When New Jersey re-elected Republican Chris Christie in 2013, they didn’t expect to get a part time governor whose interests are clearly not staying in New Jersey and doing his job.

With events in Washington unfolding as they are, the need to install progressive leadership at the state level is becoming more urgent: State governments can do a great deal to mitigate damaging actions at the federal level, from guaranteeing civil and reproductive rights to funding education, from regulating polluters to promoting a living wage.

When Sussex County’s Republican state representatives manage to distinguish themselves, it’s not in a good way.  Exhibit A: Assembly members Gail Phoebus and Parker Space were the only two people in the entire bicameral legislature to vote “no” on a bill that would make it harder for domestic violence offenders to get their hands on legal guns.

Less than a month after the election, Texas and Ohio became the first states to pass Draconian anti-abortion laws, indicating the extent to which Republican state legislators are reading the national election result as a green light to begin chipping away at civil liberties—and as always, the reproductive rights of women are a favorite target.  If Sussex County’s delegation to New Jersey’s legislature has its way, New Jersey will be among them.

State Assemblyman Jack Ciattrelli has emerged as another front runner for the Republican party to challenge current lieutenant governor Kim Guadagno for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2017.

If the smooth transition of power is supposed to be a hallmark of democracy, Sussex County’s outgoing Congressman, Republican Scott Garrett, is doing his best to thwart democracy.