He says getting paid $550 a week to not work may be keeping some folks from trying to work.

From nj.com:

New Jersey’s jobless benefits are too generous and should be reduced, a Republican leader in the Assembly told business owners today.

Residents collecting $550 per week have little incentive to look for a job, Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce told the Business and Industry Association. He said cutting benefits is one way to prop up the unemployment fund, which is now $1.7 billion in the red to the federal government.

“I’m one of the few people here … who feel that benefits are too good for these people,” said DeCroce of Morris County. “Why go to work? If you can go for 26 weeks collecting $550 a week, and you get an extension for another 26, that’s close to $27,000 a year or $30,000 a year, and a lot of people figure, ‘Why go to work?'”

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We had two special elections last night and two special election victories.

South Carolina saw Republican Phyllis Henderson win:

Voters in Greenville County chose the new member of the South Carolina House on Tuesday.

Republican Phyllis Henderson topped Democrat Susan Scarborough Smith for the District 21 seat, claiming 73 percent of the votes.

The special election filled the seat of the late Rep. Bill Wylie, of Simpsonville. Officials said the 70-year-old Republican died of a heart attack while on vacation in Jackson’s Hole, Wyo., in September.

Voters in Texas sent Republican John Kuempel to the State House:

John Kuempel, son of the late state Rep. Edmund Kuempel, won a special election Tuesday to fill his late father’s seat, state election officials said. With all precincts reporting, John Kuempel, 40, received 65 percent of the votes cast.

Voters chose between six Republicans, two Democrats and a Libertarian. The second-runner, Republican Gary Inmon, got 10 percent.

John Kuempel’s victory gives the GOP 101 seats in the Texas House — one more than the supermajority they achieved earlier Tuesday, when Democrats Allen Ritter of Nederland and Aaron Peña of Edinburg formally became Republicans.

Edmund Kuempel, 67, a Seguin Republican, died Nov. 4 from a heart attack, two days after he was re-elected to the District 44 seat representing Guadalupe, Gonzales and Wilson counties.

From newsOK.com:

Four Republicans filed Monday for the Senate District 47 post now held by Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond.
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Lamb is leaving office in January to become lieutenant governor.

Filing Monday for the northwest Oklahoma City and Edmond-area district were engineer Todd Brawley, 46, attorney Steven Dobbs, 63, civic volunteer Carol Hefner, 49, and politico Greg Treat, 32.

Attorney Kenny Goza, 41, has also announced plans to run for the seat. The filing period ends Wednesday.

The primary is Jan. 11. There will be no runoff. A general election, if needed, will be Feb. 8.

So far, no Democrat has announced plans to run for the seat.

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It seems like everyday we are here telling you of a Democrat leaving his party and joining the Republicans. Today’s is courtesy of Louisiana, and it puts the GOP one seat away from majority.

From nola.com:

State Rep. Fred Mills of St. Martin Parish has become the latest lawmaker to defect from the Democratic Party and join the Republican ranks.

His move, confirmed by Louisiana Republican Party spokesman Aaron Baer and aides to Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, gives the House GOP Caucus 52 members, widening the plurality it achieved just weeks ago and putting the party within one vote a majority for the first time since post-Civil War Reconstruction.

Mills did not respond to messages about his decision. It is widely known among Capitol observers that he is contemplating a bid for the state Senate seat vacated by Troy Hebert’s acceptance of Jindal’s appointment as commissioner of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. Rep. Simone Champagne of Jeanerette already had joined the Republicans in preparation for the special election for the Hebert seat early next year.

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