Yesterday in NJ Spotlight I said “yes,” especially in Newark, given the recent dings to Cami Anderson’s leadership and the vagaries of the mayoral race there.

Walter Fields, Jr., former political director of the NJ chapter of the NAACP, has a different view. In today’s PolitickerNJ he says,

 I don’t think [Bridgegate] has any effect. I think Newark politics is such that the focus is so localized, and there are just some real hard-core issues in Newark right now that I think attract the attention of voters far more than the Governor’s difficulties.

“Newark is becoming the epicenter of a national debate, this time around public education,” Fields added. “Voters in Newark are much more focused on the reality in their backyard – the troubles with public education, the continued violence in the city, unemployment. Those are the issues that will remain the focus of voters there.”