>> From NJ PBS studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Brianna Vannozzi.

>> Hello, and thanks for joining us tonight.

I'm Joanna Gaggis.

Brianna Vannozzi is off.

Coming up in the broadcast, it's election day for District 11.

So who's headed to Congress to fill the seat once held by Governor Mikey Sherrill?

Plus, we look at the impact of the CD-11 results on the balance of power in Washington.

And later, environmental groups are joining the fight against the immigration detention center in Roxbury.

But first, a landmark ruling in the case against Live Nation, the concert giant that owns Ticketmaster.

A federal jury found the company violated antitrust laws by operating as a monopoly, driving up ticket prices for concertgoers.

This verdict could completely reshape the live music industry.

The lawsuit was brought by 33 states, including New Jersey and the District of Columbia.

In a statement, New Jersey's Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said that Live Nation's practices "made it harder for fans to see their favorite artists and profited at the expense of hardworking New Jerseyans."

After this week's verdict, the overseeing judge could decide to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which the states have asked for.

Live Nation also faces monetary damages after the jurors found Ticketmaster overcharged consumers by nearly $2 a ticket.

During the trial, Live Nation argued, "It's not a monopoly, and it competes aggressively, but legally.

They're still fighting the liability and damages ruling, and they've said in a statement, 'The jury's verdict is not the last word on this matter.'"

This case has become a major test of federal antitrust enforcement.

A controversial natural gas pipeline that will run through New Jersey has broken ground in New York.

Called the Northeast Supply Enhancement, or NESI, pipeline, the project was stalled in the permitting process for years.

But on Tuesday, Trump administration officials celebrated the groundbreaking in Brooklyn, touting the move as a quote "gigantic win" for New York and America.

The project finally moved forward after the president negotiated a deal with New York Governor Kathy Hochul and the Murphy administration subsequently approved air and water permits.

23 miles of the pipeline will run through New Jersey, delivering fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania to New York.

No energy will actually be supplied to New Jersey.

Environmental groups continue to push back warning of harm to the Raritan Bay and to the state's overall air and water quality from the Williams Transco compressor station that will be built in Franklin Township.

They're still working to delay construction.

Coming up, we get the latest on the special election in New Jersey's 11th congressional district as voters decide who they're sending to D.C.

That's next.

Funding for NJ Spotlight News provided by the members of the New Jersey Education Association.

Making public It's election day in New Jersey's 11th congressional district, and thousands of voters have already cast their ballots to decide who they're sending to Capitol Hill to fill the House seat left vacant by Governor Mikey Sherrill.

Three candidates are in the race, Democrat Annalilia Mejia, Republican Joe Hathaway, and Independent Alan Bond.

Today marks the end of a brief but contentious campaign cycle, and in some ways, formally kicks off the midterm election season here in New Jersey.

Here to break it all down is Micah Rasmussen, Director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

Micah, great to see you.

What do we know about voter turnout so far?

Who's voting?

How are they showing up?

It's 83,000 voters as of noon across all methods of voting have turned out so far.

And that's about 15 percent turnout.

But again, we have the rest of the day until that can continue to grow.

Where it breaks down is in pre-election day votes, voting by mail and in-person early votes, 21,000 more Democrats voted before today than Republicans.

Now, we always know that there's an advantage among Democrats in mail-in votes.

But Republicans have to start eating into that in the in-person early voting, that they don't really mind that mode of voting.

They kind of like that mode of voting.

They didn't succeed in that so far in the pre-election day voting.

About 12% more Democrats than Republicans voted in that early voting period.

So that brings us to today.

Republicans have to make up all those votes, all that margin in today.

And right now what we know is as of noon, Republicans and Democrats are neck and neck in election day voting.

And what that means is that Republicans are not really eating into that margin that they have to eat into in that pre-election day voting.

Let's just put in perspective though, how this district was redrawn recently to really favor Democrats.

How many more Democrats exist in this district, 11 now, than did just a few years ago?

Yeah, there are about 60,000 more Democrats than Republicans.

And to put that into perspective, the last time Mikey Sherrill ran in the old district boundary lines before the map was redrawn, there were about 7,000 more Democrats than Republicans.

So this district was drawn, as or many are for Republicans and Democrats, to protect incumbency.

And in that case, it was to protect her incumbency.

Of course, she's not running this time, so it's protecting the Democrat.

And, you know, this could be redrawn again in 2031 after the next census.

But for now, it's a big Democratic advantage in this district on this map.

And of course, you layer on top of that, the Democratic climate that we see in the state, in last year's gubernatorial race, across the country in special elections.

And it really spells some problems that Hathaway really has to overcome if he's got any chance.

Just quickly, can you just give us a sense of how this district went in 2024 for President Trump?

Yeah, President Trump was about nine points back in this district.

Kamala Harris won the district by about nine points.

And so that was a lot.

But Mikey Sherrill won it by even more in her gubernatorial race a year later.

And so, again, what we're looking at is, can Hathaway hold it between sort of 10 to points, 10, maybe 15 points?

Remember, this is a district that's going to see a replay race.

In the June primary, the same two candidates are going to run for their nominations again.

They're going to run against each other in the fall again.

We're going to see if the climate is any different.

Has it continued to deteriorate for Republicans and for Trump's party or has the situation improved.

And he can he cut into her margin if we have this rematch that we think we'll have in the fall.

We've spoken to both candidates.

I know you did as well.

Hathaway really tried to make himself the independent Republican voice, broke away from the president in a lot of areas, but particularly on Gateway and Gateway funding.

What can you tell us about the race that both candidates have run and how they've presented themselves to the voters?

You know, we're in an environment where far less unaffiliated voters are voting in this special election today.

They're just not paying as much attention to it as partisans.

If you're a partisan Democrat, you are fired up, you're motivated to vote.

And so you're not really receptive to that, you know, cross-party appeal that Hathaway is putting out there.

By the same token, if you're a Republican voter, then you're already one of the people who's supporting Hathaway.

The problem for Hathaway is that we just don't see as much motivation to vote among those unaffiliated voters.

So, they're both doing a good job of messaging, as you say, that clear message from Hathaway is out there.

Mejia, as well, has tried to get back to the middle and not really campaigned on a lot of the cultural war issues.

She's downplayed that stuff, the social stuff.

She really has run on economic issues, the impact of the Trump economy.

And so both of them have had very clear messaging in that regard, but they're really appealing to their partisan voters, who are the ones who are interested in this race.

There is definitely a large Jewish population in this region.

Hathaway tried to paint Mejia as an anti-Semitic.

That happened in a debate that you were a part of.

Did any of that land or do you think that voters are really there's going to be this blue wave?

It sounds like you're predicting a blue wave now and perhaps even in the midterms.

We'll get there in a second.

I do think that it has the issue of Israel has played a big role in this race.

The context of the comment that Mahia made, she really let her walk herself into the issue where she said, you know, if the criticism is of anti-Semitism, I'll stand with that.

She did not mean that she's anti-Semitic.

Nobody would say that they were anti-Semitic.

But I don't blame the Hathaway campaign.

We've certainly seen lots of campaigns put, you know, little or no context on what it is they're putting out there.

So it was one that she sort of opened the door to.

This may not be that one gap that's making this an issue.

It's an issue overall on how pro-Israel a candidate's going to be.

And Hathaway has put himself out there as a very pro-Israel candidate.

Mejia has said, "No, I have differences with the Netanyahu-Kemp administration.

I have differences the way that they've dispatched the war."

And I think that's made some Jewish voters notice.

So I don't know if it's going to resonate, but it's definitely made an impact.

Do you believe, Micah, that the results of this race will impact how Democrats see the midterms, or how do you see Democrats and Republicans going into this midterm season?

If we get a much bigger margin, that some people are saying, well, boy, she could win by 20 or 25 points, that would really open everybody's eyes to a continuing deterioration of the environment for Republicans.

If Hathaway manages to hold it 10 to 15 points back, then that's going to show that this is right on par with that national environment and other results we're seeing elsewhere.

It really depends on what we see here.

But I think certainly if the numbers are really that big for me here being more progressive candidate if she's getting the kinds of numbers that more moderate candidates are getting that I think it's going to signal to people like Tom Kane and the neighboring district that this is really something he's already preparing for a tough environment.

It'll signal that the environment may even be tougher than we think that it is.

Yeah.

And we know there are major primaries happening in seven district seven and district 12.

Mike Erasmus and director of the Rebovich Institute at Rider University.

Thanks for the insight.

Thank you.

So with this special election the balance of power in Washington potentially narrows.

Now of course we don't know the election results yet but there have been other changes in Congress this week that are also contributing to those shifts namely two representatives stepping down after allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct but also an absentee from New Jersey's delegation.

Our Washington D.C.

correspondent Ben Hewleck is here to give us the latest.

Ben it's great to see you.

We let's start with New Jersey.

What's been happening with Congressman Tom Kane Junior in District 7.

He has not voted since mid-March.

And to be fair half of that period was congressional recess.

They were out on a two week break in early April.

But he has an undisclosed medical personal health matter a medical matter.

I started asking his office back in mid-March what was going on because the congressman had been missing votes.

And that's all they gave me.

I asked them again yesterday and they gave me word for word the same statement that the congressman has a matter that's kept him away.

And so we don't know effectively.

Now there have not been any significant moments or votes rather where his presence would have made a difference.

Yay or nay.

But Congress is about to embark on a really brutal period over the summer.

President Trump wants another large tax package another budget reconciliation deal done and on his desk by the first of June.

And so if he is not back in Washington by then and reliable Republican vote that very well could have national implications.

What are the numbers as they exist right now.

The split Republicans to Democrats in the House.

There are 218 Republicans which is the bare minimum you need in regular circumstances when the House is full to pass anything.

And 213 Democrats.

And as you as you pointed out two of those absences two of those vacancies for vacancies that currently exist are due to these two recent resignations.

Eric Swalwell of California Democrat and Tony Gonzalez of Texas Republican votes stepped down.

But things of course get more complicated once Mahia is sworn in.

Assuming she wins which she likely will.

But it's a narrow narrow path for Speaker Johnson.

As of right now with the 218 to 213 Republicans can only lose two votes.

Right.

That's right.

If everyone is present and voting yea or nay.

That's right.

He can lose two.

And he has lost two in past votes fairly recently.

Chris Smith and Jeff Andrew almost double handedly if you will tanked a vote a labor issue.

There was a labor bill they didn't like.

They held out and they voted against it sinking the bill.

So the other factor here is Republicans may be more hesitant to pursue certain bills with with this tight majority.

And of course then things still need to get through the Senate and sign be signed into law by the president.

So this is really a significant crimp on legislative process.

Yeah.

You mentioned earlier some of the president's priorities.

We're looking at what could potentially be a 70 billion dollar bill for immigration enforcement.

What's happening there.

Right.

This is this is what Republicans want to do.

They want to use a very technical arduous process called budget reconciliation to pass what at this point appears to be a seven seventy billion dollar bill.

There is no public text on that yet.

It's not as of Thursday afternoon.

And that would be more money for ICE and Customs and Border Patrol to ramp up deportation.

And really a lot of what we've seen so far in the hard line integration enforcement from this administration.

There's also a second looming which is likely north of 200 billion dollars for the Iran war.

Again that text is not public but those are two big things that sort of are waiting in the wings here.

Yeah.

And it'll be interesting to see how many Republicans vote in support of that.

You also wrote about a New Jersey company Lockheed Martin that is looking at a four point five billion dollar weapons package.

Some folks may not realize just how big and how connected Lockheed Martin is which is down in Morristown in South Jersey.

What's happening with that deal that that package that package is is likely through Congress essentially rubber stamps weapons packages they are extruded.

The only weapons package I could find in the history of in U.S.

history that had been blocked was it was in the Reagan administration.

So these deals happen all the time.

This is particularly notable because as you said it is a company with strong New Jersey links.

I actually asked Congressman Donald Norcross about some recent Lockheed Martin weapons deals weapons sales that have been finalized in the past few months.

And that was actually something he tracks.

He's on House Armed Services as a committee member.

But he was pointing out to me this is just a massive facility and really big economic force in South Jersey.

This is a politically connected company.

They cut checks to politicians nationally statewide and Lockheed Martin also has donated as I pointed out in my reporting to the whatever emerges from the rubble of the East Wing of the White House.

So there is a list of corporate donors and personal donors who have given to build this new Donald Trump designed new wing to the White House.

Lockheed Martin is on that list.

That new ballroom.

Yeah that we've been talking about that everyone's been talking about.

You mentioned Congressman Van Drew earlier and he also has been pushing for a beach replenishment project that you wrote about.

Let's start there.

I know there's some dredging happening as well.

But what's happening with this massive beach replenishment in South Jersey.

Yeah the money is likely through is already through I should say.

The congressman was touting ninety nine million dollars worth of funding headed to South Jersey.

This is one of a series of projects.

This is a project I believe for Seattle that would unearth.

Basically you have engineers who would go into the ocean on earth volumes of what is effectively ocean material sand silts clay and then place that in berms and rises to create barriers against further erosion.

We've reported a lot at Spotlight in many years about how the economics of beach protection and beach replenishment are just really a losing prospect in many ways.

It's you could certainly make the argument it's good for tourism but these projects are increasingly expensive.

They take years to complete.

Then again for Congressman Andrew or Frank Pallone another longtime advocate for beach replenishment.

You can also say hey I'm delivering from my district and we we know that there are plenty of mayors along the coast who say this is critical to their livelihood to their shores to their security.

And certainly New Jersey beach towns lost a whole lot of shore this winter with some of the rough storms that we had.

We do have to leave it there.

But Ben you lack for us in Washington D.C.

Thank you.

My pleasure.

Remember that Roxbury warehouse that's being turned into an immigrant detention center?

Well, a coalition of environmental groups is asking to lend their voice to the legal fight to stop it.

Nine organizations together with a group of residents asked the federal court this week if they could file an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit originally brought by the Attorney General and the Roxbury Township.

Now that lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to stop the DHS and ICE plan.

Well these groups say that that plan would have devastating environmental impacts because of the warehouse location in the New Jersey Highlands, which is a protected area of land surrounding a major water supply.

I'm joined now by the leader of one of those groups, Julia Summers, who's the Executive Director of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition.

Julia, welcome to the show.

Thanks so much for being with us.

Just put this into context for us.

Help us understand what is the New Jersey Highlands region?

Well, physically, the New Jersey Highlands region is 88 towns in sort of north-northwestern New Jersey, going from the New York border in West Milford and Marwa, all the way down to the Delaware River south of Phillipsburg.

It is parts of seven counties, and 70 percent of the residents of the state of New Jersey receive some or all of their water from the New Jersey Highlands.

So what happens in the New Jersey Highlands is important for everybody in the state.

And more specifically what doesn't happen in the New Jersey Highlands.

Right.

This is a protected region and there are there's a ton of regulation in the state in terms of development on that space and that land.

Right.

Well people might be surprised at all the things that can still happen in the highlands.

So it's not as protected as people may think.

It is more protected in the preservation area than it is in the planning area.

About half of the highlands is in the preservation area and that is certainly more restrictive and does have more regulations associated with it.

But in the planning area, and what we're here to talk about today is in the planning area, although it's in the conservation zone of the planning area.

What's in the planning area is basically municipal zoning.

Help us understand, you together with a number of organizations, I'm going to read some of them off, the Skylands Preservation Alliance, the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, Hackensack Riverkeeper, the Climate Revolution Action Network, the New Jersey Environmental Lobby, Action Together New Jersey, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, and the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters.

I want to get all of them out there because this is a powerful group of environmentalists that are pushing back on this proposed DHS plan.

Why do you believe this plan could potentially be harmful environmentally for the region?

We know that this is an important site environmentally, but most particularly we are concerned about the process that has been used, or actually not used, not applied, as the federal government went forward trying to, well, with purchasing the site and proposing to turn it into a detention center.

It was built to be a warehouse.

Believe it or not, that's a very big building, but it has room for about a handful of employees, a couple of bathrooms, and it has approved for 11,700 gallons per day of sewage.

To do that, there is a small piping system that leaves the building, goes to Netcong, and ends up at the Musconetcong Sewerage Authority.

All of that would have been revealed to the government had they followed the process that the federal government is required to follow when they make decisions like this, which is known as the NEPA progress, National Environmental Policy Act.

Julia, can I jump in here?

Because I think the point you're making is that with a facility that large and there are only four, as we understand it, toilets right now, that would need to be expanded exponentially.

Are you saying the sewage system is not equipped to handle that type of expansion for the number of people that could fit there in an immigrant detention center?

You said it exactly.

They anticipate up to 1,500 detainees possibly being in this building, although a building of this size could actually handle a lot more than that.

It's hard to imagine they would only use part of the site.

But if the 1,500 detainees were used on the site, it would require close to 150,000 gallons of sewage a day, not 11,700.

And there simply isn't the infrastructure to get that off the site.

There also isn't the water available to provide the needs of a facility that they're talking about.

But we're not even really debating that.

With this amicus, we are asking that the process be followed, because if the government does that, the public will be involved, and they will be able to discover what the restrictions are on the site.

Do you believe that if that process had been followed, or if it is followed now, that that ends up being proof enough for DHS that this facility is not capable, not equipped to become an immigrant detention center?

I suppose if they were to follow the science of the site, then I think the likelihood is that they will discover that they will really be damaging the local environment and the environment that everybody depends on to provide the clean water that New Jersey needs.

Help us understand again just who does get their water from the Highlands region across the state?

Well, all of the largest reservoirs in the state of New Jersey are in the Highlands.

That is from Round Valley in the southern parts of the Highlands to Wanaque, which is the second largest reservoir in the state of New Jersey, to Monksville, to Spruce Run, to what's known as the Boonton Reservoir, also the Jersey City Reservoir.

All of these reservoirs are in the Highlands, and they are the sources of water for all of the major cities in northern New Jersey.

Just a few seconds left.

I do want to know, do you have a sense of the timing on that motion that you filed requesting to submit the amicus brief?

Well, I'm not the lawyer, but we would obviously hope that it is going to be decided soon.

All right.

We have to leave it there.

Julia Summers, executive director of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition, thank you so much for your time today.

Thank you for inviting me to be here.

And that's going to do it for us tonight.

I'm Joanna Gagas for the entire team here at NJ Spotlight News.

Thanks for being with us.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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