Primary Elections: A warm-up for important November general elections
Welcome New Delegates
The following State Delegates were given the oath of office by NJ State PBA Recording Secretary Meg Hammond and sworn in at the May 22 state meeting:
• Charles Greenstein, Florham Park Local 78
• Andrew Ragati, Raritan Local 82
• Michael Tristao, Hazlet Township Local 189
• Ted Lewis, Hillsborough Township Local 205
• Ryan Norton, Hillsdale Local 207
• Michael Puskas, Morris County Prosecutor’ s Office Local 327
• Kevin O’ Connor, Green Brook Local 398
Marc Kovar Executive Vice-President
On June 6, New Jersey held primary elections for governor and the entire state legislature. These primary elections set the stage for the Democrats and Republicans who will be on the ballot in the Nov. 7 general election.
The election saw a crowded field from both parties – six Democrats and five Republicans – in a campaign to replace Governor Christie. Christie is serving in his final year as governor, and by law he is not allowed to run for another consecutive term.
The primary elections are a warm-up for the general election that will see candidates for governor, state senate and the assembly compete throughout the entire state. The election for governor will be a matchup of former U. S. Ambassador to Germany, Democrat Phil Murphy, and Christie’ s current lieutenant governor, Republican Kim Guadagno. Both Murphy and Guadagno were heavy favorites to win their party’ s primary.
Congratulations to both Phil Murphy and Kim Gaudagno on their strong primary election performances, as well as all the state legislators who were successful in their respective races. NJSPBA endorsements matter! The NJ State PBA endorsed Murphy early in the Democrat race as a result of direct conversations with candidates and discussion among our union leadership. One of the most important contributing factors in our decision to support Ambassador Murphy was his willingness to be a critic of Governor Christie’ s decision to break his campaign promises to law enforcement officers by significantly altering our pension and health care benefits.
Now, the PBA leadership is again working hard to make an endorsement to law enforcement officers and their families to support specific candidates in the upcoming general elections.
State PBA endorsements and support are considered prized for candidates seeking the state’ s highest office. In 2009, we endorsed then-Governor Jon Corzine over Christie. Unfortunately, many members didn’ t heed the guidance from union leadership and we all had to fight against Christie’ s broken promises that left us, and our families, to contend with the financial damage from his policies and the damage to morale from his constant attacks and attempts to demonize our members.
We need to wake up. Our brothers and sisters in law enforcement need to stand together. As the state moves toward November elections, we need to support NJSPBA-endorsed candidates so that law enforcement has a strong, united voice in choosing elected officials throughout the state.
I encourage all members to get more involved in local and state political races coordinated through State PBA. Most importantly, please take seriously all the endorsements our union leadership advocates. A lot of time and effort goes into our official endorsements, and these endorsements are only as valuable as our membership’ s ability to mobilize volunteers and votes.
All of our endorsements are the result of careful research into candidates’ positions that impact our membership, along with an examination of their individual track records. We also take into consideration our direct contact with candidates, specifically investigating where they stand on the issues that we all care about most.
I am asking each of you to pay attention to the NJ State PBA endorsements for the upcoming general elections. Again, look at the recent history of Governor Christie’ s broken promises to see the importance of law enforcement sticking together. We have to work together for our endorsements to have the impact necessary to protect all our brothers and sisters on issues that are important to law enforcement.
I also want to use this opportunity to thank the more than 200 members who volunteered and helped support candidates during these primary elections. I would specifically like to highlight the efforts of State Corrections Local 105 President Brian Renshaw and his army of corrections officers who served as campaign volunteers to organize phone banks supporting Phil Murphy. These efforts are important to continue raising the State PBA profile and influence in Trenton and in each of the state’ s 21 counties.
We will be organizing volunteers for the upcoming election with the hope of attracting hundreds more PBA volunteers to help shape who wins in November. d
www. njcopsmagazine. com ■ JUNE 2017 7