NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — In an accelerated election for a new U.S. senator from New Jersey, the Democratic field is Cory Booker vs. everyone else.

Thanks to a restaurant owner with a foundation in politics, Republican political consultant and policy adviser Karl Rove now knows where Woodbridge is.

Manuel Martin, a 2014 candidate for the 9th Assembly District seat held by Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, will hold his kickoff fundraiser from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday at 3944 Scottsdale Road, Lodi.

Manuel Martin, a 25-year-old Republican, is scheduled to announce his candidacy for the 9th Assembly District seat at Monday’s meeting of the Lodi Citizens in Action, the community’s Tea Party Patriots affiliate.

When I joined the Episcopal church in 1980, my nearby parish seemed to be the Republican Party at prayer — back when moderate Republicans roamed the earth. The church members welcomed me (a moderate progressive), and when they found out I was a former Roman Catholic priest who had just gotten married, they encouraged me to consider becoming an Episcopal priest.

Richard Pan’s constituents in Lodi and Galt are just getting to know him in the reconfigured 9th Assembly District. Now he’s seeking the 6th State Senate District seat in Sacramento.

The sequester is now upon us and the sky hasn't fallen yet, as Mr. Obama has been preaching all over the U.S. This was his idea, although he has tried to blame everyone else. The White House now admits this, and he still demands more spending and taxation.

On Feb. 27, the Lodi News-Sentinel printed a column by a retired city attorney. In her concluding paragraph, she bemoaned the fact that the right wing of the Republican Party is working to cause Obama to fail in the implementation of many of his policies.

With the approval rating of Congress at 12 percent, it is clear that Americans are frustrated with yet another manufactured crisis where the economy is held hostage by right-wing Republicans who would prefer to see chaos rather than work with Democrats and moderate Republicans who prefer to support economic stability.

A new national survey shows that the Latino population in the U.S. rose 47 percent from 2000 to 2011 and that the rate of growth in Florida was even higher — 62 percent.

The Pew Research Hispanic Center in Washington, a respected demographic research institute, found that the Latino population in the U.S. during those 11 years swelled from 35.2 million to 51.9 million. The total U.S. population as of 2011 was 311.6 million, meaning that 16.7 percent of people living in the U.S. were Latino, compared to 12.5 percent in 2000.

Each year, the state's main press group, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, holds a session in Sacramento where political and media types offer updates and insights.

Lodi's Tony Amador, who lost to Democrat Richard Pan in November's 9th Assembly District race, was recently elected chairman of the San Joaquin County Republican Central Committee.

Why are Republicans known as "the stupid party"? Because they are the stupid party! Barack Obama did not "win" re-election. The stupid party did not get out the vote. Many Tea Party zealots (I am a Tea Party supporter) refused to vote for Romney, despite the fact that in a two-man race, if you do not vote for your guy, the other guy wins! Duh. Now we have Obama again.

Is a college education worthwhile? Most people seem to think so. Certainly, it acts as a union card for many jobs that otherwise would be unattainable.

The new year began with good news and bad news, both pertaining to the same subject.

Two area congressmen say the federal government should look at restricting the availability of assault weapons in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.

Saying that she never aspired to be a career politician, Alyson Huber finished up her duties as the Lodi area's Assemblywoman on Nov. 30.

Keynesian economics fill two vital functions in an up-and-down economy. In the "up" cycle, the government pays down the debt and limits borrowing so the private sector can do its thing.

The Republicans lost the election due to stupidity. When the Republican Party began courting the Christian vote in the 1970s, they went from promoting a better republic for the American people to making laws to force the rest of the country to conform to the religious beliefs and Biblical interpretation of one segment of the Christian community.

On Nov. 6, the people spoke and rehired President Obama for another term and, in California, we elected a Democratic supermajority in the state legislature. Additionally, we chose not to end the dominance of the public-sector unions in California politics.

As the post-presidential election dust settles, let me present a fact-based analysis of why Mitt Romney lost.

Incumbent Democratic candidate Richard Pan defeated Republican Tony Amador in their race to represent the 9th Assembly District on Tuesday.

Democrat Jerry McNerney was re-elected in the 9th Congressional District on Tuesday, defeating Republican challenger Ricky Gill of Lodi.

I'm 88 years old, active in my church, and a woman. I'm also an enthusiastic supporter of President Obama, whom I believe will go down in history as a wise and pragmatic decision-maker in this volatile interdependent world. Even Henry Kissenger and Colin Powell, former Republican Secretaries of State, have agreed with his foreign policy of diplomacy and working in collaboration with allies.

We have all seen and heard many ads from these ruthless politicians who have made careers of lying and misleading the voters by using the "13 Techniques of Truth Suppression." They are "masters of deceit."