National, state, local contests loom as Election Day nears

Sussex County voters heading to the polls Tuesday not only will have a chance to impact the closely watched midterm congressional elections, but will also help decide if the state should be allowed to borrow a half-billion dollars for vocational education, school security, and clean water infrastructure upgrades.

Voters in three county municipalities — Lafayette, Montague and Vernon — also will decide whether to approve municipal questions concerning a proposed benefits program for emergency volunteers in Lafayette, a proposed bonding scheme for a new firehouse in Montague, and a proposal to allow the use of up to 30 percent of Vernon’s open space fund for the creation of a trail system and other recreational amenities.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Those wishing to vote by absentee ballot have until 3 p.m. today to request one in person at the Sussex County Clerk’s Office in Newton.

Below is a roundup of key contests and questions to be decided:

SENATE RACE

In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican Bob Hugin has attempted to capitalize on last year’s well-publicized ethics probe of embattled Democratic incumbent Bob Menendez for accepting undisclosed gifts from campaign donors on whose behalf Menendez later advocated.

Menendez had been charged by federal officials with taking $1 million in campaign bribes, but the case culminated in a deadlocked jury in November 2017, and federal prosecutors ultimately decided against retrying the case after a judge acquitted him of the remaining counts. Menendez, however, was “severely admonished” in April by a Senate ethics committee that reviewed his actions leading up to the charges.

Menendez, meanwhile, has gone after Hugin, a former pharmaceutical executive, for raising the price of cancer drugs and has sought to rally Democrats by tying Hugin to Republican President Donald Trump, to whose campaign Hugin gave money two years ago.

Hugin, if elected, would be New Jersey’s first Republican senator in 46 years.

HOUSE RACES

Two congressional contests in Sussex County, including one for an open seat, could prove decisive in tipping the balance of the U.S. House of Representatives to either party in the New Year.

In the 5th District — which includes 19 Sussex County municipalities as well as parts of Warren, Morris, Passaic and Bergen counties — Democratic incumbent Josh Gottheimer is being challenged in his quest for a second term by Republican John McCann. Both are from Bergen County but have made campaign stops in Sussex County in recent days, with Gottheimer receiving the endorsement of several police and first responders in Hardyston on Friday and McCann appearing at Sussex County’s annual “Salute to Veterans” event in Frankford on Sunday.

Gottheimer, a former Clinton speechwriter and Microsoft executive, has presented himself as a centrist equally comfortable working with members of both parties, and has touted his successes at helping local elected officals in the Republican-heavy district “claw back” money for their communities from Washington.

McCann, a former Cresskill councilman and attorney who has served as special counsel to several law enforcement organizations, has sought to undermine Gottheimer’s claims to being a centrist by tying him to the Democratic Party leadership. McCann also has faulted Gottheimer, who crossed party lines to support tougher penalties for deported gang members and criminals who return to the country illegally, for not doing so on his vote to oppose the “No Sanctuary for Criminals” Act, which would place sanctions on municipal and state jurisdictions that bar their officials from cooperating in federal immigration enforcement.

Gottheimer resides in Wyckoff. McCann, a former Cresskill resident, now resides in Oakland.

In the 11th District, which includes the Sussex County municipalities of Byram, Hopatcong, Ogdensburg, Sparta, and Stanhope, the race between Republican Jay Webber and Democrat Mikie Sherrill to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen is coming down to the wire.

Webber, a Republican assemblyman and Harvard law graduate, has touted his support for Trump Administration economic policies that he credits with having produced breakneck economic growth along with one of the lowest jobless rates in 50 years. He also has touted his conservative record and stances on pro-life, border security, and Second Amendment issues.

Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor, held a campaign rally in Sparta on Sunday and has presented herself — as Gottheimer has — as a centrist on many issues. However, she also has campaigned for action on climate change, gun control, and other issues important to the Democratic Party’s liberal base.

Webber resides in Morris Plains; Sherrill is a resident of Montclair.

Though it includes part of Sussex County, the 11th District is mostly centered in Morris County and also includes portions of Essex and Passaic counties.

$500M BOND QUESTION

Voters will also decide Tuesday whether to approve the “Securing Our Children’s Future” Bond Act, two of whose key sponsors include Republican state Sen. Steve Oroho and Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney.

The measure, if approved, would authorize $500 million in new borrowing for vocational-technical education and for schools to complete security upgrades and water infrastructure improvements.

Supporters of the legislation say it would go a long way toward doing all that and would provide young people expanded training opportunities for well-paying jobs as welders, plumbers, electricians and carpenters.

Critics, however, say New Jersey, as one of the most indebted states, can ill afford to add to its debt burden — nor, they say, have proponents clarified how much the new borrowing would add in carrying costs to the $4 billion the state is already paying to service its existing debt.

MUNICIPAL QUESTIONS

In Lafayette, voters will decide whether to approve a Length of Service Awards Program, or LOSAP, for fire department and EMS volunteers. The program, if approved, would provide tax-deferred income benefits of up to $1,150 per year for first responder volunteers with at least five years of service. Lafayette officials say the cost of the LOSAP program, which has been allowed under New Jersey law for 20 years, would be $63,250 and would not come into play for five years.

In Montague, voters will decide whether to approve a $2.175 million bond referendum for a new firehouse, community center and emergency shelter. Advocates of the proposal say its cost would be offset by other debt that the township is about to retire, and would result in no net tax increase. Critics say the proposal is a “want” and not a need, and that the debt savings should be passed on to taxpayers rather than channeled into new spending.

In Vernon, voters will decide whether to allow the use of up to 30 percent of the $972,013 in the township’s open space fund for trail development including hiking, biking and horseback riding trails, as well as the creation of other amenities such as public gardens, disc golf and bike pump tracks, on property already preserved as open space. The proposal is similar to a countywide question that voters approved last year.