The Morning Brew: The Trucker Who Ran Over a State Senate President … and Other #Election2021 Tidbits
Happy Thursday!
Todayβs Brew is served with some delicious election leftovers. Including one of the wildest underdog election tales in memory.
The Trucker Who Ran Over the State Senate President?!
In New Jersey, a Republican truck driver named Edward Durr, who we’re told spent only $153 on his campaign could well have knocked off the State Senate president Steve Sweeney!
With 99% of the vote in, and 158 of 159 precincts reporting, Durr has a 2,000 vote lead and 52% of the vote in Jerseyβs District Three.
Even Rockyβs going, βDang!β
Sweeney has been State Senate President since 2010, the longest to serve in that role in state history. According to Politico, Sweeney was even being talked about as a 2025 contender for governor.
And Durr? Heβs a truck driver for the furniture store Raymour & Flanigan. He told Politico why he did so well.
You have the debacle of unemployment. The masking of the kids in school. You have Senator Sweeney trying to take away peoplesβ medical freedom rights. I think the perfect storm was that he stepped into a pile of you-know-what and couldnβt get out of it because he didnβt know which way to turn. I just tapped into the right focus.
Durr also cited the corruption and nepotism that dominates South Jersey politics.
New Jersey: Nails Bitten Down to the Knuckles in Governorβs Race
Gov. Phil Murphy was supposed to win re-election as easy as Bruce Springsteen could sell out a club in Tomβs River. But the battle between Murphy and Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli was still going back and forth Wednesday. Murphy had taken the lead Wednesday morning, but Ciattarelli clawed back on top.
The two flip-flopped again as the afternoon progressed. Murphy still had the advantage, as I write on Tuesday evening, given the number of outstanding ballots in Murphy-friendly Camden County, among other places.
However, some election night peculiarities in Bergen County … as in 40,000-plus votes coming out of nowhere after 100% of votes were supposedly counted … already has folks calling for an audit. Or how about the 56 voting machines in Essex County that were shut down without their votes being counted? Perhaps there’s a logical explanation. But this is also why audits should be the norm, not a matter of pulling teeth.
NYC Mayor-Elect Willing to Dump Vax Mandate?
New York City’s mayor-elect Ed Adams said Wednesday he plans to “revisit” the city’s vaccine mandate when he takes office. The mandate has led to thousands of city workers, including NYPD and NY firefighters, to be sent home. “We need to revisit how we are going to address the vaccine mandates,” Adams told MSNBC’s Morning Joe. However, he didn’t want to “Monday-morning quarterback” the current mayor Bill DeBlasio. “This is his time to be the man, he has to make the decisions.”
Yeah, but every decision DeBlasio makes … probably even his choice for breakfast … is a disaster for the city.
Besides, you’re not being sworn-in until January 1st. Do you really want the people who would be serving under you having to go through the holidays not knowing what you’re planning to do?
How many will hitch a ride on Santa’s sleigh to places that don’t force them to take the jab?
A Texas Flip
A special run-off election in San Antonio saw the Republican candidate John Lujan flip House District 118 red β¦ in a 73% Hispanic district won by Biden by 14 last year.
Seattle Shows an Ounce of Sanity, Elects Moderate as City Attorney Over Police-Eliminating Radical
Want another sign even progressive cities have had enough of the crime and destruction? Seattle just elected a relative moderate as City Attorney. Her name is Ann Davidson. Unlike progressive city attorneys whoβve made a mess of Americaβs big cities, she believes the City Attorneyβs office is no βplace for radical agenda.” Davidson swamped self-described police βabolitionistβ Nicole Thomas Kennedy, gaining nearly 60% of the vote.
A New GOP Star Those βWhite Supremacistsβ Just Love
I know this could get us banned, but we want to show a video widely cheered by white supremacists. MSNBCβs Joy Reid insists white supremacy in Virginia is the reason for this womanβs victory, and clearly if you are a white supremacist this is exactly the person you would be choosing to represent you.
Wait! Isn’t that David Duke behind her?! Seriously … this, for those who donβt know, is Virginiaβs new Lt. Governor: Jamaican immigrant and former Marine Winsome Sears. Itβs no wonder MSNBC and CNN wanted no part of her victory speech.
Van Jones Hits Nail on the Head
CNNβs Van Jones, who historically has moments of honesty, said Tuesday night that βDemocrats are coming acrossβ as βannoying and offensive and seem out of touch in ways that donβt show up in our feeds.β
CNNβs Van Jones: βDemocrats are coming acrossβ as βannoying and offensive and seem out of touch.β pic.twitter.com/nS66zK8FfT
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 3, 2021
His fellow panelist immediately called him a βracist.β (Yes, I made that up.)
40% of Dems Want to Dump Biden in 2024
According to a new poll, 40% of Democrats want someone other than Joe Biden as their nominee in 2024. And this was before Tuesday night’s drubbing.
The other 60% want to replace whoever it is actually running things at the White House. (Yes, I made that up too.)
With Kamala Harris also out of flavor, DNC insiders are looking to a newcomer in 2024 by the name of Brandon.
Sopranos Creator David Chase Finally Confirms: Tony Soprano Did Die in the Sopranos Season Finale
It was one of the most talked about series finales ever. Mobster Tony Soprano is eating dinner with is family at a restaurant, looks up at a door opening. Fade to black. Was he killed? Was he not killed?
Sopranos creator David Chase finally revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that Soprano did get killed. The fade to black is Tonyβs life snuffing out. Chase also says heβs disturbed at fans who wanted to see Soprano βface-down in linguine.β
I just thought, “God, you watched this guy for seven years and I know heβs a criminal. But donβt tell me you donβt love him in some way, donβt tell me youβre not on his side in some way. And now you want to see him killed? You want justice done? Youβre a criminal after watching this **** for seven years.”
Gee. Maybe News We Could Have Used During the Trial: Caitlyn Jenner Reveals OJ Told Nicole βIβll Kill You and Get Away With It.β
Back when Caitlyn Jenner was Bruce Jenner, wife Kris Jenner was BFFβs with OJ Simpsonβs wife Nicole. Kris had gotten close to Nicole while married to Robert Kardashian, a lawyer and friend of Simpson.
(In fact, the morning of his infamous car chase, Simpson had threatened to kill himself in young Kim Kardashianβs room. Kardashian convinced him that doing so would hopelessly traumatize his daughter.)
All these years later, Jenner has dropped the bombshell that Simpson had told Nicole, βIβll kill you and get away with it.β Jenner spilled the news on an Australian reality show Big Brother VIP. βThen, Nicole, you know, relayed that onto Kris at one point and unfortunately, she was right.β
Unfortunately, prosecutor Marcia Clark never called Kris Jenner as a witness, saying in 2016 her testimony would have been βhearsay.β
Meanwhile, Simpson was spotted at Sundayβs game of his old team the Buffalo Bills. Apparently the search for Nicoleβs βreal killerβ has taken him to chilly upstate New York.
Along The Stream
Our Aliya Kuykendall gives us a peek at a new movie that tells a tale so astounding it can only be true. And it is: “Sabina, in Theatres Nov 8-10, Tells Backstory of Tortured for Christ Couple.”
John Zmirak is back with part two of his provocative: “What if the Nazis Had Really Lost World War II? Imagining Such a Timeline.”
Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Morning Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at Gab, Parler, MeWe and now GETTR. His Christmas single, “A Father’s Love (Joseph’s Song)” is now available! Check it out!