This is how nasty the final debate before New Jersey’s special Senate election got on Wednesday night: The part that’s getting the most attention isn’t Republican Steve Lonegan suggesting that adoptions by gay parents may be unhealthy for children, or calling President Obama a “tyrant.” Instead, the standout remark came as Lonegan claimed suburban and rural New Jersey taxpayers are being “ripped off.” “All that income tax and sales tax money gets poured into the big black hole of Newark.” The Wall Street Journal reports that Booker wouldn’t comment on whether he thinks the remark was racist, but Lonegan made sure people would have something solid to be offended by. He said of the Passaic River, which runs through Newark, “You may not be able to swim in that river, I think, probably because of all the bodies floating around from shootings in the city.”
