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Nov. 3 to 9
Moms for Liberty
Nov. 4 was not a good day for New Jersey Republicans, who saw the Democrats win the governor’s office, flip seats and increase their majority in the Assembly, and push numerous county vote totals to the left even in counties that Republicans won. Not as visible in all the noise of Election Day was the fact that it was a very bad day for the conservative political organization Moms for Liberty.
Across the nation just under 50 candidates in school board elections were endorsed by Mom for Liberty, and the only ones to win were 17 candidates in uncontested races. In contested races, those candidates endorsed by the organization lost time and time again.
According to an analysis by Forbes, the scorecard for Moms for Liberty-endorsed candidates on Nov. 4 was 0 for 31 in races that were contested. That is a steep fall for the organization that in its best days in 2021 and 2022 saw large numbers of endorsed candidates take seats on school boards and push conservative agendas.
In Cape May County a slate of three candidates in Ocean City who had run with Moms for Liberty support in 2021 lost in 2025. The slate comprised incumbents Elizabeth Nicoletti and Catherine Panico, along with former board member Robin Shaffer.
At the organization’s summit this year, the Hechinger Report said, Moms for Liberty leaders, smarting from 2023 loses, presented a different strategy to members, telling them to focus less on winning school board seats and more on taking their opposition to court.
The organization, whose brand has been strongly identified with fights over books and reading lists, curriculum issues and gender-related policies, said the focus needs to be on legal challenges to school policies that run afoul of the organization’s goals and stated beliefs.
In K-12 public education Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli had promised a parents bill of rights and an expansion of vouchers. Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill’s focus was on feeding all students, increased mental health support and opposition to the federal dismantling of the Department of Education. Both agreed that state funding for education needs review.
SNAP by the Numbers
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP or the food stamp program, has become a visible focal point for those struggling against the federal government shutdown, now the longest such shutdown in the nation’s history but apparently close to resolution. High demand at food banks has become a public symbol of the harm being caused due to the lack of a federal budget.
There have been court orders, appeals and even a Supreme Court stay of a lower court order. The end result is food stamp recipients do not have their normal allotment of funds in their accounts.
Here are some of the numbers.
Monthly federal spending for SNAP is roughly $8 billion. There are 250,000 retailers authorized to accept SNAP payments. Department of Agriculture data show that SNAP recipients make more small trips to food retailers than non-recipients. But there is a big retail winner in the mix.
Over one quarter of SNAP dollars end up with Walmart. Some 94% of all SNAP shoppers spend some of their funds at Walmart. The grocery chain Kroger rings up purchases from about 49% of SNAP recipients. In a NielsenIQ survey, 26% of respondents said they would skip meals as a way of dealing with a cut in benefits.
Here in Cape May County roughly 9% of the permanent population relies on SNAP benefits. The state program statistics show that in the county there are 4,883 adults and 3,272 children on SNAP. Over 20% of the county’s population below the age of 18 are recipients of SNAP benefits.
As the battle continues, states have stepped up to help cover shortfalls. Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Oct. 30 that the state is accelerating the movement of $42 million in food and hunger grants to New Jersey food banks.
Cape May County government is also chipping in, with county commissioners authorizing the distribution of $112,000 to eight community food pantries.
In the latest move in this struggle, the Trump administration ordered states to “undo” any actions taken to pay full SNAP benefits for November. In a release the Department of Agriculture said, “To the extent states sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized. Accordingly, states must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025.”
Uranium Boom
The market for uranium has suddenly awakened. The Lost Creek Mine in Wyoming restarted operation in 2022 as the United States searches for fuel to revive its long-dormant nuclear power industry. Across western states like Texas and Arizona, mines long closed are back in operation as they respond to new demand. The Energy Information Agency says 10 uranium mines are in operation today, up from three just four years ago.
Not all that long ago, public antipathy toward nuclear power led to a halt in investment and construction of new nuclear power plants. The average age of nuclear power generating plants is roughly 42 years. Suddenly nuclear is popular again, with the country’s newest plant in Georgia becoming operational in April 2024.
Incidents like the 1979 accident at Three Mile island, or the meltdown of reactor number 4 at the Russian Chernobyl power plant in April 1986, or the 2011 nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant all contributed to a lack of public support for nuclear technology.
Now the search for non-fossil fuel sources of electrical power, along with an energy supply crisis that is driving up consumer rates, has revived interest in nuclear. Both candidates for governor of New Jersey this year placed an emphasis on the need to bring nuclear power back on line in a bigger way.
Uranium mines are queuing up for permits in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. New executive orders in Washington are seeing applications expedited. Yet the race for uranium comes with its own geopolitical issues. The U.S. has historically relied on foreign sources for uranium.
Government data as recently as January of this year showed that “U.S. nuclear generators import nearly all the uranium concentrate they use.” Attempts are underway to stimulate domestic production, but these could take time even if the supply materializes.
With rising demand, utilities are struggling to lock in long-term supply. This may have its impacts on nation-to-nation relationships, some of which have soured recently. The Energy Information Agency says that the largest foreign contributor to the U.S. uranium market is Canada with 36% of total deliveries in 2024.
Week in Review
*Louis J. Sigmund was a Marine who fought in the Korean War, and like many soldiers, his story was short and violent. A 1954 comic book, “New Heroic Comics,” issue 89, tells the story across three full-color pages.
*Morey’s Piers is now in the midst of a major project, as it takes down the Giant Wheel for a complete refurbishment, including sending its main components to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for a complete overhaul.
*As a consequence of World War II, approximately 350,000 displaced Europeans were allowed to relocate to the United States, including about 80,000 Ukrainians. Helen Super (nee Elenbryczak), 92, has lived in Cape May Court House for the past 29 years.
*The Lower Cape May Regional varsity football team has written itself into the history books as the first Caper Tiger football team to win a state playoff game, with a 34-13 win over Gloucester City Jr./Sr. High School, Saturday, Nov. 1.
*Mayor Patrick Rosenello said his community was still dealing with the effects of an August storm – Hurricane Erin – when the Oct. 12-13 nor’easter blasted an area of beach where sand was placed in the spring 2024.
*It was a big night Nov. 4 for Democrat Mikie Sherrill, who decisively defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli in the race for New Jersey governor, but Democrat challengers to Republican incumbents in the 1st District Assembly contest and to the incumbents on the county Board of Commissioners were unsuccessful.
*Thy Cavagnaro was a year-and-a-half old on April 30, 1975, which was the day she and her family fled Saigon, in then South Vietnam, to escape the communist forces closing in on the city, leaving burning buildings and dead bodies in their wake.
*Stone Harbor Council member Ken Biddick says the borough is preparing an ordinance to add a municipal occupancy tax of 3% on hotels, motels and short-term rentals obtained through online apps like Airbnb and Vrbo.
*Three open seats on each of the school boards of Ocean City and Upper Township produced intense competition, with slates of candidates battling each other. In each case the sitting school board president was among the candidates.
*The Middle Township Police Department has arrested two township women on charges of animal cruelty after they were found with 18 cats and two dogs kept under hazardous conditions.
*The Stone Harbor Borough Council is considering withdrawing from the county library system, so it can use funds raised by the library tax for other allowable purposes.
*Republican Assemblymen Erik Simonsen and Antwan McClellan of the 1st Legislative District held the GOP line in Cape May County on an election night in which they faced a serious challenge from two Democrats and in which their party lost ground in Trenton.
*Over 3.2 million ballots were cast in the race for the governor’s office. For the first time in more than 60 years, a two-term governor will give the keys to the office to a member of his own party.
*The dream of a unified 16-foot dune system to protect the Wildwoods coastline is officially dead.
*In advance of a public hearing on an ordinance intended to boost workforce housing, a resident has warned the Cape May City Council of potential problems with the proposed measure.
*Although still a teenager, Talya Allegretto has her sights set on changing the way people in general, and women in particular, think about childbirth.
Spout Off of the Week
The county has a library tax and you can see it on your tax bill. Whether you run your own library or have the county do it you pay the tax regardless. Avalon opted out years ago. They had to give a 2 year notice to the county. The tax collected pays for running the library and they run it cheaper than the county. The excess money by law has to be spent and there are guidelines. That money is then freed up from the budget. The county bought the current SH property for 750k from BOA and built the current library. SH would have to buy the property and building from the County with notice.
Stone Harbor
