promotional support provided by New Jersey business magazine.

♪ >> Tonkin Junior, you have got your first challenger, and I think you probably know it.

Hey, everybody, it is "Reporters Roundtable."

Our panel today includes the senior writer and project editor for NJ Spotlight News, the politics reporter for NJ advance media, and P. Kenneth Burns, the South Jersey reporter for WH why why -- whyy.

We will discuss that shirt in just a bit.

We look at the announcement that Tom Kane Junior could be facing a challenger next year from an impressive powerhouse who has been badgering him for more than a year now.

She was most recently the executive director of the working families party, erstwhile be Baller and the bane of politicians on both sides of the aisle.

She is Sue Altman, and she joins us now.

Welcome back.

>> good morning.

How are you?

Collects I'm doing good.

Tom Kim Junior has been in office for all of six months.

What record does he have for you to run against?

>> Oh, my gosh, there is plenty there.

He is a lifelong politician.

He was in Trenton for years before he got to Washington where he stood by and enabled the worst instincts of the chri stie era, the worst instincts of the Democrat era, so the idea that he has no record is absurd.

In Washington, he has voted against veterans, voted against Meals on Wheels, which my own grandmother used until she died, not to mention he has not had a town hall.

He did not campaign.

He scooted in on the coattails of his father's last name, which he shares, and since he has been elected, he has not had a town hall.

You cannot govern people that you are afraid of.

>> Let's talk about your bio.

You grew up in Clinton, had a stopover in Camden.

Some have suggested that you were shopping for a district to run in.

Is that fair or unfair?

>> it is absurd.

During the pandemic, I was in Camden and we did a lot of great work in Camden.

It is a wonderful city.

But I have moved home.

It is great to be back.

A lot of friends and family have moved back during the pandemic, and it is wonderful to see people and reconnect with folks, so for me, this is coming home.

This district feels right at home.

I can map it like the back of my hand.

>> Called you a progressive powerhouse.

Were you actually once a Republican?

>> Both of my parents are Republicans, even to this day, which is funny because they are being super supportive, but I know it probably bewilders my mother since she is a Republican .

Most of the grown-ups around me when I grew up were Republicans, so I did not know any better, and thus began my political journey, which is ongoing to this day.

>> When did you see the light or fall into the darkness depending on one is perspective?

>> I switched around the time of Obama.

I'd have to check.

I lived in New York during a period of time, so I would have to look at the exact date, but politics is a journey.

Our understanding of how the world works is a journey.

I went to Columbia University in New York and the Iraq war was a big issue.

That was eye-opening for me.

We are all on our journey politically, and in terms of understanding the way the world works and what issues are priority to us, and not to mention the Republican party moved very sharply right in my lifetime, which I'm sure a lot of people in this district feel, and there are Republicans who have been Republican voters who are now second-guessing that.

>> Did I see if you are going to try to run on the party line even though you are against the party line?

>> Are we talking the primary now?

You asked me if I'm going to pursue the organizational lines in the primary?

Right now, there is no primary.

Right now I'm the only candidate and I'm hoping it stays that way.

In the event there is a primary, I will actual -- absolutely pursue the organizational lines.

There's no reason not to.

I intend to win this race and I intend to build an all hands on deck coalition.

We need the democratic party organizations in these districts.

They are good, dimmer -- good, strong, democratic parties that have grown a lot.

But also, we need people who are disaffected Republicans.

People who are anti-trump Republicans.

There is a real big coalition here that I think appeals across partisan lines, so while I will of course pursue the organizational lines because I intend to run to win, our coalition does not begin and end there.

>> Could you ever work with a George Norcross?

>> to what end?

I don't know.

>> I'm asking you, if every circumstance presented itself where George Norcross, who has his political tentacles all across the state may happen upon your district or may find some interest in that district, would you ever accept support from him or work together with him on any issues?

>> That's a really complicated question.

As far as I'm concerned, he is retired.

And also, we are building a really strong, broad coalition.

I have not been waiting by the phone for George's call.

>> But you did not say no.

>> We will cross that bridge when we come to it, I will say.

>> you did not say no.

>>'s brother Donald is part of the coalition we need to retain the house or to get the house back in Congress in Washington, so, look, coalitions are complicated things.

You don't have to agree with everyone all the time, but I certainly have no intention of seeking out any kind of endorsement or anything.

I'm not interested in that and, frankly, he does not have any power in this part of the state.

>> What is a policy initiative, something you would go to Congress and make an important part of your agenda?

>> That's a great question.

Like I said earlier, people in this district care a great deal about the environment, so I'm going to be talking to environmental leaders in the coming weeks and developing a plan, talking to constituents in the area.

Whatever we need to do to preserve that area is important, same with warehouse sprawl.

Same with transportation.

Warehouse sprawl is the next cycle of sprawl in this beautiful area of the state.

We have to do whatever we can to stop it.

Public transportation is critical.

There are people who deserve one-seat rides into the city, and I will work hard on that.

Beyond that, the economy.

Things are two freaking expensive.

I have friends, millennials, who want to move back to this area who cannot afford it.

There are senior citizens who cannot afford to stay here, so something has to change and we need to make sure there's broad prosperity in this economy, not just a prosperity shared by the teeny, tiny's wealthiest people but shared broadly across the entire population.

>> Sue Altman getting in early.

We will be watching.

Thanks for coming on with us.

That'll, welcome back to you all.

What about this Sue Altman?

She has been telegraphing this for quite a while now.

What are her chances against Kean, assuming she's the only candidate in the Democratic primary?

>> Clearly, somebody needs to run against Kean.

He has not held at town hall, and he is not engaging.

He did not do that even to get into office, but the fact that he was able to get into office without doing that I think speaks to this district.

The district is now much more Republican than it was before redistricting.

Last I checked, there is about 16,000 more Republicans than Democrats, but there's also a lot of, you know, independents or unaffiliated voters who tend to vote Republican.

Democrats have said they think in a presidential year, this is a seat they can win.

I'm not so sure about that.

I think if you had a strong Democrat at the top of the ticket, that would be the case.

I'm not sure Joe Biden is that person at this point because support for him has been tepid, but certainly if anybody can give Tom Keene a run for his money, it will be Sue Altman.

>> could you picture the Sue Altman who got dragged out of a committee hearing in Trenton by state police a few years ago now looking to work on the party line?

>> I was somebody who has covered these folks and have covered them for a while, and I was pretty impressed with a lot of her answers.

She telegraphed to me that she is very tapped into her district , and I think she's going to campaign.

What I was seeing it is somebody who will campaign hard on things that really do impact people in Huntington County.

She hit every nail on the head for sure, but, yeah, the idea of working with Norcross and the county line, that tells me she is a serious in it to win it, and I think it speaks more about the destructiveness with county lines and that uniqueness to New Jersey than it does about Sue Altman, you know, being a hypocrite because as you rightly point out, she will be working with who she is trying to get rid of.

>> What kind of record does she leave behind in Camden?

>> It is a strong, progressive record, where she really campaign for the priorities that the working family pushed for.

As far as I can tell and from my observations from other campaigns, as long as she can really focus on those issues that cut across party line -- she alluded to one of them, which is the warehouse sprawl -- she might have a shot.

Colleen brought up party registration.

You might have more Republicans than Democrats, but you have more independents than either party.

If they leaned to the right or not, as long as she cuts through, she will have a legitimate, strong shot on possibly reclaiming that seat for the Democrats.

>> Running as a Democrat is one thing, but running as a progressive Democrat is another thing in this district where progressives might even scare away some of these independents, no?

>> I think you present a good point.

Sue is totally right about people wanting their open spaces.

Remember, the district is bigger than that, and a lot of people here also like their guns, so a progressive who I think is going to be very, very strongly, you know, for gun control is not going to be somebody who is going to make a lot of friends.

Tom: -- >> we've been tearing it up for weeks now, and it's going to happen next week apparently.

Chris Christie announced he's going to run for president again.

What's the plan here?

>> I think Chris Christie's pitched a very wealthy people who are tired of seeing Donald Trump any potential of being president is I'm going to take a sledgehammer to Donald Trump, and as long as you have people funding your campaign, that keeps the campaign alive.

Chris Christie is a joke and he joked at the time that New Hampshire was his second home.

New Hampshire will be his second home.

He is going to announce it looks like on Tuesday, and I think he's going to do the McCain style of holding countless town halls.

He is effective in that.

He has a lot of baggage.

I question if Chris Christie even thinks he can win in the long haul.

A lot of things came up in the past.

Since then we have had a photo of him on the beach.

I expect that to be in every Republican voter's mailbox 1500 times over, but Chris Christie in a town hall, it is and effective communicator.

New Hampshire voters -- Trump is the outlier.

He would fly in, give a speech on the tarmac, fly out the other than trump, New Hampshire voters, they want to see these people at least three or four times.

If you could finish second or third in New Hampshire, that could be enough to get him to South Carolina and keep the money flowing.

>> If he is second or third, that is a major victory for him.

Is there money there, though?

I know they formed the Super PAC or whatever it is, but do they have money in the bank yet that we know?

>> He would not be running if there was not some money in the bank.

Chris Christie spent a lot of time around the country making friends with wealthy people as the head of the Republican Governors Association.

If you did not have a financial backer to buy that home in New Hampshire, he would not have announced his run.

That was probably the largest hurdle.

>> Christie left office with historically low poll numbers, but even those numbers were not close to the 0% that he is pulling in some national surveys.

Yes, I said 0%.

Is he about to embarrass himself or embarrass himself like a fox?

>> I see what you did there.

It is a no go.

Let's be honest.

I lived in Maryland during his first run and during his years as governor.

Mark my words, he will not get the nomination.

I have said this in 2016, I hold to it to this day, he's paying for the sin of saying nice things about the black Democratic president in a time of need.

I think he paid for that back then and I think he will pay for it now.

Now that he has a trump critic, he will probably pay for it even more.

I hope he wins New Hampshire.

I don't see him going any further than that.

>> I don't want to criticize any of the folks he is working with because we know them in New Jersey and they are all real professionals, but it sounds like he's got the same team.

I'm just not sure where you go when you are polling between 0% and 1%.

60% of New Jersey Republicans say he would not make a good president.

The only opening I could see for him is if trump winds up getting convicted of something and cannot run.

I really don't know how else Christie has a lame to win.

>> Quickly, I understand his chances are very middling.

What are the downsides here?

I know he's a laughing stock because of his approval rating and things like that, but, you know, he will be part of the conversation.

Maybe he is on MSNBC after all this is done instead of ABC News and he is making money that way or maybe he cozies up with the Republican who actually gets the nomination who is not trump if that happens and he has a lucrative private Khmer -- Private career.

I see the joke of it all, but it is losing the forest for the trees in terms of how it could benefit him by 10, 15 different ways.

>> the answer to where could he go, the only answer is he can only go up from where he is right now.

He was the governor when we had our last government shutdown.

There has been relative peace in the process since, but are there storm clouds gathering?

An initiative would cut property taxes for seniors by 50%, making it possible for them to stay in NJ -- see what he did there?

The governor says he will veto it.

It costs too much, and he will shut down the government if it comes to that.

Craig Coughlan, however, was cool.

>> Nobody takes a shut lightly.

It is a big deal.

We are more than a month away from the deadline, so we got time.

>> real quick, from all of you, are they going to shut down the government over this?

>> He's not going down that hole.

If anything, that's just setting the seeds.

The last thing anybody wants to talk about, especially after the last couple of weeks in Washington, is a New Jersey shutdown.

>> Phil Murphy is dead serious.

He will shut down the government .

There's no doubt about that because he is not on the ballot next year.

I have to imagine after they announced their plan, people in Murphy's inner circle got on the phone with other powerful people and said that a real nice collection you have over there, it would be a real shame if something bad happened to it.

All these guys are up on the ballot in November.

They were scared of the last election.

First of all, the Democrats lost seven seats.

That race was a lot closer than anyone expected.

They were scared.

For them to try to make him a lame-duck governor now, I mean, there's no doubt in my mind that Murphy would follow through with his pledge to shut it down, and it would be disastrous for Democrats.

I think on July 1, I think we will all probably not be working, but maybe -- who knows?

But I'm very doubtful there will be a shutdown.

>> What about next week's primaries?

Anything stand out to you as a race to watch?

>> you got the third with Ed the trucker facing a primary with his own assemblywoman.

The fourth, do Republicans think they can win November he?

They are battling it out in Sussex County and Morris County.

You have Republicans again who really want seats fighting it out to say who is the more conservative of the group, and the quiet one is Richard Cody governor on the 27th when we have not heard a peep out of him .

>> I was disappointed.

I thought that would be one race to really watch, but it has been a quiet there.

Is it time for our "only in Jersey" moments, headlines and notes that are quintessentially New Jersey.

>> We are going to go back and talk about Chris Christie.

I realize this did not happen last week, but I just think only in New Jersey can someone who intends to run for president go out and be as unabashed a Bruce Springsteen supporter as he is at concerts.

At the Preudential Center, he was dancing and singing and playing to the crowd that was around him.

>> he is a man of the people.

>> Yeah, I guess there's that.

It does not look residential -- presidential based on the old definition, but we've had Donald Trump.

He is certainly showing he is a man of the people.

>> He looks like a ballerina compared to watching Donald Trump fans.

Matthew, what do you got?

>> My colleague had a good story about anchor tax relief program.

Tens of thousands of people in the state are still waiting for relief on property taxes.

In recent months, the amount of people answering phones in the call center doubled.

She worked the phones herself but found out that only 9% of these tens of thousands of people -- some 30,000 people who were waiting on this -- are getting through to a live agent.

Problems happen.

Things happen when there is high demand for something, but it just was not that long ago when we had a pandemic and the Department of Labor had a real chance to learn from a mistake and maybe figure out how to get these phones answered, but here we are.

>> A 9% and survey it seems really high for me.

>> I'm an Middlesex County resident, and I would like to go what's going -- I would like to know what's going on in my community.

For all the good work we do as Republicans covering the garden state, if it's the USA Today network or NGS media, but business decisions get in the way.

This is a letter I got last month letting me know that my Sunday paper would be mailed to me on Saturday because they partnered with the U.S.

Postal Service to deliver the home news Tribune in Middlesex County.

Like most other people, I have switched to digital.

>> Six days a week, baby.

Mine comes from the manicured grounds of liberty national golf course in Jersey City where a group of four teenagers got caught sneaking onto the 14th tee a couple years ago.

Sneaking onto the golf course was not really that hard.

Just a couple years later, the 19-year-old, who was not arrested for trespassing that day, by the way, now has a sponsor exemption from liberty national to play in this week's LG PA -- LG PA tournament taking place on that course and the rising Star now has a permanent invitation to play at liberty national, so no sneaking required.

She's a hot prospect.

She says she is still a few years away from joining the LG PA to her because she's a freshman at Stanford University.

I think there was another famous golfer who went to Stanford.

That is par for the course or a hole in one or a very useful shot, which of her golf term you want to apply to it -- I don't know.

>> Stick with the first one.

>> That's "roundtable" for this week.

Good to see you all.

Thanks also to sue Altman for joining us.

You can follow the show on Twitter and get tons of fresh content every day when you subscribe to the YouTube channel.

From all the crew, thanks for watching.

We will see you next week.

>> Major funding for "Reporters Roundtable wtih David Cruz" is provided by rwj Barnabas health.

Let's be healthy together.

Njn insurance group, serving the insurance needs of New Jersey businesses and residents for more than 100 years.

Promotional support provided by New Jersey business magazine, the magazine by New Jersey business and industry Association reporting to leaders in all 21 counties of the Garden State since 1954, and by political's New Jersey playbook, a topical newsletter on Garden state politics, online at Politico.com.