30 Issues in 30 Days: New Jersey's 7th

Brian Lehrer (0:10)

It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. Happy Monday. Hope you got through the nor'easter weekend okay. At the end of the show today, we'll take calls on the effects on your house, your car, your neighborhood. Hello, Jersey Shore. Hello, Long Island, South Shore, anyone else, but also for anybody with kids.

What did you do for two days when you really couldn't go out and play much, if at all, for two full days? First of all, we had a texter on Friday who said, my kids' soccer games only get canceled if there's going to be lightning. So were your kids' soccer games canceled if you're in soccer leagues? But beyond that, did you shell out for one of those indoor play spaces? Did you watch Toy Story 5 for the fifth time? What did you do with the kids? I wonder if anybody listening took advantage of the crash in the secondary market for Giants football tickets yesterday. I read you could have gotten into MetLife for $7 because so many ticket holders were like, no, it's okay, I'll skip this one between the weather and the Jackson Dart injury. So at the end today, we'll take those calls and maybe you came up with things that other listeners can use for the next washout weekend.

We'll also hear from Nicole Hanna-Jones from The New York Times today on her very vulnerable essay about the tension between doing the best for her own daughter in the New York City public schools versus doing what she considers the best for kids overall. But we start with our midterm election series, 30 issues in 30 days. Last night was the only scheduled debate in one of the most important swing districts in our area and in the country, New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, where Republican Tom Kean, Jr. is the incumbent and Democrat Rebecca Bennett is the challenger. Now, today through Wednesday, we'll play some excerpts and highlight an issue a day from that debate. If you're keeping score, they become issues 5, 6, and 7 in 30 issues in 30 days. Beginning right now with issue number 5, affordability as an issue in the Tom Kean, Jr., Rebecca Bennett congressional race, of course, affordability is so top of mind nationally in these midterms that are the battle for control of Congress. Good enough to join us for all three segments. Today through Wednesday is WNYC and Gothamist New Jersey reporter, Mike Hayes. Hey, Mike, thanks for doing this. Happy morning after the debate.

Mike Hayes (2:40)

Hey, Brian. Thanks for having me as a father of three boys. I feel fortunate and lucky to have survived the Nor'easter with my kids at home.

Brian Lehrer (2:49)

Okay. What did you do with them? You get the first response.

Mike Hayes (2:54)

Well, I don't know if you've seen the movie Home Alone 2 and you know when Harry and Marv try to seize the house in New York and how violent it gets. Just picture that. That was basically my house all weekend. All right.

Brian Lehrer (3:08)

We're going to leave all the implications of that to listeners' imaginations and jump right into our first clip. The debate, by the way, was sponsored by the New Jersey Globe and Rider University. Here are Bennett and Kane's responses to what they would do about today's high gas prices.

SPEAKER_3 (3:25)

You give me, I'm looking just for a number, rough estimate on your net worth.

Rebecca Bennett (3:33)

Yeah. I think the number one thing that we need to recognize here is that the reason that we are seeing this increase in our gas prices is because of this unnecessary war that we're seeing in Iran. I just want to be clear here because my opponent, Congressman Tom Kane, Jr, has voted three times now to elect this war to continue without any congressional oversight. You might ask, why is it that he's continuing to do this? It's because he has taken over $100,000 in corporate PAC money and he has traded over $100,000 in oil and gas stocks. So ultimately, he is making these decisions to enrich himself personally, and I am doing this because I want to make sure we are making all of our lives better. When we talk about this affordability crisis, this is not abstract for me. This is my life. My oldest daughter is in public school, my youngest is in daycare.

When we're talking about how expensive it is to fill up a car, I understand the trade-offs there of just how much people are really struggling with things right now.

Tom Kean Jr. (4:26)

Congressman. Well, we need to ensure that we load the gasoline for everybody. It's an international issue as well as a domestic issue.