Juan Melli

October 1, 2007 - 10:29pm

Politics: the next generation

Tags: Ellen Karcher, Bill Baroni, Juan Melli, Gerald Cardinale, Eric Sedler, Conor Roger, Eric Paternak, Scott Weingart

In an off-year election that generates ho hum enthusiasm even amongst politically aware adults, the idea of youngsters caring about legislative races seems far-fetched.

The common wisdom is that young people are, by and large, politically apathetic. If it’s hard to get a good youth turnout for a presidential election, then the chances of getting them out for state legislative races are virtually non-existent. But while many young people are too busy sending text messages to pick a candidate, campaigns also depend on young, true-believer volunteers and staffers to get out the vote.

Matt Mowers is one of those true-believers. The 18-year-old Rutgers freshman is the political director for Gerald Cardinale’s re-election campaign in the 39th district.

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June 26, 2008 - 8:50am

Melli joins Politicker.com

By editor

Category: Local

Tags: Juan Melli, Justine Lam

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December 20, 2006 - 4:11pm

Dem legislators who walked on civil unions could face primary challenges

By Wally Edge

Tags: Joseph Doria, Ronald Rice, Juan Melli, Joseph Egan

Watch for the progressive wing of the New Jersey Democratic Party to mull primary challenges to Democratic legislators who declined to vote in favor of legislation to legalize Civil Unions. But primary challenges to this group of Democratic legislators would be especially difficult, since all come from counties with exceptionally powerful party organizations.

At the top of the list of potential targets is the Rev. Alfred Steele, the Assembly State Government Committee Chairman who is seeking a seventh term in the solidly-Democratic 35th district next year. Steele abstained on the Civil Union vote, and the conservative New Jersey Family Policy Council said that Steele will sponsor the "Equal Benefits Act" -- legislation that would offer civil benefits to same-sex couples but also define marriage as being between a man and a woman. (Steele has not confirmed or denied his agreement to sponsor this bill.)

Also on the possible target list is Assemblyman Joseph Egan, the Assembly Labor Committee Chairman. Egan's political base, New Brunswick (where he has been a City Councilman since 1981), has a large gay population, and Democratic primary voters in Highland Park are considered fairly liberal.

Nilsa Cruz-Perez, a Camden County Democrat, and Gary Schaer, a freshman Democrat who represents parts of Bergen, Essex and Passaic counties, where the other two Democrats to abstain on Civil Unions.

Democratic State Senators Wayne Bryant, Joseph Doria and Ronald Rice also abstained on the vote. There is a strong chance that all three could lose Democratic Party support for re-election next year, but not because of Civil Unions. Bryant is reportedly under investigation by federal prosecutors, Doria has local political problems in Hudson County, and Rice is expected to be replaced at the request of Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who won 75% of the vote against Rice in the May 2006 mayoral election.

Juan Melli, who runs the progressive BlueJersey.com website, agrees that Democratic legislators who failed to support Civil Unions, could face some political problems in next year's mid-term elections. "Legislators who think it is their job to oppose equal rights for all Americans are not doing their job, and these types of politicians -- regardless of their party -- get primaried by people who will," said Melli.

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New Jersey Netroots Launch Think Equal Campaign Supporting Marriage Equality

By jmelli - December 6, 2006 - 1:34pm

Tags: Princeton, Juan Melli, Jack Bohrer,

Release Date: Dec 6 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

CONTACT: Jack Bohrer 732-915-6193 / jrbohrer@gmail.com

(PRINCETON, NJ) On Tuesday, December 5th, New Jersey political blog Blue Jersey launched the "Think Equal" media campaign to support marriage equality for all couples. The four part video advertisement and grassroots lobbying campaign focuses on the differences between civil unions and marriage as the New Jersey legislature takes up the issue.

"We were dismayed that the state Supreme Court put off the decision on marriage equality to the legislature, where the political pressure could result in the passage of a civil unions law instead of real marriage equality," said Juan Melli, the lead blogger on Blue Jersey. "We needed to find a way to demonstrate to our legislators that full marriage rights for all couples are the only way to go."

In October the New Jersey Supreme Court decided that the state Constitution required that same-sex couples receive the same legal benefits and obligations given to opposite sex couples through a marriage. However, the Court did not extend those rights and gave the legislators 180 days to settle the issue of how to provide those rights. Some legislators support simply extending marriage to same-sex couples, while others back creating a new legal relationship called civil unions.

"We've seen legal constructs like civil unions fail in the past, giving the appearance of equality but not the reality," said Jack Bohrer, a front page Blue Jersey blogger who co-wrote the scripts with Melli and produced the spots. "These ads are intended to demonstrate that civil unions look nice on paper, but they don't work in the real world."

The first ad in the Think Equal campaign, available at www.bluejersey.com/thinkequal, focuses on problems dedicated couples without a marriage license face while making medical decisions for their spouses. In an environment similar to the popular PC vs. Mac campaign, two women - one in a civil union and the other married -- discuss some of their common legal benefits, and the uncommon ways in which their rights are enforced.

Subsequent ads will be released on the web site over the next week, highlighting issues such as how civil unions and marriages are different in the real world with regard to taxes, social situations and federal legal rights. The Think Equal web site also contains educational materials, longer videos and grassroots lobbying tools for contacting legislators.

Blue Jersey was able to film the ads with professional production, actors and musicians for less than $5,000 thanks to many people volunteering their talents and time for the project. Funding for the ads came from Blue Jersey readers and bloggers, Garden State Equality and BlogPAC. The Think Equal campaign is also soliciting contributions intended to support putting the ads on television in strategic areas of the state to further educate the public on the issue.

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