Josh takes on Texas Dem's ‘insane, antisemitic views’

Good morning!

A Texas Democrat’s incendiary comments about American Jews has New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer already vowing to vote to expel her if she wins election to the House in November.

Maureen Galindo, a sex therapist who came in first in a March Democratic primary in Texas’ 35th Congressional District and is running in a runoff next week to be her party’s nominee in November, last week said on Instagram that she wants to convert ICE jails into prisons for “American Zionists” and ICE officers. She doubled down in an Instagram video she posted this week.

Gottheimer called her comments “straight out of the Nazi playbook.”

“If for some reason, Maureen Galindo wins the Congressional election in TX-35, as soon as she is sworn in, we will force a vote to expel her every single day we are here,” he said in a joint statement with Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida. “Maureen’s insane, antisemitic views — including putting Americans in concentration camps — have no place in our Party or country.”

Gottheimer, who is Jewish, has been criticizing members of his party for jumping to criticize antisemitic comments from Republicans but ignoring them when they come from Democrats and progressives.

Read more from Sophie Nieto-Muñoz.

NJ-07: Four Democrats are vying on June 2 to take on Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in December, and three of them outlined their policy initiatives to Dana DiFilippo. This is probably the most closely watched primary in the state, with Kean particularly vulnerable as Democrats seek to grab back control of the House in November (this seat has switched parties twice in the last eight years).

Health: State Sen. Raj Mukherji has a new bill that would give state and town officials more powers when hospitals seek to close their doors, legislation inspired by the recent closure of Heights University Hospital in Jersey City. State officials have accused the hospital’s owners of shutting it down in violation of state regulations. “If you have an operator of an acute-care hospital flouting laws that are on the books, to protect patients and communities we need to strengthen government’s ability to step in,” Mukherji said.

Transpo: Yesterday’s evening commute was another fun one for NJ Transit train riders, with a bush fire in Secaucus halting rail service for a bit and then delaying service throughout the night, per Allen Devlin at CBS New York.

Crime: Amanda Watford at Stateline reports that preliminary FBI data shows a sharp drop in crime in 2025, with murders dropping to an estimated 18% — a decline that could push the national homicide rate to its lowest level on record. The FBI said the estimates, released last week, are based on data submitted by more than 17,000 law enforcement agencies covering about 96% of the U.S. population.