Election Day scores another
vote of confidence for
PBA’s political action
I had the honor and privilege of starting Election Day with driving Congressman Bill Pascrell
as he made the rounds in Passaic, Essex, Hudson
and Bergen counties stopping at senior centers,
diners and polling places to help get out the vote.
While riding with Bill, I had a rare chance to gain
perspective on one of the best things going in
New Jersey politics.
My point of view on Election Day allowed the
opportunity to witness what we are seeing more
and more due to the political action NJ State PBA
members are taking. Before he was elected to his
10th term in the U.S. House of Representatives,
Congressman Pascrell offered to stop in Paramus to support
Josh Gottheimers as he unseated incumbent Scott Garrett in
New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. And what we walked
into later that morning cast an overwhelming vote for the NJ
State PBA.
The numbers most telling for us on this Election Day charted
another victorious effort from our members in getting out the
vote, getting candidates elected and reminding elected officials
that we are a force. We celebrated this presence on Election Day
2016, as we did on Election Day 2015. But we know this is an
ongoing, year-round effort that is already pointed at Election
Day 2017.
Here’s what the polls showed us:
• In addition to members coming from Warren, Middlesex,
Passaic, Sussex and other counties across the state, and
from Port Authority Local 116 to join the Bergen County
Political Action Committee in Paramus, another group
came to do a similar labor walk and run a phone bank
two days before Election Day. No wonder Gottheimer
can always be seen wearing a PBA pin on his lapel, and
he will certainly be showing that off when he goes to
Washington.
• I am equally proud of the Ocean County Conference
staffing its phone banks in support of Congressional
Candidate Tom MacArthur in the 3rd District, who was
re-elected by an overwhelming margin.
• Sussex County members put together a rally for Gottheimer on Oct. 20 to get out votes in a key area of his
district that no doubt helped put him over the top.
• New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez came to the Election Day Labor Walk in Paramus because he heard there
would be such a large gathering of PBA members, and
he knows this coalition is important to his legislative and
political aspirations.
• Even with so much effort devoted to supporting Gottheimer, members in Bergen County also went door-todoor wearing their “Never Underestimate the Power of
Your Vote” shirts to support PBA-endorsed candidates
Pat Diegnan (senate) and Robert Karabinchak (assembly) in the NJ State Legislature special races they each
carried by more than 60 percent.
And so the post-election analysis tells us that every Election
Day is a big Election Day because we have boots on the ground
in so many counties. The analysis confirms that this is the first
time Congress has really reached out to us, and it confirms to
state legislators how strong we are and how our members get
involved. Believe me, that’s already resonating toward next November.
Did you ever think this would come to fruition, having so
many members come out, especially the way they did on
that Sunday afternoon two days before Election Day? It’s hard
enough for cops to get a day off on the weekend, but to spend
three or four hours away from their families…you can bet the
state legislators are watching and thinking about how that
might help them next Nove