who represented Vote Montclair at a Montclair Local forum on the referendum question, said he hadn’t heard about any irregularities on Election Day.

At a polling place at Buzz Aldrin Middle School, Steven Sander, 76, said the governor’s race and the board of education questions were the most pressing issues that made him come to vote in-person. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is challenged by Republican Jack Ciattarelli in this year’s race. 

“I believe the current governor has been doing a good job and I believe that the decision to elect a school board member should be decided by the community,” Sander said.

Sander came with his son, Jeffrey Sander, 35, who said the race for governor was his most pressing issue.

“I think it’s our responsibility to try and elect the leaders that will be the best for our country,” Jeffrey Sander said. 

Karen Mack, 65, also came to the school for in-person voting. She said the board of education question has been a hot topic.

“People who have lived in this town understand how our school system works,” Mack said. “New residents that just moved here don’t understand it.”

Roosevelt Weaver, 84 and retired principal in the East Orange school system, said he voted for an elected board of education because he wants the community to have a voice. 

“Actually, I feel that voting for a board of education is very important because local residents have a right to vote for someone that can do the right work,” Weaver said. “The voters know the community and the needs of the child in the community.”

At a polling place at Hillside Elementary School, Holly Shaw, 46, said she wanted to show her three children the importance of voting. She said she voted for an elected school board because “I think we have some amazing parents in town that will make a good board.”

Julie Marchin, 69, said she supports an appointed school board because “it will keep the politics and dark money out of school.”

Sam Barking, 58, said he was most motivated by the race for governor. He said he liked what Murphy’s been doing so far. Barking said even though the polls have been showing that both candidates have strong support, he said he is not worried the current governor won’t be reelected.

Barking said he wasn’t previously aware of the ballot’s referendum questions — in addition to the Montclair question, two statewide initiatives ask whether betting should be allowed on college sport competitions, and whether more types of organizations should be able to use raffle proceeds to raise money for themselves — but he supports an elected board.

“The bottom line is that the vast majority of the other towns that have an elected board haven’t fallen apart,” Barking said. “It might be rough during the transition period but it will be fine.”

At Glenfield Middle School, Adlyn Kerr, 73, said she came to vote to re-elect Murphy because “he has been doing a good job.”

“I feel that I like [Murphy’s] policy and what he has done for New Jersey,” Nick Sotomayor, 54, said.

Lisa King, 61, said her main reason for voting is because it’s a privilege people in many countries — particularly women — don’t have.

She came out for the governor’s race, to support Murphy.

The president of the Montclair Republic Club, John Van Wagner, said he didn’t observe anything irregular when he went to vote in the morning. But, he said he didn’t like the use of Sharpies at voting sites.

“I have to say the use of Sharpies to mark the vote, the lack of privacy when feeding the ballot into the machines (the attendant can clearly see who you voted for), and the use of Dominion voting equipment … all combined to make it feel like an insecure experience,” Wagner wrote to Montclair Local in an email. “The Sharpies bleed through the page, so whether or not the ballot is turned over, anyone can see what line a voter marked. And it’s next to impossible to write in candidates using the Sharpies.”

During the 2020 election, parties alleging voter fraud or irregularities cited the use of Sharpies to mark ballots in some states — particularly Arizona — claiming machines couldn’t read the ballots (though that’s not a claim Van Wagner made). The assertion was also a viral meme on social media networks. A Reuters fact check found voting machines had no trouble reading ballots marked with Sharpies, and the Associated Press debunked claims ballots with Sharpies had been invalidated.

Dominion Voting systems are among multiple types certified by the State of New Jersey. Dominion has sued parties including Fox News, and former Donald Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani over their false claims the company’s machines rigged votes against the former president. A judge hasn’t yet ruled on Fox’s request to have the lawsuit dismissed.

In-person polling locations are open until 8 p.m. and listed on the township’s website, montclairnjusa.org. Select “Government,” “Municipal Clerk” and “Elections.” The township also has an interactive map of polling locations linked from its site, and they’re listed at the New Jersey Division of Elections website at nj.gov/state/elections as well. Contact the municipal clerk’s office for polling location questions at 973-509-4900.

Mail-in ballots can be postmarked today, Nov. 2, but must be received by the Essex Board of Elections on or before Nov. 9.

They can be returned to the Election Office in person, at 495 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd. in Newark, in the Dr. Martin Justice Building Room, until 8 p.m. 

They can also be returned in any of several secure drop boxes located throughout the county until 8 p.m. In Montclair, there are drop boxes at the municipal building at 205 Claremont Ave., and at Montclair State University at 1 Normal Ave. (on College Avenue, in Lot No. 8).

UPDATE: A voting machine at Buzz Aldrin Middle School for Montclair’s Ward 1, District 6 broke down around 6 p.m.

By DIEGO JESUS BARTESAGHI MENA, TALIA WIENER and LOUIS C. HOCHMAN
news@montclairlocal.news

At several Montclair polling locations Tuesday, workers and voters alike said things seemed slow and calm — even with a contentious referendum question on the Montclair ballot and a closer-than-once expected governor’s race being decided on the statewide stage. 

But many of those weighing in on this year’s decisions didn’t need to go to the polls on Election Day at all. It’s the first year New Jersey has allowed early voting. And as of Monday, the Essex County Clerk’s office had received 2,915 of 5,982 requested mail-in ballots — a return rate so far of just under 49% — according to a database readout the clerk provided to Montclair Local.

Early in the day, members of community organizations that often keep close tabs on elections said they’d seen just minor issues. However, a voting machine at Buzz Aldrin Middle School for Montclair’s Ward 1, District 6 broke down around 6 p.m. Voters continued casting provisional ballots, to be counted after Election Day. No tallies — including those announced by media or campaigns on Election Night, based on results known so far — are considered official until votes are certified.

Cary Chevat, the communications chair of the Montclair NAACP as well as the corresponding secretary for the Montclair Democratic County Committee, said earlier there were a few machines that were late to start working, and construction on Bloomfield Avenue obstructed some voters trying to get to a polling place at the Montclair Fire Department on Pine Street. Christa Rapoport, chair of the Montclair Civil Rights Commission, said county officials were aware of the issue, and Montclair Police Department officers were on site helping residents get through a detour.

“Voting has been light as of this morning, but Montclair tends to vote late, so I expect that voting to pick-up later in the day,” Chevat said. Overall, he said, the day seemed to be going smoothly.

Carmel Loughman, communications chair of the Montclair League of Women Voters, said she found an updated process for voting in person “very cumbersome, but hopefully it has enough checks and balances to dissuade anyone from challenging the validity of an election.”

The new process involves electronic poll books, replacing traditional paper ones. The check-in process on the electronic poll books keeps a voter from doubling up with a previous mail-in or early vote. Those who’ve registered to vote by mail, but whose mail-in ballots haven’t yet been received, are given provisional ballots to fill out. Those are tabulated once mail-ins arrive and are counted, to rule out the possibility of a duplicated vote. 

It also involves electronic systems that automatically tabulate ballots voters first fill out by hand.

The League is among the groups that has staked out a position in what may be the biggest issue for Montclair voters — a referendum question asking if the community’s school district should change from a Type I system, with a mayor-appointed board of education, to a Type II system, with an elected one. It would also expand the school board from seven to nine members, and disband the separate Board of School Estimate, which approves school budgets, and which fixes costs for capital improvements before sending them to the Township Council for bonding. In a Type II system, budgets would typically be approved by the school board, but would be sent to voters if they exceed a 2% cap on yearly property levy growth. Capital improvement bonds would go to referendums.

Elected or appointed BOE? Breaking down the issue

The League favors the appointed system, but advocates for an advisory committee to make recommendations to the mayor — in part a response to concerns that the current mayor, Sean Spiller, is also president of the powerful New Jersey Education Association, which some in the community argue is a conflict. It says low turnout means school board elections aren’t always representative of communities, and that a mayor can select members with a diverse selection of backgrounds and skills. It also warns voters 

The referendum question was the result of a successful petition by Vote Montclair, which argues a series of school board elections — for three seats in any one year — can better protect the district against outside campaign money or special interests than a single mayor’s election every four years. The group also says elected boards are more accountable to residents.

At a polling place at Buzz Aldrin Middle School, Steven Sander, 76, said the governor’s race and the board of education questions were the most pressing issues that made him come to vote in-person. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is challenged by Republican Jack Ciattarelli in this year’s race. 

“I believe the current governor has been doing a good job and I believe that the decision to elect a school board member should be decided by the community,” Sander said.

Sander came with his son, Jeffrey Sander, 35, who said the race for governor was his most pressing issue.

“I think it’s our responsibility to try and elect the leaders that will be the best for our country,” Jeffrey Sander said. 

Karen Mack, 65, also came to the school for in-person voting. She said the board of education question has been a hot topic.

“People who have lived in this town understand how our school system works,” Mack said. “New residents that just moved here don’t understand it.”

Roosevelt Weaver, 84 and retired principal in the East Orange school system, said he voted for an elected board of education because he wants the community to have a voice. 

“Actually, I feel that voting for a board of education is very important because local residents have a right to vote for someone that can do the right work,” Weaver said. “The voters know the community and the needs of the child in the community.”

At a polling place at Hillside Elementary School, Holly Shaw, 46, said she wanted to show her three children the importance of voting. She said she voted for an elected school board because “I think we have some amazing parents in town that will make a good board.”

Julie Marchin, 69, said she supports an appointed school board because “it will keep the politics and dark money out of school.”

Sam Barking, 58, said he was most motivated by the race for governor. He said he liked what Murphy’s been doing so far. Barking said even though the polls have been showing that both candidates have strong support, he said he is not worried the current governor won’t be reelected.

Barking said he wasn’t previously aware of the ballot’s referendum questions — in addition to the Montclair question, two statewide initiatives ask whether betting should be allowed on college sport competitions, and whether more types of organizations should be able to use raffle proceeds to raise money for themselves — but he supports an elected board.

“The bottom line is that the vast majority of the other towns that have an elected board haven’t fallen apart,” Barking said. “It might be rough during the transition period but it will be fine.”

At Glenfield Middle School, Adlyn Kerr, 73, said she came to vote to re-elect Murphy because “he has been doing a good job.”

“I feel that I like [Murphy’s] policy and what he has done for New Jersey,” Nick Sotomayor, 54, said.

Lisa King, 61, said her main reason for voting is because it’s a privilege people in many countries — particularly women — don’t have.

She came out for the governor’s race, to support Murphy.

The president of the Montclair Republic Club, John Van Wagner, said he didn’t observe anything irregular when he went to vote in the morning. But, he said he didn’t like the use of Sharpies at voting sites.

“I have to say the use of Sharpies to mark the vote, the lack of privacy when feeding the ballot into the machines (the attendant can clearly see who you voted for), and the use of Dominion voting equipment … all combined to make it feel like an insecure experience,” Wagner wrote to Montclair Local in an email. “The Sharpies bleed through the page, so whether or not the ballot is turned over, anyone can see what line a voter marked. And it’s next to impossible to write in candidates using the Sharpies.”

During the 2020 election, parties alleging voter fraud or irregularities cited the use of Sharpies to mark ballots in some states — particularly Arizona — claiming machines couldn’t read the ballots (though that’s not a claim Van Wagner made). The assertion was also a viral meme on social media networks. A Reuters fact check found voting machines had no trouble reading ballots marked with Sharpies, and the Associated Press debunked claims ballots with Sharpies had been invalidated.

Dominion Voting systems are among multiple types certified by the State of New Jersey. Dominion has sued parties including Fox News, and former Donald Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani over their false claims the company’s machines rigged votes against the former president. A judge hasn’t yet ruled on Fox’s request to have the lawsuit dismissed.

In-person polling locations are open until 8 p.m. and listed on the township’s website, montclairnjusa.org. Select “Government,” “Municipal Clerk” and “Elections.” The township also has an interactive map of polling locations linked from its site, and they’re listed at the New Jersey Division of Elections website at nj.gov/state/elections as well. Contact the municipal clerk’s office for polling location questions at 973-509-4900.

Mail-in ballots can be postmarked today, Nov. 2, but must be received by the Essex Board of Elections on or before Nov. 8.

They can be returned to the Election Office in person, at 495 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd. in Newark, in the Dr. Martin Justice Building Room, until 8 p.m. 

They can also be returned in any of several secure drop boxes located throughout the county until 8 p.m. In Montclair, there are drop boxes at the municipal building at 205 Claremont Ave., and at Montclair State University at 1 Normal Ave. (on College Avenue, in Lot No. 8).