The New Jersey State AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions are proud to endorse Gov. Philip D. Murphy, Lieutenant Governor Sheila Y. Oliver, Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin, and candidates for state and local offices throughout New Jersey in the Nov. 2 general election, they said in a release.

“These leaders proved themselves during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic,” New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech said. “They acted quickly with legislation to protect first responders, health-care professionals and essential workers who came in contact with the public daily. They revised unemployment compensation and other benefits to aid workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Cash grants and loans helped businesses survive and keep their workers employed.

“Through their leadership, workers comp now presumes that an essential worker infected by COVID was infected on the job,” he continued. “And our lawmakers added cost-of-living adjustments to the death benefit of essential workers’ survivors because, sadly, we have lost many of our brothers and sisters from the virus in this unique time.”

President Wowkanech praised the governor and the Legislature’s leaders for their transparency since the start of the pandemic. “The governor’s video briefings continue to be must-see TV with heart as he pays tribute to COVID victims.”

New Jersey’s government needs stability and continuity, President Wowkanech said. “We’re headed in the right direction,” he said. “We need to build on the progressive laws these leaders enacted in the last 15 months to restore our economy and put everyone back to work. They will help us put this unprecedented crisis behind us once and for all.

“They have earned our endorsement.”

“So much of our shared progress over the last three-plus years is rooted in our commitment to honoring and supporting organized labor,” said Governor Murphy. “Through our partnership with the AFL-CIO, we have returned New Jersey to its rightful place as a proud union state, where working families are treated with the respect, dignity, and fairness they deserve. I am incredibly grateful to the members of the AFL-CIO for their endorsement and continued support of our vision for a stronger, fairer New Jersey.”

The labor movement’s endorsements were affirmed in a roll-call vote by delegates to the 2021 New Jersey State AFL-CIO Legislative / COPE Conference, held by videoconference on Tuesday, June 15. The candidates were endorsed based on their pro-labor records and their support for working families.

The full list of endorsements is:

New Jersey State AFL-CIO

Endorsed Candidates

June 15, 2021

 

Governor/ Lt. Governor
Phil Murphy/ Sheila Oliver (D)*

 

District 1

Senate
No Endorsement

 

Assembly

No Endorsement

 

District 2

Senate
Vince Mazzeo (D)

 

Assembly

John Armato* (D)

Caren Fitzpatrick (D)

 

District 3

Senate
Stephen M. Sweeney*+ (D)

 

Assembly

John J. Burzichelli* (D)

Adam Taliaferro* (D)

 

District 4

Senate
Fred H. Madden* (D)

 

Assembly

Paul D. Moriarty*+ (D)

Gabriela M. Mosquera* (D)

 

District 5

Senate
Nilsa Cruz-Perez* (D)

 

Assembly

William F. Moen Jr.* (D)

William W. Spearman* (D)

 

District 6

Senate
James Beach* (D)

 

Assembly

Louis D. Greenwald* (D)

Pamela R. Lampitt* (D)

 

District 7

Senate
Troy Singleton*+ (D)

 

Assembly

Carol Murphy* (D)

Herb Conaway* (D)

 

District 8

Senate
Dawn Marie Addiego* (D)

 

Assembly

Mark Natale (D)

Allison Eckel (D)

 

District 9

Senate
No Endorsement

 

Assembly

No Endorsement

 

District 10

Senate

Emma Mammano (D)

 

Assembly

Garitt Kono (D)

Mary Quilter (D)

 

District 11

Senate
Vin Gopal*+ (D)

 

Assembly

Eric Houghtaling*+ (D)

Joann Downey* (D)

 

District 12

Senate

No Endorsement

 

Assembly

No Endorsement

 

District 13

Senate
Vincent Solomeno III+ (D)

 

Assembly

Erin Howard (D)

Allison Friedman+ (D)

 

District 14

Senate
Linda R. Greenstein* (D)

 

Assembly

Wayne P. DeAngelo*+ (D)

Daniel R. Benson* (D)

 

District 15

Senate
Shirley K. Turner* (D)

 

Assembly

Verlina Reynolds-Jackson* (D)

Anthony S. Verrelli*+ (D)

 

District 16

Senate
Andrew Zwicker (D)

 

Assembly

Roy Freiman* (D)

Joe Lukac +(R)

 

District 17

Senate
Bob Smith* (D)

 

Assembly

Joseph V. Egan*+ (D)

Joseph Danielsen* (D)

 

District 18

Senate
Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr.* (D)

 

Assembly

Robert Karabinchak* (D)

Sterley Stanley* (D)

 

District 19

Senate
Joseph F. Vitale* (D)

 

Assembly

Craig J. Coughlin* (D)

Yvonne Lopez* (D)

 

District 20

Senate
Joseph Cryan *(D)

 

Assembly

Annette Quijano* (D)

Reginald Atkins (D)

 

District 21

Senate

No Endorsement

 

Assembly

No Endorsement

 

District 22

Senate
Nicholas P. Scutari* (D)

 

Assembly

James Kennedy* (D)

Linda Carter* (D)

 

District 23

Senate
No Endorsement

 

Assembly

No Endorsement

 

District 24

Senate
No Endorsement

 

Assembly

No Endorsement

 

District 25

Senate
No Endorsement

 

Assembly

No Endorsement

District 26

Senate
No Endorsement

 

Assembly

Christian Barranco + (R)

 

District 27

Senate
Richard J. Codey* (D)

 

Assembly

John F. McKeon* (D)

Mila M. Jasey* (D)

 

District 28

Senate
Ronald L. Rice* (D)

 

Assembly

Cleopatra G. Tucker* (D)

Ralph Caputo* (D)

 

District 29

Senate
M. Teresa Ruiz* (D)

 

Assembly

Shanique Speight* (D)

Eliana Pintor Marin* (D)

 

District 30

Senate
Robert W. Singer* (R)

 

Assembly

No Endorsement

 

District 31

Senate
Sandra B. Cunningham* (D)

 

Assembly

Angela V. McKnight* (D)

William Sampson + (D)

 

District 32

Senate
Nicholas J. Sacco* (D)

 

Assembly

Angelica M. Jimenez* (D)

Pedro Mejia* (D)

 

District 33

Senate
Brian P. Stack* (D)

 

Assembly

Raj Mukherji* (D)

Annette Chaparro* (D)

 

District 34

Senate
Nia H. Gill* (D)

 

Assembly

Thomas P. Giblin*+ (D)

Britnee N. Timberlake* (D)

 

District 35

Senate
Nelida Pou* (D)

 

Assembly

Shavonda E. Sumter* (D)

Benjie E. Wimberly* (D)

 

District 36

Senate
Paul A. Sarlo* (D)

 

Assembly

Clinton Calabrese* (D)

Gary Schaer* (D)

 

District 37

Senate

Gordon M. Johnson (D)

 

Assembly

Shama A. Haider (D)

Ellen J. Park (D)

 

District 38

Senate
Joe Lagana* (D)

 

Assembly

Lisa Swain* (D)

Chris Tully* (D)

 

District 39

Senate
Ruth Dugan (D)

 

Assembly

Melinda Ianuzzi (D)

Karlito Almeda (D)

 

District 40

Senate
No Endorsement

 

Assembly

No Endorsement

 

*incumbent

+labor candidate

 

 

 

New Jersey State AFL-CIO

Endorsed Labor Candidates

June 15, 2021

 

Name                                            Union                                    Office Sought

 

Mike Heller*                                AFT 1904                              Bloomfield Board of Education

Edina Renfro-Michel*                 AFT 1904                              Boonton Council

David Mayer*                               AFT 2373                              Gloucester Township Mayor

Frank Rollo*                                 AWIU 14                               Clayton Council

Sheila Davis*                               CWA 1014                            Camden City Council

 

Vincent Solomeno                        CWA 1033                            Senate LD 13

Timothy Howard                          CWA 1036                            Palmyra Council

Victoria Fisher*                           CWA 1037                            Teaneck Board of Education

Allison Friedman                         CWA 1037                            Assembly LD 13

Shawn Ludwig*                            CWA 1038                            Barrington Council

 

Nelson Carney                              CWA 1085                            Salem County Commissioner

Harold “Hap” Pye*                       CWA 1085                            Woodbury Heights Council

Bridget Devane*                           HPAE                                    Bradley Beach Board of Education

Timothy Eosso                             IAFF 1197                             Monroe Council

Nick Larotonda                             IAFF S-18                              Absecon Council

 

Ronald Rios*                                IAM TCU                              Middlesex County Commissioner

Peter Castellano*                         IAM/ NFFE 1340                  Egg Harbor Township Board of Education

Michael Soriano*                         IBEW 3                                  Parsippany- Troy Hills Mayor

Ralph Bartone                               IBEW 30                                Seashide Heights Council

Phillip Schocklin*                        IBEW 98                                Deptford Council

 

Joseph Lukac                                IBEW 102                              Assembly LD 16

Christian Barranco                       IBEW 102                              Assembly LD 26

Matthew Oswald*                        IBEW 102                              Riverdale Council

Vincenzo Petti*                            IBEW 102                              Bound Brook Council

Matthew Scerbo*                         IBEW 102                              Phillisburg Board of Education

 

John Biale*                                   IBEW 164                              Oakland Council

Jake Bruno*                                  IBEW 210                              Franklin Township Council

Wayne DeAngelo*                       IBEW 269                              Assembly LD 14

Eric Houghtaling*                        IBEW 400                              Assembly LD 11

Vin Gopal                                     IBEW 400                              Senate LD 11

 

 

Name                                            Union                                    Office Sought

Joseph Egan*                                IBEW 456                              Assembly LD 17

Wayne Martiak                             IBEW 456                              Point Pleasant Borough Council

Daniel Patterson                           IBEW 456                              Seaside Heights Council

Kenneth Haeser*                          IBEW 827                              Weymouth Council

Samuel Fennell*                           IBEW 1820                            South Toms River Council

 

William Lamb*                            ILA 1291                               Deptford Council

William Sampson                         ILA 1588                               Assemby LD 31

Stephen Sweeney*                        Ironworkers 399                    Senate LD 3

Timothy Dougherty*                    IUOE 68                                Morristown Mayor

Thomas Giblin*                            IUOE 68                                Assembly LD 34

 

James Gorman*                            IUOE 68                                Galloway Council

Dahlia Vertreese*                         IUOE 68                                Hillside Mayor

Christopher Carney*                    IUOE 825                              Sussex County Commissioner

Sean Noonan                                 IUOE 825                              Ringwood Council

James Ledonne                             IUOE 825                              Montaque Committee

 

Frank Baldorossi*                        LIUNA 172                            Florence Council

James Kownacki*                         LIUNA 172                            Lawrence Council

Anthony DeSilva                          LIUNA 172                            Westampton Council

Robert Garrison*                          LIUNA 472                            Westfield Board of Education

George Tibbitt*                            Roofers 30                             Atlantic City Council

 

Paul Moriarty*                             SAG/AFTRA                         Assembly LD 4

Daniel O’Connell*                        Smart UTU                            Burlington County Commissioner

Brian Cummiskey*                      SMART/SMWIA 19             Monroe Board of Education

Richard Kanka*                            UA 9                                      Hamilton Board of Education

Charles “Chuddy” Whalen*         UA 9                                      Hamilton Council

 

Richard Cheek*                            UA 322                                  Hamilton Township Committee

Anthony Verrelli*                        UBC 254                                Assembly LD 15

Theron “Ike” Gandy*                    UBC 255                                Middle Township Council

Troy Singleton*                            UBC 715                                Senate LD 7

Steven Reyngouldt*                     UFCW 2-D                            Hasbrouck Heights Council

 

Farook Hossain*                           UNITEHERE 54                    Atlantic City Board of Education

Robert Damminger*                     USW 943                               Gloucester County Commissioner

 

 

*Incumbent

OPEIU:153