Tag Archive: Vin Gopal

Update: Vin won his election – congrats Chairman! – JG

Today, the Tuesday after Primary Day, is the least talked about, most important day of the year in New Jersey politics. It’s the day when duly elected county committee members meet to choose their party leadership. Different counties have leadership elections in different years, according to their own bylaws, so not every county has a contested race for leadership this year. But Monmouth County does – and the results matter.

Tonight, the Monmouth County Democratic Committee will be electing a new Chair for the first time in 23 years. And one of the candidates – Vin Gopal – has a real chance to win, with your help. Vin is a young, smart, progressive voice who has been there to support countless good democrats throughout Monmouth County and indeed across the entire state. His own race for the Assembly last year showed the energy, excitement and class that he would bring to the role as Monmouth County Chair. His election would be a watershed moment for progressives throughout the state, and a sign of great things to come in Monmouth County.

So, for anyone who has ever complained about those “mean old bosses” or “that corrupt machine” or whatever other label gets placed on our elected party leadership – there are only two places you should possibly be tonight: your own county reorganization meeting, or Monmouth County’s reorganization meeting at:

The Shore Casino, 1 Simon Lake Dr, Atlantic Highlands NJ.

* Registration begins at 6pm * Voting times from 7pm – 9pm

If you are a Monmouth County Committee Member, I urge you to vote for Vin Gopal for Chair tonight. But, you don’t need to live in Monmouth to help – Vin’s campaign needs phonebankers, drivers, challengers, organizers and more for what will be a hard-fought election tonight. Please do what you can to help a rising star among New Jersey’s progressive democrats, and a good friend of (and occasional contributor to) Blue Jersey.

In just six weeks the CD 10 Special and Regular primary will determine the November election outcome as no Republican can win in this district. Of the four key Democratic candidates, the most progressive is West Ward Councilman Ronald C. Rice. He is in a tough battle against Newark Council President and Essex County Freeholder Donald Payne, Jr. who has the Essex County party line, State Senator Nia Gill (Montclair) who has the Hudson County party line, and Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith. In Union County there will be an open primary.

For supporters of Ron Rice now is the time for action. In recent days he has gained endorsements of Newark Councilmen Ras Baraka and Darrin Sharif, former Newark Councilwoman Bessie Walker, Assemblyman and former West Orange Mayor John McKeon (D-27), and West Orange Councilmen Sal Anderton and Victor Cirilo. A key endorser is former Governor and current Essex County Senator Dick Codey who says, “Ron’s record of progressive ideas, and his willingness and ability to take on the tough issues and be steadfast and resilient in the face of staunch opposition is precisely what we need right now in Washington.”

You can attend tomorrow night’s reception at The Spring Lake Manor in Spring Lake, hosted by Monmouth County’s Vin Gopal. An open bar will be available for donations including Supporter ($150), Friend ($300), and Co-Host ($500). RSVP to vin.gopal.2008@gmail.com or call 732-299-5625.

Another event will be held on May 1 at Rio Rodizio, 1034 McCarter Hwy. Newark. Honorary Chairs of the event are Senator Dick Codey and Newark Senator Ronald L. Rice (father of Ron Rice.) The requested minimum donation is $150 at the door or online here. For further information you can send an e-mail to info@ron-rice.com.

During these critical weeks Ron Rice needs your help. In this race with four veteran Democratic elected officials, and county Democratic machines promoting their own favorites, Ron needs more volunteers and donations. According to the Federal Election Report through March 31, neither Payne nor Smith has filled a financial report, but Senator Gill has raised more money and is outspending Ron Rice. You can visit his campaign office at 845 Sandford Avenue, Newark to volunteer. You can donate to his campaign here. You can visit his website.

An endorsement letter, signed by a number of Monmouth County Democratic municipal chairs, mayors, council members and elected officials, former Freeholders, labor leaders and additional leaders follows this, belos the fold. – promoted by Rosi

BlueJersey Community:

I wanted to let you know I am seeking the soon-to- be vacant Monmouth County Demcoratic Party Chairmanship. Vic Scudiery has served our county party for 23 years with honor and integrity.

Our progressive principles unite us, not divide us. Our desire for an open political process strengthens us, not weakens us. Already we have filled over 75 vacant county committee seats in the past few weeks and we are just getting started!

Together, we will challenge Joe Kyrillos vote by vote in his home county and I will work tirelessly to make sure that happens.

Please urge those you know who live in Monmouth to   support our candidacy and join the fight. My list of endorsements are after the thread.

I look forward to standing with all of you in the years ahead.

Vin

Endorsement letter is below the fold.

promoted by Rosi

As reported recently in the New Jersey Jewish News, the dirtiest legislative race in recent memory, featuring a smear campaign against one of the Democratic Assembly candidates, Vin Gopal, was observed by four members of the Israeli delegation from the American Council of Young Political Leaders, a bipartisan nonprofit organization, supported by the U.S. Department of State, that coordinates international exchange activities worldwide for political leaders ages 25-40, who were hosted by ACYPL alumna, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, one of the perpetrators of the smear campaign.

I am embarrassed by this on a number of levels.  First and foremost, this was supposed to be a learning experience for the Israeli delegation.

“This has been an amazing program that will allow us to bring new ideas to Israel. We are learning a lot and contributing a lot, and making contacts that will last for many years to come,” said Shay Even of Ra’anana, a member of the Ra’anana City Council and the Meretz Party.

Other delegation members included Mordechai Ruham of Rishon Letzion, chief of staff with Silvan Shalom, Israel’s vice prime minister and a Knesset member for the Likud Party; Dore Bloch of Jerusalem, head of volunteers and election day operations for Labor Party chair Amram Mitzna; and Linor Deutsch of Tel Aviv, spokeswoman and political consultant with the office of Shai Hermesh, Knesset member from the Kadima Party.

Clearly, Councilman Even doesn’t realize that there is very little, if anything, that Israelis, who are fortunate enough to have the only real democracy in the Middle East and one of the most (if not the most) dynamic democracies in the world, which provides visibility and a voice for a far wider spectrum of political thought than most, especially ours, could or should learn from the democratic process here in the United States, particularly in New Jersey.  But, of course, the intellectually dishonest Assemblywoman Casagrande disagrees with me.

“We were so excited when ACYPL offered us the opportunity to host an Israeli delegation, which was coming to study American elections,” Casagrande told NJJN. “What better place to learn about it than in New Jersey, where we are famous for our vigorously fought elections.”

promoted by the_promised_land – thank YOU, Vin, for running a strong campaign that we hope is a portent for victory in the years to come! We hope that we’ll continue to see you here at Blue Jersey as you build towards the next big thing.

Although we fell short, we are proud of the campaign we waged. We never wavered from our core principles of supporting public education, creating jobs through supporting our small businesses and fighting for marriage equality.

This election was never about me or Kathy or Ray, it was about the 200,000+ residents of Monmouth County’s 11th District who were getting shortchanged.  

Can you get yourself re-elected by lying to voters?

Of course you can. Candidates circling the ethics drain do it all the time. And that’s what Republicans Caroline Casagrande & Mary Pat Angelini are banking on; if they suggest to enough voters that rising Democrat Vin Gopal is a crook, maybe they can keep their jobs.

The GOP’s clearly concerned that Gopal might win. He’s an effective, eloquent and inspiring candidate. Gopal’s entire team, among other nods, won Democracy for America’s national endorsement (disclosure: it was my pleasure to alert DFA to their strengths). Asbury Park Press endorsed Gopal, too, urging voters to consider him over Mary Pat Angelini.

So. What did Casagrande and Angelini do? They sent mail , produced by NJ GOP but approved by the two of them, that attempt to tar Gopal with the crimes of Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas, who went to jail for corruption. This kind of crap is right out of the Karl Rove playbook; create a scary-enough bogeyman and the voters will do what you want.  

Kathy Horgan, a member of Red Bank’s all-Democrat borough council, tonight accepted the Democratic nomination for Assembly tonight at the party’s convention in Asbury Park. Horgan is taking the place of Asbury Park restaurant owner Marilyn Schlossbach, who dropped out of the race shortly after Hurricane Irene damaged several of the restaurants she owns in Asbury Park, Shrewsbury and Toms River.

Horgan joins a ticket with Senate candidate Raymond Santiago and fellow Assembly candidate Vin Gopal. They’re running against GOP incumbents Jennifer Beck, Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande.  

The title of this piece is contradictory. After all, it in and of itself, is a generalization.

But I’ll still go out on a limb and make a generalization – In any of New Jersey’s 40 legislative districts it is better to elect a Democrat than to elect a Republican in the upcoming election.

This was posted a few days ago, by LD-11 Assembly candidate Vin Gopal. It’s been a busy news week, but the video after the jump is just as worth watching as it was Tuesday, and here’s some press coverage to catch you up on this campaign. – promoted by Rosi

The 11th Legislative District Democratic team is working hard to make Monmouth County blue again. The new district has 36,000 registered Democrats and 26,000 registered Republicans. This is some of the press we’ve received in recent weeks…

Democrats target Beck failed Public Safety Override

Democrat Gopal Raises 30K in one night

Future of Monmouth County Democrats Front Page Tri City News

Story – Tri City News – Future of Monmouth County Democrats

Meet Ray below the fold…

One look at 12th district Senator Jen Beck and it's perfectly obvious why she's got “Gay Man's BFF” written all over her.  

She's fabulous, gorgeous and has a big long pony tail that I secretly want to French braid.  She's also a bit of a diva.  Basically what we gays affectionately call a  “fag hag.”  Straight out of central casting.   For better or worse, she just gives off that vibe.

But here's the deal, she's not a true friend to NJ's LGBT community as proved by her NO vote on Marriage Equality.  To make it worse, as a member of the Judiciary Committee Sen. Beck shares a rather unfortunate distinction of being one of only 4 NJ Senators to vote against marriage equality TWICE.  For those of y'all keeping score, YES it does make it twice as bad.

Frankly i was surprised and hurt when she voted NO (for reasons described in paragraph 1) but in retrospect it makes sense: Governor Chris Christie was on the lookout for a LtGovernor at the time and Beck was widely considered to be on the shortlist.  Voting for Gay rights was not gonna score any points with Christie who's admittedly “not a fan” of equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians.

So it was newsy when Jane Roh reported Senator Beck's evolving position on equality.  In her own words:  

“There are lots of reasons why I ultimately voted no. My position has evolved. I spent a lot of time on this issue, and at the end of the day, I would support it if it came before me.”

Naturally we welcome her change of heart.  Change is good.  

You know what else has changed?  Beck's district.  

more below…