[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - Hi, everyone, Steve Adubato, we kick off the program with Phil Alagia, democratic strategist and chief of staff to the county executive in Essex County, Joe DiVincenzo.

Hey, Phil, how you doing?

- I'm doing fantastic, Steve, how are you?

Happy Veterans Day to everyone out there.

- We're taping this on Veterans Day, it is also a week after a very important historic election in New Jersey, Virginia, New York, across the country, California redistricting for congressional seats.

Hey, Phil, you're in a good mood a week after the election because...?

- I'm in a good mood politically because Mikie Sherrill and the team hit it out of the park, her campaign, you know, was criticized a lot before the election day, people came up to me saying, "We're not doing it up in the city, she's not doing it up here, she's not connecting with the people," and people like Alex Ball and Jackie Burns, and her campaign team, you know, steadfast on making Trump a big party issue, putting a plan out there and coming through this with an amazing victory, I mean, it's a mandate, it's something that nationally, people need to take consideration of how well she did, how strong she did, and I think she becomes a leader in the party nationally.

- And by the way, Phil mentioned Alex Ball, who's the new chief of staff for the new governor, and again, things will be changing, there'll be all kinds of things happening during this, quote, "transition," and we're recording during the transition and we'll do an in-depth half-hour interview with new governor Mikie Sherrill and we'll talk issues, and, Phil, speaking of issues, I said this on, doing an election night commentary that while we congratulate Mikie Sherrill for a 13-point victory in New Jersey, on some level, I'm not sure what she won, Phil, because she takes on the mantle of a whole range of serious challenges and problems in the state of New Jersey as governor, and name the top two or three, go.

- Well, not that we're counting, but as absentee votes come in, it's over 14% right now, so it's an even bigger victory, but... - Not that you care about the numbers, Phil.

(laughs) - I am a numbers guy, but Steve, absolutely, I mean, I think that's why Mikie Sherrill is a perfect person, she's a different kinda leader, but there are serious affordability issues in the state of New Jersey, there's serious budget issues and questions, people wanna make sure New Jersey's affordable, I think Mikie has to put together a team that's gonna be different than... That other governors have done before her, I think there's problems that we haven't had to deal with, number one, she talked about immediate freeze on utility costs, she has to get that done on day one to fulfill that promise.

- How...?

Phil, how the heck do you do that?

- I think she's gotta work with the utilities companies, I think she's gotta find ways to keep costs down, I think we have to find new ways to create energy in the state of New Jersey, I talked to executives yesterday and, you know, a big problem is artificial intelligence, AI are becoming huge users of energy, which has had an impact on how we're providing, it's not just providing household energy, it's all this commercial energy that's needed, and I think, you know, unfortunately, in the previous administration, made a big bet on wind, at the time, they thought that was a good idea, but it really hasn't paid off the way they thought, and now, Mikie and the new administration has to come in here and figure out energy, figure out how to keep costs down, and most importantly, see, you and I both have teenagers, we want our kids to be able to buy a house in New Jersey and live in New Jersey, and too many of 'em now, when they start working age, they're moving out of state, she needs... The new administration and Governor Sherrill, Governor-elect Cheryl needs to make sure that our children can afford to stay in New Jersey, and I think that's what she's gonna do.

- Yeah, by the way, I... By way of background, it's not in Phil's bio, but Phil mentions our kids, and our daughters have played against each other in softball, Phil has a history, you could check... Do the whole thing on... Check out Phil Alagia, he has a 30-year-plus history in coaching in the field of women's, girls' softball, and he is an icon in that field, but that's not what this... - Thank you, New Jersey pride, I gotta give them a plug.

- Look at you plugging away.

Hey Phil, how about this?

President Trump, gonna be there for the next several years, Mikie Sherrill the next four years, how the heck does Governor Sherrill engage and interact with President Trump?

With so many decisions being made in Washington, including, as we speak, Gateway tunnel terminated, we'll see what happens, how does she engage him given how critical she has been of him and his policies?

- Well, I think she has to do whatever she needs to do to provide resources for the state of New Jersey, I think when it's time to stand up and fight for Trump, fight Trump and the administration in Washington, she's gonna do it, I think ultimately, what she talked about recently and I liked was that we send significantly more dollars back to D.C.

with taxes, and we don't get enough in return.

She's talking about maybe we keep some of that money, maybe we hold that money and use that as leverage against the federal government, I think where it's appropriate, she's gonna deal with anyone that can help the residents of New Jersey, but ultimately, fight against the things that she doesn't believe the Trump administration is doing correctly.

- Phil, do you actually believe that Mikie Sherrill, or any governor, with all the talk, and Phil's run a lot of campaigns statewide, he's also been shoulder-to-shoulder with the county executive Joe DiVincenzo in many winning elections in Essex County, and full disclosure, Phil and I go back more than a few years with Joe D as neighborhood friends, let's call it that because that's what it is.

Phil, let me ask you this, do you think any governor, including Mikey Sherrill, in spite of what's said in a campaign, Phil, can actually do something in a meaningful way to, quote, "Reduce property taxes," when your property tax bill is a product, last time I checked, of the school budget, county taxes and the amount of state funding a community gets, what can a governor really do?

- I mean, I look at Joe as a perfect example, correct?

We, we... You don't hear a lot, people complain about taxes in Essex County and they always will, but I think people believe that we are, they're getting a dollar's worth of products for a dollar's pay, so new parks, new roads, new bridges, government under glass, as you mentioned before, transparency, I think, you know, it's very hard to reduce taxes, right?

And I don't think that was a pledge by anyone, the pledge was to make New Jersey affordable, to balance expenses, I think Mikie and the new administration has to make sure that we make New Jersey affordable, that every dollar that people are paying, they're getting a dollar back in government, and resources, and help for their family, I think there's gonna be a lot of tough decisions, and I think if the public believes that the governor is prioritizing what they're interested in, great schools, great infrastructure, great parks and recreation, then that'll be less of an issue, I think when you're paying high taxes and you don't believe that you're getting services back, that's where the issue is.

- Phil Alagia, democratic strategist on a lot of campaigns as we speak right now, the chief of staff in Essex County for the county executive, Joe DiVincenzo, Phil, thank you for joining us, we'll continue the conversation as Governor Sherrill takes office and takes on a lot of the issues that Phil just talked about, thank you, Phil, appreciate it.

- Thank you so much, Steve, thanks for having me.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

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