WASHINGTON — Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a bill with Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., on Tuesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, making him a rare congressional Republican to endorse the historically liberal cause.
The Higher Wages for American Workers Act would set the nationwide minimum wage to $15 on Jan. 1 of the first year after it is enacted, and raise it annually on the basis of inflation.
“This is a populist position,” Hawley told NBC News in the Capitol on Tuesday. “If we’re going to be a working people’s party, we have to do something for working people. And working people haven’t gotten a raise in years. So they need a raise.”
The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25, and hasn’t been raised since 2009. Democratic presidents and lawmakers have since attempted to lift it, but each time failed to clear the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster in the Senate.
“We’re in the midst of a severe affordability crisis, with families in red and blue states alike struggling to afford necessities like housing and groceries. A stagnant federal minimum wage only adds fuel to the fire. Every hardworking American deserves a living wage that helps put a roof over their head and food on the table–$7.25 an hour doesn’t even come close,” Welch said in a statement. “Times have changed, and working families deserve a wage that reflects today’s financial reality.”
Hawley said the current level is “really, really, really, really low.”
“The truth is — people can’t afford to have a family. Families can’t support themselves. I mean, if you’re pro family, as I am, if you are a populist, if you’re pro-worker, you’ve got to do something for working people,” he said, while noting that various states, including Missouri, have since stepped in to lift it.
It represents the latest attempt by Hawley to stake out economic populist ground that has long been associated with liberals. Other recent moves include teaming up with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on a bill to cap credit card interest rates at 10%, and voting with Democrats this year on a budget amendment to prohibit tax cuts for the wealthy if Medicaid funding is cut.
Still, Hawley admitted he’s an outlier in his party, and it’s far from clear the wage legislation will reach the Senate floor, let alone find the 60 votes needed to advance in the chamber, where the GOP controls 53 seats.
“I’d love to get a vote on it. I think it’s hard to vote against,” he said. “I say that, but probably most of my Republican colleagues vote against it happily.”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said he opposes Hawley’s measure, expressing the longstanding GOP stance that minimum wage hikes distort markets and make it harder for employers to hire.
“I wouldn’t support it,” Johnson said. “Because the real minimum wage is $0 when you don’t have a job. The minimum wage impacts just a small sliver of people — most people that want entry-level jobs. And so you raise the cost of an entry-level job and you don’t have them.”
Hawley has another obstacle: President Donald Trump, who has not endorsed any increase in the federal minimum wage. Trump dodged questions about the issue during his 2024 campaign.
“I think he understands the needs of working people really well,” Hawley said. “I would hope he would support this.”
“China has already approved a certain number of compliant applications and will continue to strengthen the approval process for compliant applications,” it said in a statement.
Despite Beijing’s offer of dialogue, experts say China is unlikely to completely remove the restrictions and is “flexing its muscles.”
That was clear to members of the foreign business community in China who have attended briefings on the subject with Commerce Ministry officials.
“While we clearly conveyed that we are at an immediate risk of supply chain disruption, we didn’t have the impression from the Chinese side that they want to resolve this with as much urgency,” an automotive industry official involved in the discussions told NBC News last week.
The European Union’s Chamber of Commerce in Beijing said Friday that while there has been “some improvement in the situation,” the reprieve has not been enough to “prevent severe supply chain disruptions.”
A handful of European companies have received some approvals, said Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. But “it is not sufficient to solve those problems completely or avoid disruption in the supply chain,” he said in emailed comments.
At the core is a Chinese licensing system that requires export applications for the designated materials to undergo a vetting process that manufacturers say is painstakingly slow and results in only a fraction of approvals.
“The fix we are working on is to make the approval process smoother,” said the automotive industry official, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to comment on the sensitive discussions.
Why China dominates rare earths
Rare earths are a group of 17 elements in the middle of the periodic table, including neodymium, cerium and scandium.
What makes them special is the magnetic quality provided by their atomic structure, which makes them more powerful than standard iron magnets and ideal for use in the motors, sensors and actuators found in car seats, MRI machines and disk drives.
Contrary to what their name suggests, rare earths are present in abundant quantities in the earth’s crust. But their structure also means that wherever they naturally occur, they are usually mixed with other elements, often radioactive ones, and extracting them is a toxic, environmentally harmful and expensive process. It’s also a process that comes with thin profit margins and massive upfront investment.
Until the 1980s, the global rare earths industry was dominated by the United States. But that changed as China ramped up its rare earth operations, supported by government subsidies.
“As far back as the late 1980s, Chinese leaders understood how valuable rare earths could be,” said Patrik Andersson, an analyst at the Swedish National China Centre at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.
The U.S. and Europe were gradually pushed out as China’s lower labor costs, weaker environmental standards and robust government backing helped its companies become the dominant force in rare earths.
Taylor Swift filed a restraining order against a 45-year-old man she says has been showing up to her Los Angeles homes for almost a year and claiming to be in a relationship with her.
The megastar filed the request for protection on Friday, claiming that Brian Jason Wagner, of Henderson, Colorado, has been harassing and stalking her, causing her to suffer emotional distress.
According to Swift’s declaration, Wagner first started showing up to her home in July 2024, and made at least three visits to the property in that month alone. He was confronted by her security team each time, and during one of those visits, Wagner “was carrying a glass bottle that could have been used as a weapon,” the singer said.
“During each of these visits, I am informed that Mr. Wagner made various statements about living at my property (not true), being in a relationship with me (not true), believing I am the mother of his son (not true), and needing to see me in person, all of which are untrue and disconnected from reality,” Swift wrote in her declaration.
Wagner allegedly returned to her Los Angeles home twice last month, asking to see her and saying that “he was there checking on a friend,” according to Swift. That’s when Swift’s team ran a criminal history report and learned that Wagner was allegedly incarcerated in 2023 when he began sending her “lengthy communications” in which he wrote about his infatuation with her, claimed to be in a relationship with her and made other claims about being involved in her personal life.
A member of Swift’s security team who also filed a declaration said that Wagner had made hundreds of communication attempts to Swift while he was incarcerated, prompting them to create a “security alert” acknowledging him as a threat.
“Mr. Wagner has also sent my staff hundreds of emails with similarly concerning and threatening language, tried to divert mail from my residence to his attention, and even lied to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to somehow change the address on his driver’s license to my Los Angeles home,” the singer said.
A driver’s license for Wagner listing Swift’s Los Angeles home address as his residence was shipped to the property, which is how her security team learned of it, a member of the team said in the filing.
Swift stresses in her filing that she does not known Wagner, and has never met him, spoken to him, or shared her Los Angeles home address with him. Communications to her staff have also increased recently, with Wagner sending them over 26 emails in past weeks, the security team member alleged.
“Therefore, the fact that Mr. Wagner has determined where I reside and visited the property several times, refusing to leave and claiming to need access, makes me fear for my safety and the safety of my family,” she said in her declaration. “The fact that both of these recent visits and Mr. Wagner’s inappropriate and threatening communications to my staff about me have escalated in recent weeks creates a fear of imminent harm.”
A hearing date is scheduled for June 30, according to court records. Swift has been granted a temporary restraining order for herself, her home, her car and her workplace, against Wagner until then.
If a judge grants Swift the restraining order, Wagner could be arrested if he violates it.
An attorney for Swift and Wagner did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
This certainly isn’t the first time a man has made news for allegedly stalking or harassing the megastar.
Two years prior, a Virginia man was accused of drunkenly crashing his car into the same New York apartment before attempting to force his way into the building.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia on Monday filed a lawsuit in bankruptcy court seeking to block the sale of personal genetic data by 23andMe without customer consent. The lawsuit comes as a biotechnology company seeks the court’s approval to buy the struggling firm.
Biological samples, DNA data, health-related traits and medical records are too sensitive to be sold without each person’s express, informed consent, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a news release about the lawsuit. Customers should have the right to control such deeply personal information and it cannot be sold like ordinary property, it said.
23andMe customers use saliva-based DNA testing kits to learn about their ancestry and find long-lost relatives. Founded in 2006, the company also conducted health research and drug development. But it struggled to find a profitable business model since going public in 2021. In March it laid off 40% of its staff and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Eastern District of Missouri, raising concerns about the safety of customer data.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said last month it aimed to buy the company for $256 million. Regeneron said it would comply with 23andMe’s privacy policies and applicable law. It said it would process all customer personal data in accordance with the consents, privacy policies and statements, terms of service, and notices currently in effect and have security controls in place designed to protect such data.
A court-appointed, independent consumer privacy ombudsman was due to examine the proposed sale and how it might affect consumer privacy and report to the court by Tuesday.
Dozens of protests and rallies opposing ICE raids and government immigration policies were held across the country on Monday, with more planned for the rest of the week, after a weekend of protests and unrest in Los Angeles.
Since Sunday, the anti-ICE movement has spread across California and beyond, with events held from New York to Texas. Activists plan more events on Tuesday, with events due in New York, Chicago, Dallas, and Atlanta. A series of so-called “No Kings” nationwide demonstrations are planned for Saturday.
Some 56 people were arrested in L.A. over the weekend as some 700 marines and more than 2,000 National Guard troops were deployed by President Donald Trump in response to protests that began on Friday, sparking an extraordinary showdown with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who strongly criticized the move as executive overreach.
NBC News counted at least 25 rallies and demonstrations coast to coast. Some of them only involved a few dozen participants, while others attracted thousands to make a stand against the detention and removal of suspected undocumented migrants.
Many protesters across the country were trade unionists calling for the release of SEIU California President David Huerta, who was arrested on Friday.
California and the West Coast
Thousands reportedly marched throughSan Francisco on Monday, marking the second day of anti-ICE protests there, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The San Francisco Police Department stated on X that the demonstration was “overwhelmingly peaceful,” but added that two small groups “broke off and committed vandalism and other acts” at the end of the night. The department said it made an unspecified number of arrests.
At least 60 people were arrested at a march in San Francisco on Sunday for failing to respond to a dispersal order, NBC Bay Area reported.
“It’s important for us to show up everywhere, because what happened in L.A., what’s happening all over our country,” said Xan Joi of Berkeley, who attended Sunday’s protest with a sign that read “CA National Guard & Newsom: Protect our 1st Amendment rights.”
Jesse McKinnon, of Pleasant Hill, carried a sign that read “Softball dad against tyranny.”
NBC L.A. reported that at least 1,000 people joined a protest at a federal building in Santa Ana, Orange County. The number of arrests is unknown, but they came after police declared the gathering unlawful.
“This policy hits close to home, our family is a family of immigrants,” Vanessa Garcia-Morales of San Jose told NBC Bay Area.
Referring to one of her two sons, who was at the rally, she said, “His life is at risk, truthfully, with the policy that’s happening, he can very much be targeted by just the way he looks.”
At least nine people were taken into custody in New York after a tense standoff between protestors and police at a rally on Monday, according to NBC New York.
NYPD confirmed there were “multiple arrests when people refused to comply” outside Trump Tower in Midtown around 1 p.m., before a “disorderly group” was arrested at 6:50 p.m. for blocking traffic and refusing to comply.
The event targeted ICE raids and the travel ban imposed on 12 countries worldwide this week, with restrictions on people from 7 more countries.
At least one person was arrested on Monday in Dallas, police said, with charges pending, as protesters and law enforcement met in a standoff that shut down a busy intersection.
The Daily Texan reported that some 500 gathered at the Texas Capitol on Monday, while hundreds gathered in San Antonio, according to Spectrum News 1.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, referring to the deployment of National Guard troops to L.A., said on X that “an organized assault has been waged against federal law enforcement officials.”
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem signaled on Tuesday that she would continue the agency’s program of raids and deportations despite the widespread protests.
“ICE will continue to enforce the law,” Noem said.
SUNRISE, Fla. — Taking advantage of the Edmonton Oilers’ worst performance in several weeks, the defending Florida Panthers pounced on mistakes to win Game 3 in a 6-1 rout Monday night and take a 2-1 series lead.
Brad Marchand became the oldest player to score in each of the first three games of a final, while Sam Bennett added his NHL playoff-leading 14th goal after making a big hit on Edmonton’s Vasily Podkolzin that contributed to the turnover to spring him on a breakaway. Marchand and Bennett have combined to score eight goals for Florida, which was dominant in just about every way.
“We ended up playing what Florida kind of wanted,” said Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who got pulled after allowing five goals on 23 shots. “They were great tonight.”
And it was not just Bennett and Marchand. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart each got his first goal of the series, Aaron Ekblad scored to chase Skinner and Evan Rodrigues added the exclamation point in the waning minutes.
“We’re a very deep team,” Marchand said. “That’s one of our strengths is the depth of the group from the front end to the back end to the goaltending.”
At the other end of the ice, Sergei Bobrovsky earned the “Bobby! Bobby!” chants from a fired up South Florida crowd. The two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender known as “Bob” was on his game for the very few quality chances the discombobulated Oilers mustered, making 32 saves.
“Nothing’s going to be perfect in the way we play,” Reinhart said. “This time of year, you need some world-class goaltending and that’s what we get consistently.”
Perry — at 40 the oldest player in the series — beat Bobrovsky with some silky hands for a power-play goal, keeping up this final being a showcase of cagey veterans along with Marchand.
Connor McDavid could not get his team on track, and Edmonton took 15 minors — led by Evander Kane’s three plus a misconduct to add up to 85 penalty minutes — including a brawl that ensued with less than 10 minutes left. Trent Frederic and Darnell Nurse, who fought Jonah Gadjovich, got misconducts that knocked them out of a game with an outcome determined long before.
“Emotions in all these games are extremely high,’ Marchand said. “This is the time of year you want to be playing, and you’re enjoying every minute.”
After the final looked as evenly matched as can be with Games 1 and 2 each needing extra time, overtime and then double OT, Game 3 was a lopsided mismatch. The Oilers came unglued to the point Jake Walman resorted to squirting water on Panthers players on their bench from his spot on the visiting side.
The teams have some extra time off before Game 4 on Thursday night, when the Panthers have the chance to take a 3-1 lead and move to the verge of going back to back.
“Game 4 is a really big game,” McDavid said. “It’s a big swing game.”
Trump administration officials say the immigration fight with California is a political win. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took his most aggressive action yet to overhaul the nation’s vaccine policy. And a look at what makes this season’s Indiana Pacers team so remarkable.
Here’s what to know today.
Trump administration leans into the California protests
An immigration protest in downtown Los Angeles persisted yesterday and overnight as police used tear gas and flash-bangs in an attempt to disperse demonstrators. Here’s where things stand:
▪️ About 1,700 National Guard troops are on site in the greater Los Angeles area, and 700 Marines were activated to join them in their mission in Los Angeles, the military said in a statement.
▪️ California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Trump administration for deploying National Guard members over the weekend. The suit argues that Trump’s actions, without a request from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, was “unlawful” and should be rescinded.
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The fight between the White House and California — in other words, Trump battling a blue state over his signature issue — is a political win, administration officials said. It’s a nationally watched saga of the sort that has long defined his career: a made-for-TV moment. “We’re happy to have this fight,” a White House official said.
Trump allies argue that what’s happening in L.A. is simply Trump carrying out the hard-line immigration agenda that was the centerpiece of his campaign, and advisers pointed to the fact that the president’s immigration policies continue to get high marks in most public polling.
Democrats and immigration activists have said the L.A. operation is illegal and inhumane and insisted that it’s all about politics — and not about sound public policy.
There has been some disagreement within the Trump administration, at least in public messaging, about how far to push in going after California Democrats. The clearest example may be Trump suggesting arresting Newsom if he continues to do what the administration considers to be interference “would be a great thing.” A senior White House official said such an action is “not being actively planned or considered.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took his most aggressive action yet to overhaul the nation’s vaccine policy, firing 17 members of an independent vaccine advisory committee at the CDC. Kennedy claimed in a Wall Street Journal editorial that the committee — which makes recommendations to the CDC about who should get certain vaccines, including the schedule for childhood vaccinations — has been “plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine.”
Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, known more commonly as ACIP, undergo an extensive vetting process before being appointed and are required to disclose conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from voting on vaccines for which a conflict exists.
Former CDC officials and public health experts called Kennedy’s action concerning and said it would sow confusion. Richard Besser, the former acting director of the CDC, said in a statement that the firings “should erase any remaining doubt that he intends to impose his personal anti-vaccine agenda on the American people.” Read the full story here.
What to watch for in New Jersey’s primaries
Rachel Wisniewski / The New York Times via Redux file
Voters in New Jersey will head to the polls today in the first high-profile primaries since the 2024 election. The biggest race on the ticket: governor. New Jersey’s gubernatorial race is one of two nationwide this year, along with Virginia, and both contests will be closely watched as early indicators of how voters are responding to President Donald Trump’s second term.
Because Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy can’t run for re-election due to term limits, both the Republican and Democratic parties have contested races for the nomination. Here’s what the NBC News politics team will watch for tonight:
→ Trump’s influence: On the Republican side, Trump-endorsed former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is viewed as the frontrunner. The president’s endorsement could shed light on the size of the anti-Trump wing of the GOP wing in New Jersey, with longtime state senator (and standup comedian) Jon Bramnick, who has called for a return to civility and has sharply criticized Trump in the past, on the ballot. Rounding out the GOP primary ballot is Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac and contractor Justin Barbera.
→ Democrats’ path: In the Democratic primary, Rep. Mikie Sherrill has been viewed as the relative frontrunner and has emphasized her background as a Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor in her pitch to effectively take on Trump. Meanwhile, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who got a jolt of national attention when he was arrested last month at a federal immigration detention facility, has been pitching himself as a true progressive. Rounding out a crowded ballot in the unpredictable race is Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and teachers’ union president Sean Spiller, both of whom want to appeal to progressive voters; Rep. Josh Gottheimer, one of the more moderate members of Congress; and former state Senate President Steve Sweeney, who is stressing his blue-collar roots as a former ironworker.
Plus, NBC News and MSNBC data guru Steve Kornacki points out that court-imposed changes to the layout of the ballot could dramatically dilute the power of endorsements, which Sherrill has received a lot of.
Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee said he will resign from Congress for a private-sector job after the House’s next vote on the bill for Trump’s agenda.
Bradley Bondi, the brother of Attorney General Pam Bondi, lost his bid for president of the D.C. Bar, receiving 3,490 votes compared to opponent Diane Seltzer’s 34,982.
Staff Pick: The Indiana Pacers are built different
Indiana Pacers’ power forward Pascal Siakam jumps to shoot past the New York Knicks’ Josh Hart during the Eastern Conference Finals on May 29.Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images
The Indiana Pacers aren’t your typical NBA championship contender, and it’s not only because they’ve reached the NBA Finals by pulling off some of the most improbable comebacks in basketball history. It’s also because of how the team’s executives relied on a team-building strategy rarely used by championship teams.
Indiana isn’t an attractive enough market to entice elite free agents, and historically has not been bad enough to earn a high draft pick who might become a franchise cornerstone. That combination has forced the Pacers to lean heavily on the third way: trades. It is a high degree of difficulty and requires patience, something in short supply among team owners. Yet, by shrewdly identifying players other teams no longer wanted but they believed would work in Indiana, the Pacers have found a formula that has delivered three of their top-four scorers and the team’s first Finals appearance in a quarter-century. — Andrew Greif, sports reporter
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
If you’re dealing with acne, rosacea or dark spots, azelaic acid just might be the solution for all three. And with Father’s Day fast approaching, here’s a list of the best gifts to order from Amazon right now.
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NEW YORK — The leaders of a sex-focused women’s wellness company that promoted “orgasmic meditation” have been convicted of federal forced labor charges.
A Brooklyn jury on Monday found Nicole Daedone, founder of OneTaste Inc., and Rachel Cherwitz, the California-based company’s former sales director, guilty after deliberating for less than two days following a five-week trial. The two each face up to 20 years in prison when sentenced later.
Prosecutors had argued the two women ran a yearslong scheme that groomed adherents — many of them victims of sexual trauma — to do their bidding.
They said Daedone, 57, of New York, and Cherwitz, 44, of California, used economic, sexual and psychological abuse, intimidation and indoctrination to force OneTaste members into sexual acts they found uncomfortable or repulsive, such as having sex with prospective investors or clients.
The two told followers the questionable acts were necessary in order to obtain “freedom” and “enlightenment” and demonstrate their commitment to the organization’s principles.
Prosecutors said OneTaste leaders also didn’t pay promised earnings to the members-turned-workers and even forced some of them to take out new credit cards to continue taking the company’s courses.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nina Gupta, in her closing statement last week, said the defendants “built a business on the backs” of victims who “gave everything” to them, including “their money, their time, their bodies, their dignity, and ultimately their sanity.”
“The jury’s verdict has unmasked Daedone and Cherwitz for who they truly are: grifters who preyed on vulnerable victims by making empty promises of sexual empowerment and wellness only to manipulate them into performing labor and services for the defendants’ benefit,” said Joseph Nocella, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Daedone’s defense team cast her as a “ceiling-shattering feminist entrepreneur” who created a unique business around women’s sexuality and empowerment.
Cherwitz’s lawyer, Celia Cohen, argued that the witnesses who testified weren’t forced to do anything. When they didn’t like the organization anymore or wanted to try other things, she said, they simply left.
“No matter what you think about OneTaste and what they were doing, they chose it. They knew what it was about,” she said in her closing statement last week. “The fact they are regretting the actions that they took when they were younger is not evidence of a crime.”
Lawyers for the defendants said their clients maintain their innocence and intend to appeal.
“We are deeply disappointed in today’s verdict,” the lawyers said in a statement Monday. “This case raised numerous novel and complex legal issues that will require review by the Second Circuit.”
Daedone co-founded OneTaste in San Francisco in 2004 as a sort of self-help commune that viewed female orgasms as key to sexual and psychological wellness and interpersonal connection.
A centerpiece was “orgasmic meditation,” or “OM,” which was carried out by men manually stimulating women in a group setting.
The company enjoyed glowing media coverage in the 2010s and quickly opened outposts from Los Angeles to London. Portrayed as a cutting-edge enterprise that prioritized women’s sexual pleasure, it generated revenue by providing courses, coaching, OM events, and other sexual practices for a fee.
Daedone sold her stake in the company in 2017 for $12 million — a year before OneTaste’s marketing and labor practices came under scrutiny.
The company’s current owners, who have rebranded it the Institute of OM Foundation, have said its work has been misconstrued and the charges against its former executives were unjustified.
They maintain sexual consent has always been a cornerstone of the organization. The company didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill heads into Tuesday’s primary as the favorite to win the Democratic nomination for governor of New Jersey. She has blanketed the pricey New York and Philadelphia metro airwaves with television ads, she enjoys the backing of much of the party’s establishment, and she had opened double-digit leads in twopolls that were released several weeks ago.
There is uncertainty, though. Credible public polling has, overall, been limited and infrequent. And court-imposed changes to the layout of the primary ballot could dramatically dilute the power of the endorsements Sherrill has received from key county Democratic organizations.
Sherrill’s opponents have each made inroads. But, at least so far, that seems to have had the effect of keeping them in one another’s way, preventing one from emerging as the clear alternative to Sherrill. Consider the state’s political geography.
You can draw a line south of Mercer and Monmouth counties, roughly where Route 195 would be on a map. Below that is South Jersey. Democratic politics here are dominated by an old-fashioned political machine that is backing the lone South Jersey candidate in the field: former state Sen. Steve Sweeney.
The trouble for Sweeney is that only about 30% of all primary votes will come from tis region. And because South Jersey is part of the Philadelphia media market, he’s not well-known in the rest of the state, which is served heavily by the New York market.
And to the extent he is known, Sweeney’s connection to the South Jersey machine is a liability. According to a May Insider NJ poll, conducted by StimSight Research, more Democratic voters said the term “typical machine politician” applies to him than any other candidate. No wonder he has lagged far behind in polling.
Then there’s vote-rich North Jersey, where the other candidates can all claim some advantage. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is likely to win his city — the state’s largest — overwhelmingly. Newark is also the seat of Essex County, which has more registered Democrats than any other county. More than 40% of Essex’s population is Black, which should further boost Baraka, the lone Black candidate in the race. Nearby Union County, which has the second-highest share of Black residents, could offer another trove of votes.
Baraka has also made a wider play for the party’s progressive base. He has run hard to the left, and he burnished his anti-Trump credentials when he was arrested at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility last month. Coupled with deep Black support, that could be the makings of a potent coalition in a statewide primary.
But Baraka has encountered traffic in the progressive lane thanks to the presence of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who is also embracing left-wing themes and has framed his candidacy as a war on the Democratic establishment. Insider NJ’s poll asked Democrats whether any of the candidates stood out to them as being “a true progressive.” Baraka and Fulop were cited more than anyone else — by far. In other words, they are each garnering support the other could badly use.
Another candidate, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, has pitched his message more toward the middle, promising tax cuts and emphasizing cost-of-living issues. Gottheimer won his House seat by flipping what had been a reliably Republican district, and he has amassed an enviable campaign bankroll. He figures to perform strongly in suburban Bergen County, his political base, and he has been endorsed by Bergen’s official Democratic organization.
But when he entered the race, Gottheimer was counting on his perceived electability to gain the support of multiple major county organizations in North Jersey — not just his home county. Those organizations retain the feeling of old political machines, with their own formidable turnout operations and the ability to spend on their preferred candidates’ behalf. Last year, Gottheimer seemed to notch a big one, when leaders from Hudson County (which includes Fulop’s Jersey City) gave him their support. It was, he hoped, the first of many big dominoes to fall. But that deal crumbled apart over the winter, and the Hudson organization instead endorsed Sherrill.
New Jersey is one of two states holding elections for governor this year.Kena Betancur / Getty Images file
And Gottheimer kept missing out, too. Besides Bergen’s, his only other party endorsement comes from tiny rural Warren County in the northwest corner of the state.
Instead, it was Sherrill and her perceived electability that those county machines decided to go in with. Like Gottheimer, she also flipped a longtime GOP seat en route to Congress and has been a potent fundraiser. Her background as a Navy fighter pilot has also been a key selling point. Outside of Bergen’s, Sherrill has won the endorsement of every major county machine in North Jersey — which as a region will produce about 70% of all votes in the primary.
The near-unanimous show of establishment support has created a sense of momentum around Sherrill’s campaign and sent a signal to donors and other influencers to get on board. And that’s on top of the practical get-out-the-vote advantage it provides her.
That having been said, there’s a major ingredient missing this year: “the line.” In the past, county parties would have been able to provide Sherrill with a highly preferential spot on primary ballots. But a court ruling undid that power last year. To what extent that dulls the power of the machines in primary elections is something everyone will be watching for in Tuesday’s results.
Still, Sherrill has managed to avoid the downsides of being associated with establishment politics. Only 20% of Democrats say the term “typical machine politician” fits her — half the percentage who said the same about Sweeney in the same Insider NJ poll. That poll also found that an outright majority of Democrats said she could win the November election, far more than anyone else.
Each major candidate will have pockets of deep support Tuesday. In polls and endorsements, though, Sherrill has shown the potential to perform well across the board, even in counties where she isn’t the top vote-getter. If she can realize that potential Tuesday, victory will be hers.
But it has to be said that we are flying blind here. If the dynamics of the race have shifted in the last few weeks, there has been almost no public polling that would catch it. And the demise of “the line” has pushed the primary further into uncharted territory. The history of New Jersey Democratic primaries says Sherrill should win — but is history still worth anything in 2025?
Starting Feb. 1, Venture X and Venture X Business cardholders will no longer be able to automatically take a guest into lounges or bring authorized second card users.
They will instead have to pay $125 annually for each additional cardholder to keep their lounge access, $45 per adult guest per visit and $25 per guest 17 or younger. The $125 fee also includes second cardholder access to a network of Priority Pass lounges.
“As airport lounges continue to grow in popularity across the industry, we’ve seen our customers increasingly encounter wait times to enter them,” Capital One said in a statement. “It is important to us that we maintain a great airport lounge experience for our Venture X and Venture X Business customers, while continuing to deliver best-in-class premium travel cards at an accessible price point.”
Primary cardholders will have to spend at least $75,000 per calendar year to bring up to two complimentary free guests to Capital One lounges and one guest to Capital One Landings, smaller lounges built for travelers who tend to spend less time at the airport, like those heading to short flights.
The $75,000 spending requirement for complimentary guests matches what American Express announced two years ago, also a measure to minimize crowding and keeping the clubs feeling exclusive.
Credit card companies have ramped up their airport lounge networks in recent years, opening new locations to handle demand. And airport lounge access has been a central perk attached to rewards cards, which generally come with an annual fee.
The Venture X card, which launched in 2021, is $395 a year, less than the $695 a year American Express charges for its Platinum card or the $550 JPMorgan Chase charges for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, both of which come with airport lounges.
“When it comes to lounges, Capital One is a challenger brand; they’re an underdog,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder of Atmosphere Research Group.
Capital One has lounges at Denver International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. It plans to open one this year at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and one of its Landings at LaGuardia Airport.
But the new restrictions show Capital One isn’t immune to its popularity leading to big crowds.
“Like Amex, like Chase, these lounges have become victims of their own success,” Harteveldt said. “No lounge operator wants them to be as overrun as the public areas of the airport.”
Airlines have also raised prices to access airport lounges and built larger ones to accommodate the influx.
Delta Air Lines, for example, has made sweeping changes to its lounge access policies, like getting rid of unlimited visits in favor of annual caps.
And last summer, Delta unveiled its first Delta One lounge, dedicated for customers in its highest class of cabin. It plans to open a new one in Seattle later this month.
