In a definitive win for pro-public education candidates across New Jersey, more than 96% of NJEA PAC-endorsed Senate candidates and nearly 90% of endorsed Assembly candidates won their election. Additionally, dozens of locally endorsed candidates across the state were successful in municipal, county and board of education races.
The election comes after months of work by NJEA members to endorse, support and elect candidates who share a commitment to New Jersey’s great public schools, which are the best in the nation, and the people who dedicate their lives to providing a great education for New Jersey’s public school students.
The election also served as a firm rebuke to the politics of fear and division that some groups tried to inject into education policy in New Jersey. New Jersey voters decisively rejected that cynical effort to undermine our schools and instead stood with students to elect advocates for open, honest and accepting public schools.
NJEA’s officers, President Sean M. Spiller, Vice President Steve Beatty and Secretary-Treasurer Petal Robertson, released this statement:
“This election was a fantastic win for students, their families and the passionate professionals who work in our public schools. Our members recognized early what was at stake and acted decisively to ensure that advocates for public education would be elected. NJEA members made nearly 100 bipartisan endorsements in Legislative races and almost all of those endorsed candidates won with that support. Our members’ hard work in this election, combined with voters’ commitment to student success, means that our public schools are poised to remain the best in the nation.
“We are very happy that New Jersey voters ignored the noise and distractions of this election cycle and chose to take a stand for students once again. By electing pro-education majorities in both houses of the Legislature, New Jersey sent a message that we won’t be bullied by anyone who puts a partisan agenda ahead of the health, safety and learning of all children.
“We are so proud of our fellow NJEA members who stepped up by the thousands in this election, not just to vote but to work hard for several months to make sure our endorsed candidates won up and down the ballot and across the state. We proved once again that when NJEA members endorse someone who shares our values, that endorsement comes with people-powered support that only a union this large and engaged can provide. Our members dedicated both time and money that made a difference in this election.
“This election was a reminder that every vote in every race matters. Whether a candidate is running for school board or senate, the votes they take and the policies they pursue will affect what happens in our public schools. Right now, our fundamental freedoms are under attack by people who want to censor books, narrow curricula and make our schools less safe for students. More than ever, parents and educators who care deeply about the success of our schools must remain united in fighting for those freedoms and for the public schools our children deserve. We did that in this election and our students will benefit because we succeeded.”