NJEA PAC-endorsed candidates in the 2023 primary, who included eight candidates for the New Jersey Senate and 12 candidates for the Assembly, all won their primary contest held on June 6. Those winning candidates are:
- LD 11: Vin Gopal (D) for Senate and Margie Donlon (D) and Luanne Peterpaul (D) for Assembly.
- LD 16: Andrew Zwicker (D) for Senate and Roy Freiman (D) and Mitchelle Drulis (D)for Assembly.
- LD 18: Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr. (D) for Senate
- LD 19: Joseph F. Vitale (D) for Senate
- LD 31: Angela V. McKnight (D) for Senate and Barbara McCann Stamato (D) and William B. Sampson IV (D) for Assembly.
- LD 32: Raj Mukherji (D) for Senate and John Allen (D) and Jessica Ramirez (D) for Assembly.
- LD 33: Brian P. Stack (D) for Senate and Gabriel Rodriguez (D) and Julio Marenco (D) for Assembly.
- LD 38: Joseph A. Lagana (D) for Senate and P. Christopher Tully (D) and Lisa Swain (D) for Assembly.
NJEA PAC invited candidates to respond to a questionnaire about their public education and labor priorities and they were invited to attend a screening with members of their local screening committee, made up of NJEA members from their congressional district, and reflecting the diversity of NJEA’s membership. The screening committee made recommendations to the full NJEA PAC, which voted on their recommendations in April.
NJEA’s officers, President Sean M. Spiller, Vice President Steve Beatty and Secretary-Treasurer, Petal Robertson, released the following statement:
“We are pleased that all 20 of the candidates that NJEA members endorsed in yesterday’s primaries were victorious. Those results demonstrate that New Jersey voters share our values and want to see a Legislature that will work to keep our public schools the best in the nation. We are excited to spend the next five months working to elect all of them in November.
“We also look forward in the coming weeks to more member endorsements of candidates who share our commitment to supporting our students and strengthening our profession. The stakes are high because the challenges we face are real. We need legislators who will act boldly to address the educator shortage, which threatens the stability of our public schools, and who are willing to invest the resources needed to help our students learn, thrive and succeed.
“Our members will work every day between now and Nov. 7 to elect advocates across New Jersey who share our passion for public education.”
NJEA PAC will consider additional endorsements for the general election in the coming weeks.