TRENTON - Newly minted state Senator Benjie Wimberly (D-35) came in out of the rain this morning to attend his breakfast fundraising reception in the Lobby Club on East Street.

The guests here wanted to talk about the governor's contest, and the senator didn't mind the subject.

Only, he hasn't yet picked a candidate. The Passaic County Democratic Committee wants Mikie Sherrill to win the Democratic Primary, but Wimberly - who bucked the chairman of the party to become the LD-35 senator earlier this year - so far has remained uncommitted.

What does he have to hear to make a decision, InsiderNJ asked him.

"I want to hear a people's message," he said. "I want to hear conviction about women's reproductive freedoms, public education, and infrastructure - the gamut. I want to hear more meat than just the Trump stuff."

How do Democrats defeat President Donald Trump and his adherents?

"Democrats need to be more inclusive," said Wimberly. "People want you to reach out to them, to not

take them for granted. For too long we've taken people for granted, and people want to be heard."

Wimberly doesn't linger on the anger. He wants Americans everywhere to pay attention to the facts, and to the truth. "January 6th should have been a deal breaker, and now he [Trump] has [Elon] Musk in there dismantling the Department of Education," he said. I don't care what party you're in. This doesn't make sense."

A football coach and recreation director in the City of Paterson, the senator said Trump's order to do away with the Department of Education goes to the heart of the problem with his presidency. "It's the last thing we should dismantle," he said. "There are so many parts to the Department of Education, including special education funding, student loans, professional opportunities in education for those young people who want to become educators, just as a few examples. In addition, when there is a shortage of educators, you do not want to dismantle this department. What it comes down to is this: if you want people to be less informed, and dumb down the country, take away the Department of Education. You take that away and what you're going to get is uneducated folks voting against their own interests."

Wimberly told InsiderNJ he continues to get adjusted to his new position in the state senate, the seat vacated by Congresswoman Nellie Pou, which he won at the convention by one vote. "It is a different vibe from the Assembly, no question, including no debate on the floor," said the Paterson-based lawmaker. "I'm going to remain steadfast on my issues, the people's issues: housing, education, public access to education, and infrastructure. In Paterson, for example, I am focused on teacher vacancies exacerbated by cuts to the budget. I am here to fight for the voiceless and those who may otherwise have no support, the drug-addicted and the homeless."

The senator serves as a member of both the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Pictured, top: Karen Kominsky and Senator Wimberly.