It's the Brian Lair Show on WNYC. I'm Bridget Bergen, senior reporter in the WNYC and

Gothamist Newsroom sitting in for Brian today. As a dysfunctional as dysfunctional as Congress might seem,

there are many, many people interested in seeking office, as evidenced by the scrum running to

replace Jerry Nadler in Manhattan and the 11 Democrats vying to fill New Jersey Governor

Mikey Sherrill's former seat in that special election. Early voting is already underway

in that primary, ending tomorrow, then shifting to regular polling sites on Thursday. To talk about

the candidates hoping to represent New Jersey's 11th congressional district and what kind of support

they're generating, I'm joined by my colleague Mike Hayes, WNYC, and Gothamist New Jersey

politics reporter. Hey, Mike. Hey, Bridget. Thanks for having me. Great to have you here. And,

you know, this is the 11th Congressional District in New Jersey. What parts of the state are we

talking about? Yeah, so we're talking about the northern part of the state here, Bridget, not too, too far from

NYC to get technical.

It's parts of Passaic, Morris, and Essex County.

And, yeah, you mentioned it was Mikey Charleston.

It's a pretty safe, democratic seat out there in North Jersey.

And let's talk about, you know, I said 11 Democrats running for the nomination here.

We already know which Republican they're going to face in the April special election, right?

That's right.

You stole my thunder there.

I was hoping to do my big grand prediction for the election and call the Republican primary for

Mayor Joe Hathaway from Randolph, New Jersey.

He's the only Republican in this race the uh yeah presumptive

...