In a letter to the editor, congressional candidate Kyle Jasey expresses why he feels all three Democrats in the 8th District race should be debating.
Dear Editor,
On May 5th, two of the three candidates on the ballot for the NJ 08 Democratic Congressional Primary will participate in a debate hosted by the NJ Globe.
Despite being the second candidate to enter the race, and being at around 10% in the polls, I am being excluded from participating in this debate.
The Globe has decided that the people of NJ-08 should not hear from one of their three candidates for reasons that have not been explained to me.
A candidate who, despite being an underdog, has a growing percentage of the voters’ support. While our lawmakers and press rightfully rally to support the Democracy in Ukraine, here at home, we silence an independent candidate running in his first election.
I believe in Democracy, and I believe that the people of NJ-08 deserve to hear from ALL the candidates on the ballot. If the people decide I am unworthy of their votes, then they will be free to support one of the other two candidates.
My understanding is that I have been excluded because Mr. Bhalla wants to run up the vote tally in Jersey City, and has refused to participate if I (a Jersey City resident) am present.
If this is not true, then Mr. Bhalla should state it publicly so that the people of the district know that he is not afraid of a first-time candidate.
If Mr. Bhalla or Mr. Menendez are scared to face any of the candidates on the ballot in open debate, then the people of NJ-08 have a right to know just what type of representative they are voting for.
Kyle Jasey
Candidate for Congress
New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District
Mr. Kyle Jasey makes a valid point. He’s a serious candidate and should be a participant in the debates. Not surprisingly, Ravi Bhalla is anti-democratic.
Dear Mr. Jasey,
I went to your website and am very impressed with the demonstrated thoughtfulness of your ideas. I believe you have the most comprehensive platform of ideas of the three main candidates running in in our 8th Congressional District. I wish you well now, and in the future. As far as I know, neither you, or Mr. Bhalla were born the son of a politician. No politician should ever feel his child is entitled to his seat when he steps down, after a job well-done, or, as in the case of our Senior Senator, who has been charged (again, with even more serious crimes), who, in 2021, sensing he could actually do jail time for what our Government has now since alleged he did, arranged to have his son have his old seat in the People’s House, to perhaps soften his own, now tarnished reputation.
This ‘arrangement’ of this father, for his son, had many large ripple effects in West New York. We lost our strong voice from West New York in Congress of our seasoned and skilled Congressman Sires. To be sure, Mr. Sires, the most qualified candidate ever to run for Commissioner and Mayor in West New York, now serves Us in West New York very well. However, we also lost a highly effect mayor in Mayor Gabriel Rodriguez, who’s most enduring legacy will always be his adroit handling of the pandemic and his hugely successful effort to secure enough vaccines for our hard-hit Town. We lost a senior-ranking member of the State Assembly in Angelica Jiminez, who stood up to the gun lobby after the Newtown mass shootings and helped to effect new, tougher gun laws in NJ that had many of the provisions she ardently championed. Senator Menendez’s power grab for his son caused a very unnecessary, municipal election that turned three strong allies and friends on our Board of Commissioners into rivals, last year.
I ask you to re-consider your assumptions about Mr. Bhalla not wanting you to be in the debates. If you and Mr. Bhalla engage in any open hostile political crossfires with one another, the Senator’s Son ( who is not entitled to his father’s old seat) benefits. However, if you and Mr. Bhalla can come to an agreement that either of you, self-made men would be better for our district than a senator’s son’s claim to this seat, and can work to ensure that one of you, and not someone named Menendez is elected, then you and Mr. Bhalla will have successfully removed the power from the back-room deal-makers, and given it back to We, the People.
Dear Mr.Jasey,
I did not realize that your Mother is Assemblywoman Mila Jasey of 27th District. Congratulations on her long and dedicated Service to her constituents. There of course is a huge difference. You got to this position as a major candidate for Federal Office on your own merits and actions, not your parent’s intercession on your behalf. I truly hope you and Mr. Bhalla will find a way that one of you becomes our next Congressman, instead of a senator’s son who was helped by his connected father, which created significant unnecessary collateral damage to good public servants in West New York.