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January 25, 2026
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Nikita Biryukov, New Jersey Monitor
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U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill on Tuesday was elected governor of New Jersey, raising hopes for Democrats and highlighting Republican vulnerabilities after there had been signs of a rightward shift in recent years in what has been a reliably blue state.Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and four-term member of Congress, defeated Jack Ciattarelli, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and quickly cast her victory late Tuesday as a referendum on the Republican president and some of his policies — from health care to immigration and the economy.”We here in New Jersey are bound to fight for a different future for our children,” Sherrill told her supporters gathered to celebrate her victory. “We see how clearly important liberty is. We know that no one in our great state is safe when our neighbors are targeted, ignoring the law and the Constitution.” She was joined on stage with her husband and children.Sherrill, 53, offers some reassurance for moderates within the Democratic Party as they navigate the path forward for next year’s midterms. A former prosecutor and military veteran, Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, the other Democrat who was elected as Virginia governor, embody a brand of centrist Democrats who aim to appeal to some conservatives while still aligning with some progressive causes. Sherrill campaigned on standing up to Trump and casting blame for voters’ concerns over the economy on his tariffs.Ciattarelli called Sherrill to congratulate her on the results and did not mention Trump in his address.”It is my hope that Mikie Sherrill has heard us in terms of what we need to do to make New Jersey that place where everybody can once again feel that they can achieve their American dream,” Ciattarelli said.The start of voting on Tuesday was disrupted after officials in seven counties received e-mailed bomb threats later determined by law enforcement to be unfounded, said the state’s top election official, Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way. A judge granted a one-hour extension at some polling places after Democrats made a request for three schools that received the threats earlier Tuesday.Sherrill marks milestonesShe will be New Jersey’s second female governor, after Republican Christine Todd Whitman, who served between 1994 and 2001. Her victory also gives Democrats three straight gubernatorial election wins in New Jersey, the first time in six decades that either major party has achieved a three-peat.Ciattarelli lost his second straight general election after coming within a few points of defeating incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago.New Jersey’s odd-year race for governor, one of just two this year along with Virginia, often hinged on local issues such as property taxes. But the campaign also served as a potential gauge of national sentiment, especially how voters are reacting to the president’s second term and Democrats’ messaging ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, praised Sherrill’s win as “a roadmap for how Democrats can overcome precedent and win in deeply competitive races when we stay laser-focused on our positive vision to address the biggest issues impacting families in their daily lives.”Video below: Mikie Sherrill enters a voting site in Montclair, NJA victory against TrumpIn her speech on Tuesday, Sherrill said voters were concerned with attacks on their civil liberties as well as on their economic well-being. She said Trump is “ripping away” health care and targeting food benefits. Democratic governors across the country have been pushing back on those issues, as well as planned National Guard deployments in their states.Sherrill also criticized him for something that impacts New Jersey specifically: Canceling a project to expand train access to New York City. In the closing weeks of the campaign, she lambasted the president’s threat to cancel the Hudson River project.”Governors have never mattered more,” Sherrill said. “And in this state, I am determined to build prosperity for all of us.”From the Navy to the governor’s officeSherrill steps into the governorship role after serving four terms in the U.S. House. She won that post in 2018 during Trump’s first term in office, flipping a longtime GOP-held district in an election that saw Democrats sweep all but one of the state’s 12 House seats.During her campaign, Sherrill leaned hard into her credentials as a congresswoman and onetime prosecutor as well as her military service. But she also had to defend her Navy service record after a news report that she was not allowed to participate in her 1994 graduation ceremony from the U.S. Naval Academy commencement in connection with an academic cheating scandal at the school.Sherrill said the punishment was a result of not turning in some classmates, not because she herself had cheated. But she declined to release additional records that the Ciattarelli campaign said would shed more light on the issue.For her part, she accused Ciattarelli of profiting off the opioid crisis. He is the former owner of a medical publishing company that made continuing education materials for doctors, including some that discussed pain management and opioids. Sherrill called it “propaganda” for drug companies, something Ciattarelli denied.Promises for New JerseySherrill will inherit a state budget that swelled under Murphy, who delivered on promises to fund the public worker pension fund and a K-12 school aid formula after years of neglect under previous governors, by high income taxes on the wealthy. But there are also headwinds that include unfunded promises to continue a property tax relief program begun in the governor’s second term.Also on the ballot Tuesday were all 80 seats in the Assembly, which Democrats control with a 52-seat majority.New Jersey hasn’t supported a Republican for U.S. Senate or the White House in decades. The governor’s office, though, has often switched back and forth between the parties. The last time the same party prevailed in a third straight New Jersey election for governor was in 1961, when Richard Hughes won the race to succeed Gov. Robert Meyner. Both were Democrats.
U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill on Tuesday was elected governor of New Jersey, raising hopes for Democrats and highlighting Republican vulnerabilities after there had been signs of a rightward shift in recent years in what has been a reliably blue state.
Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and four-term member of Congress, defeated Jack Ciattarelli, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and quickly cast her victory late Tuesday as a referendum on the Republican president and some of his policies — from health care to immigration and the economy.
“We here in New Jersey are bound to fight for a different future for our children,” Sherrill told her supporters gathered to celebrate her victory. “We see how clearly important liberty is. We know that no one in our great state is safe when our neighbors are targeted, ignoring the law and the Constitution.” She was joined on stage with her husband and children.
Sherrill, 53, offers some reassurance for moderates within the Democratic Party as they navigate the path forward for next year’s midterms. A former prosecutor and military veteran, Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, the other Democrat who was elected as Virginia governor, embody a brand of centrist Democrats who aim to appeal to some conservatives while still aligning with some progressive causes. Sherrill campaigned on standing up to Trump and casting blame for voters’ concerns over the economy on his tariffs.
Ciattarelli called Sherrill to congratulate her on the results and did not mention Trump in his address.
“It is my hope that Mikie Sherrill has heard us in terms of what we need to do to make New Jersey that place where everybody can once again feel that they can achieve their American dream,” Ciattarelli said.
The start of voting on Tuesday was disrupted after officials in seven counties received e-mailed bomb threats later determined by law enforcement to be unfounded, said the state’s top election official, Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way. A judge granted a one-hour extension at some polling places after Democrats made a request for three schools that received the threats earlier Tuesday.
She will be New Jersey’s second female governor, after Republican Christine Todd Whitman, who served between 1994 and 2001. Her victory also gives Democrats three straight gubernatorial election wins in New Jersey, the first time in six decades that either major party has achieved a three-peat.
Ciattarelli lost his second straight general election after coming within a few points of defeating incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago.
New Jersey’s odd-year race for governor, one of just two this year along with Virginia, often hinged on local issues such as property taxes. But the campaign also served as a potential gauge of national sentiment, especially how voters are reacting to the president’s second term and Democrats’ messaging ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, praised Sherrill’s win as “a roadmap for how Democrats can overcome precedent and win in deeply competitive races when we stay laser-focused on our positive vision to address the biggest issues impacting families in their daily lives.”
Video below: Mikie Sherrill enters a voting site in Montclair, NJ
In her speech on Tuesday, Sherrill said voters were concerned with attacks on their civil liberties as well as on their economic well-being. She said Trump is “ripping away” health care and targeting food benefits. Democratic governors across the country have been pushing back on those issues, as well as planned National Guard deployments in their states.
Sherrill also criticized him for something that impacts New Jersey specifically: Canceling a project to expand train access to New York City. In the closing weeks of the campaign, she lambasted the president’s threat to cancel the Hudson River project.
“Governors have never mattered more,” Sherrill said. “And in this state, I am determined to build prosperity for all of us.”
Sherrill steps into the governorship role after serving four terms in the U.S. House. She won that post in 2018 during Trump’s first term in office, flipping a longtime GOP-held district in an election that saw Democrats sweep all but one of the state’s 12 House seats.
During her campaign, Sherrill leaned hard into her credentials as a congresswoman and onetime prosecutor as well as her military service. But she also had to defend her Navy service record after a news report that she was not allowed to participate in her 1994 graduation ceremony from the U.S. Naval Academy commencement in connection with an academic cheating scandal at the school.
Sherrill said the punishment was a result of not turning in some classmates, not because she herself had cheated. But she declined to release additional records that the Ciattarelli campaign said would shed more light on the issue.
For her part, she accused Ciattarelli of profiting off the opioid crisis. He is the former owner of a medical publishing company that made continuing education materials for doctors, including some that discussed pain management and opioids. Sherrill called it “propaganda” for drug companies, something Ciattarelli denied.
Sherrill will inherit a state budget that swelled under Murphy, who delivered on promises to fund the public worker pension fund and a K-12 school aid formula after years of neglect under previous governors, by high income taxes on the wealthy. But there are also headwinds that include unfunded promises to continue a property tax relief program begun in the governor’s second term.
Also on the ballot Tuesday were all 80 seats in the Assembly, which Democrats control with a 52-seat majority.
New Jersey hasn’t supported a Republican for U.S. Senate or the White House in decades. The governor’s office, though, has often switched back and forth between the parties. The last time the same party prevailed in a third straight New Jersey election for governor was in 1961, when Richard Hughes won the race to succeed Gov. Robert Meyner. Both were Democrats.
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Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli debating.
Photo: Heather Khalifa/AP Photo
Most of the known metrics for next Tuesday’s gubernatorial election in New Jersey suggest cautious optimism for Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill. All but one public poll in the entire cycle has shown her leading Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, usually by a small but steady margin. Early voting numbers show much the same narrow Democratic margin in in-person voting (which concludes on Sunday), plus a big Democratic margin in voting by mail, that prevailed in 2021. That’s when current incumbent Phil Murphy defeated Ciattarelli by 3 percent — a shockingly low margin given both polling and expectations but a win nonetheless. Overall early voting is up, which might simply reflect a competitive high-stakes race. Direct-candidate spending is capped by New Jersey’s public-campaign financing system, but heavy independent expenditures lean in Sherrill’s direction.
There is nonetheless a distinct air of uncertainty surrounding the ultimate results and a lot of nervousness among Democrats. Much of the uncertainty flows from what might be called a double-incumbency phenomenon. Off-year elections in New Jersey and elsewhere tend strongly to cut against the party controlling the White House, particularly when the occupant is as unpopular as Donald Trump is right now. But New Jersey hasn’t awarded its governorship to the same party for three straight elections since 1961, and two-term incumbent Murphy isn’t terribly popular either (Republicans blame him for high local taxes and high housing and utility costs). And Democratic jitters are attributable in no small part to Ciattarelli’s surprisingly strong showing in 2021 and Trump’s even more startling gains in 2024 (he cut the Democratic presidential margin in New Jersey from 16 percent to less than 6 percent). As my colleague David Freedlander recently explained, there are also doubts about how well Sherrill has campaigned:
A former Navy pilot, prosecutor, and three-term member of Congress, she has been an uninspiring campaigner, someone prone to word-salad answers and awkward freezes. “There is a generation of Democratic candidates who were brought up in a certain way, and now they are behaving in that way,” says one party strategist in the state. “She is a good person who would probably do a pretty good job as governor, but she is a product of a system that spits out replacement-level candidates.”
For his part, Ciattarelli has campaigned well and is generating some unmistakable enthusiasm, but a lot of it is probably attributable to his self-transformation into a close ally of the president’s (he definitely wasn’t in 2021), which may cost him among swing voters. Trump’s recent decision to unilaterally cancel the Gateway Tunnel project that would give some relief to New Jersey commuters into New York did the Republican no favors; neither has the administration’s abrasive, racially profiling mass-deportation program, which may well reverse the pro-GOP trend among Latino voters (a large presence in New Jersey) so evident last year.
Independents (who participate at reduced levels in non-presidential elections) tend to break against incumbent parties in elections like this one. But which incumbent will they punish? Given Trump’s unparalleled ability to dominate the news every hour of every day, you’d have to figure he will be more front of mind with undecided voters than Murphy, or at least that’s what Democrats hope.
Unlike the off-year contest in Virginia, where toxic texts from the Democratic nominee for attorney general have all but overshadowed the gubernatorial election, Sherrill and Ciattarelli have the spotlight all to themselves (the only other statewide office up this year is that of the lieutenant governor, who runs on a ticket with the candidate for governor). Some late public polls are being touted by Republicans as showing a surge for their candidate, but that could be because they were conducted by pollsters who are often pro-GOP outliers. Quantus Insights has Sherrill leading by three points, Co/Efficient shows her up by one, and Emerson — which had the race tied in September — has Sherrill up by two points, all results within the margin of error. The very latest poll, from Quinnipiac, has Sherrill ahead 51 percent to 43 percent among likely voters, pretty much where they had the race in September and early October. But in a good sign for the Democrat, a new Fox News poll shows her expanding her lead from five points to seven during the last couple of weeks.
Given lingering Democratic concerns about Sherrill, it’s worth noting that she overperformed expectations in the June primary, when she comfortably dispatched five viable rivals. And she may currently suffer in media perceptions by being compared unfavorably to New York phenomenon Zohran Mamdani, a problem that probably won’t carry over to actual voters. As New Jersey native Matthew Cooper observed, she’s still favored unless some late developments cut the other way:
The best thing Sherrill has going for her is that no one inside the campaign thought this would be easy, and now they’ve had enough scares that they’re not taking anything for granted. The wind may finally be at Sherrill’s back, but as a helicopter pilot, she knows it can shift.
When will we know the results? It depends. It’s worth noting that New Jersey is one of 22 states that allow mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they are received by election officials within a set period of time (six days, in this case). This is a practice that Trump has loudly denounced as inherently fraudulent; so if the race is very close when Election Day ballots have been counted, you can expect some “stolen election” noise from the White House since mail ballots will definitely skew Democratic. It’s another reason Democrats everywhere are praying that Sherrill, as Cooper puts it, manages to stick the “landing.”
This piece has been updated.
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Ed Kilgore
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Creation of the new veterans affairs department comes after state officials paid millions to settle lawsuits over hundreds of pandemic deaths in state-run veterans homes. (Photo by Edwin J. Torres/Governor’s Office)
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law Thursday that establishes a new cabinet-level New Jersey Department of Veterans Affairs, separating housing, health care, and other benefits for veterans and their families from an existing state department that also handled military readiness and National Guard operations.
The move comes after state officials paid millions to settle lawsuits over hundreds of pandemic deaths in state-run veterans homes. The deaths prompted both federal and state investigations, which led the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office to order reforms and expanded oversight for care they deemed so abysmal that it violated residents’ constitutional rights.
The law, which is set to take effect in 120 days, reorganizes the existing Department of Military and Veterans Affairs into two entities — the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Military Affairs.
Murphy plans to nominate Vincent Solomeno, now a deputy commissioner in the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and a former superintendent of the National Guard Training Center in Sea Girt, to be commissioner of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Col. Yvonne Mays is adjutant general of New Jersey and commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)
Brigadier General Yvonne L. Mays, the adjutant general of New Jersey and commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, will remain commissioner of the Department of Military Affairs.
Sens. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex County) was a chief sponsor of the law.
“Veterans need to know their voices are being heard and their needs prioritized. This bill reflects that commitment by giving them a dedicated seat at the table and a department that works only for them,” Vitale said in a statement.
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New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver has died, her family announced Tuesday. She was 71.
Oliver, a Democrat, was recently hospitalized for an undisclosed medical emergency. At the time, she was serving as acting governor while Gov. Phil Murphy (D) was out of the country on vacation.
“She was not only a distinguished public servant but also our cherished daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and hero,” her family said in a statement. “May her memory be a source of comfort and strength to all who knew her.”
New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D) has assumed the role of acting governor in Oliver’s place.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A company approved to build New Jersey’s third offshore wind farm says it, too, wants government financial incentives, saying its project and the jobs it would create are “at risk” without the additional help.
Atlantic Shores issued a statement Friday, shortly after New Jersey lawmakers approved a tax break for Danish wind developer Orsted, which has approval to build two wind farms off the state’s coast.
Elaborating on Monday, the Atlantic City-based Atlantic Shores said it has contacted the offices of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, and leaders of the state Senate and Assembly, saying it seeks a “solution that stabilizes all awarded projects.”
The CEO of United Airlines is apologizing for jumping on a private plane this week while thousands of his airline’s customers were stranded because their flights got canceled.
A bill to extend internet gambling in New Jersey for another five years is in the hands of Gov. Phil Murphy following its approval by the state Legislature.
A bill to let Danish offshore wind energy developer Orsted keep tax credits that it otherwise would have to return to New Jersey ratepayers was approved by the slimmest of margins in the state Legislature Friday afternoon.
It remains to be seen how the request will be received by lawmakers. The tax bill passed by a single vote Friday.
Atlantic Shores did not say precisely what sort of assistance it wants, and refused to publicly clarify its request, or discuss the likelihood of being able to complete the project with its current financing.
The tax break approved by lawmakers on Friday only applies to Ocean Wind I, the first of Orsted’s two New Jersey projects. It also does not apply to Atlantic Shores.
“To establish a durable, thriving, full-scale offshore wind industry in New Jersey, we need an industry-wide solution, one that stabilizes all current projects including Atlantic Shores Project 1, the largest offshore wind project in the state of New Jersey and third largest project awarded in the United States,” the company said in its Friday statement.
The company did not explicitly say it cannot build and operate its project without further financial aid. But it did hint that outcome is possible without “immediate action.”
“Tens of thousands of real, well-paid and unionized jobs are at risk,” it said. “Hundreds of millions in infrastructure investments will be forgone without a path forward.”
Atlantic Shores is a joint partnership between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF-RE Offshore Development, LLC.
The company said that while the bill approved Friday — which awaits action by the governor — will help its manufacturing partner EEW American Offshore Structures build the large monopiles that will support Atlantic Shores’ wind turbines, “we need immediate action that also supports the Atlantic Shores Project 1 to keep these commitments within reach.”
The governor’s office declined to comment, and state Senate and Assembly political leadership did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
Lawmakers said the Orsted bill was necessary to help offshore wind projects deal with what they called lingering effects of inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The vote went largely along party lines, with Democrats, who hold the governorship and control both houses of the Legislature, supporting it as necessary to ensure that a source of green energy gets built. Republicans panned it as a wasteful gift to companies whose projects are not economically viable without further costs to ratepayers.
Atlantic Shores said it is competing against “other states and major economies” all vying to build offshore wind projects.
New Jersey energy regulators approved Atlantic Shores’ 1,510 megawatt project in 2021. It would generate enough electricity to power 637,000 homes.
Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
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CNN
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A man in Virginia has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Eunice Dwumfour, a 30-year-old councilwoman who was found shot to death in her car in Sayreville, New Jersey, in February, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office announced Tuesday.
Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun and second-degree possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone told a news conference.
Ciccone said Bynum was arrested outside Chesapeake City, Virginia, Tuesday morning and that authorities previously tracked Bynum’s cell phone from near the scene of the shooting and back to Virginia.
On the day of the February 1 murder, Bynum had searched the internet for details related to Dwumfour’s church, Ciccone said.
“A search of the victim’s phone revealed Bynum as a contact in Eunice Dwumfour’s phone with the acronym FCF,” the prosecutor said. “FCF is believed to be an acronym for the Fire Congress Fellowship, a church the victim was previously affiliated with, which is also associated with the Champion Royal Assembly, the victim’s church at the time of her death.”
Dwumfour, a Republican, was found by police with multiple gunshot wounds just after 7 p.m. on February 1 and was pronounced dead on scene, according to Middlesex County officials.
She was inside her car near her home when she was shot, according to CNN affiliate WABC. The vehicle then took off down the road and crashed into other parked vehicles, the affiliate reported.
Bynum is awaiting extradition from Virginia to New Jersey to face the charges, according to Ciccone. No timetable for the proceeding was provided.
CNN has been unable to determine if Bynam has an attorney.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin spoke directly to the Dwumfour family at the news conference, telling them it was the beginning of the healing process and a sense of justice.
“There are no words that can be said to you that can make you whole,” Platkin said Tuesday.
At the time of the murder, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called it “a shocking, awful event.”
“I’ve asked a whole bunch of electeds and folks in the know who have been around for a long time, can they ever remember a sitting elected official in the state being shot and killed, and no one can remember, I mean, this is a shocking, awful event,” Murphy said on the “Ask Governor Murphy” radio show on February 2.
“God bless this woman,” Murphy said at the time.
Within a week of Dwumfour’s murder, another New Jersey councilperson was murdered
The council member was found shot to death in a car, though that case was determined to be a murder-suicide, a spokesman for Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office told CNN.
Milford Borough Councilman Russell Heller, 51, was in the parking lot of a PSE&G energy company facility in Somerset County when a former employee approached his car and shot him, the prosecutor’s office said previously.
Police identified Heller’s shooter as former PSE&G employee Gary T. Curtis, 58, the Somerset County prosecutor’s office said.
Hours after the killing, police found Curtis in a nearby town. They found Curtis with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the prosecutor’s office said. Curtis was declared dead at the scene.
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Thousands of instructors at Rutgers University joined a national surge in union activity on Monday, becoming the fifth currently active strike on a college campus.
Three unions representing roughly 9,000 educators, researchers, and clinicians announced the strike on Sunday after nearly a year of contract negotiations. The strike will disrupt classes for Rutgers’ nearly 70,000 students across three campuses.
Union leadership is asking its members to join the picket line and refuse to conduct teaching, research, and other business at Rutgers, according to the largest of the three unions on strike. Strikers are still permitted to complete certain responsibilities, like writing letters of recommendation for students.
“By exercising our right to withhold our labor, we will prove to the administration that WE are the university,” the union, Rutgers American Association of University Professionals-American Federation of Teachers, wrote in a letter to its members.
The standoff has put a harsh spotlight on Jonathan Holloway, the Rutgers president. Holloway drew pushback for initially suggesting that his administration would seek a court order to stop the strike and force a “return to normal activities.”
The Rutgers administration walked back that threat on Monday after a meeting with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, according to Rutgers spokesperson Dory Devlin.
Murphy “asked us to delay taking legal action asking the courts to order strikers back to work so that no further irreparable harm is caused to our students and to their continued academic progress,” Devlin wrote in an email. “We agreed to his request to refrain from seeking an injunction while it appears that progress can be made.”
A labor expert said turning to the courts amid a strike might make the situation worse. “One thing that injunctions can cause is it can actually exacerbate the conflict as opposed to hoping to resolve the conflict,” said William A. Herbert, executive director of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College in the City University of New York.
Holloway is a scholar of African American studies and history. An open letter from over 40 prominent historians of labor and African American history — including Ibram X. Kendi, a professor at Boston University and the founder of the Center for Antiracist Research — had called on Holloway to rescind his threat of an injunction. The letter also voiced support for the striking workers.
“We know that as an expert in African American history, you have thought deeply about how struggles for racial justice have consistently been aligned with the demands for jobs, labor rights, and democracy in the workplace,” the letter stated.
Holloway expressed his frustration with the strike in a letter to the campus community on Sunday. “To say that this is deeply disappointing would be an understatement, especially given that just two days ago, both sides agreed in good faith to the appointment of a mediator to help us reach agreements,” Holloway wrote.
Rutgers is facing financial woes, and Holloway said in February that the university would have to remedy a $125-million shortfall over the next three years.
In a message to students and faculty about the strike, Rutgers wrote that it was “committed to ensuring that our more than 67,000 students are unaffected by the strike and may continue their academic progress.” Rutgers plans to continue classes and distribute grades and expects employees to report to work. The issue is a pressing one as the end of the semester looms, with finals and grades coming soon.
Rutgers officials wrote that employees who engage in the strike “are subject to a loss of pay and/or benefits, and other sanctions as they may apply or as the court deems appropriate.”
There is no state law that prohibits public-sector workers from striking in New Jersey, Herbert said, adding that Holloway’s argument relied on common law, or legal precedent from the courts, which have intervened in strikes from public workers in the past.
“Although there is no state statute that bars strikes, in some instances, courts in New Jersey have issued injunctions against walkouts by public employees,” the Rutgers AAUP-AFT wrote on its website. “An injunction may require public employees to end a strike and return to work. The University administration would have to petition a court for an injunction.”
The strike comes after 94 percent of members of two of the unions — representing primarily full- and part-time faculty and graduate workers — voted to authorize a strike in March.
We’ve been bargaining for 10, 11 months — got virtually no response to any of our proposals, and when we did, they were paltry. They were insulting.
The unions’ bargaining demands include increased pay to keep up with inflation for graduate workers, better job security for part-time lecturers, and more affordable housing for university community members.
Rutgers officials have offered salary increases for faculty, postdocs, and graduate employees, but union leaders say the raises aren’t good enough.
The university’s proposal would provide across-the-board 12-percent pay increases for full-time faculty by July 1, 2025; 3 percent in lump-sum payments to all the faculty unions to be paid out over the first two years of the new contract; a 20-percent increase in the per-credit salary rate for part-time lecturers over the four years of the contract; a 20-percent increase in the minimum salary for postdocs in four years; and higher wages for graduate assistants and teaching assistants.
“The offers that they’re presenting still aren’t enough to guarantee a living wage for the people who are most essential, one could argue, to the successful operation of the university,” said Manu Chander, an associate professor of English at Rutgers’ Newark campus and the president of the Newark chapter of Rutgers AAUP-AFT.
Chander said he’s on strike to improve conditions for adjunct faculty and graduate employees, whom he described as the most vulnerable workers.
Kyle Riismandel, an associate professor of history and American studies at Rutgers and the vice president of the Newark chapter of Rutgers AAUP-AFT, said the picket line drew a large crowd on Monday.
“We’ve been bargaining for 10, 11 months — got virtually no response to any of our proposals, and when we did, they were paltry,” Riismandel said. “They were insulting.”
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Julian Roberts-Grmela
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TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey lawmakers gave final approval Monday to legislation overhauling rules to get a firearm carry permit after this summer’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanded gun rights.
The Democrat-led Senate passed the measure in what is scheduled to be the last voting session of the year, sending the legislation to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. He has said he planned to sign it into law.
Republicans opposed the measure, raising questions about its constitutionality and gun rights advocates predicted it wouldn’t pass constitutional muster.
“The 2nd Amendment cannot be ignored because New Jersey’s majority party does not like it,” GOP state Sen. Ed Durr said during a debate on the chamber’s floor. No Democrats spoke in favor of the measure on Monday, but earlier they said they believed the measure is constitutional.
The legislation scraps New Jersey’s current requirement that those seeking a permit to carry a firearm show “justifiable need” and be of “good character” to reflect the Supreme Court’s June ruling.
Other changes in the legislation include disqualifications for those who’ve been confined over their mental health, people who have had restraining orders as any “fugitive from justice.”
The measure calls for the end of a paper permitting system that used quadruplicate documents to register applicants. It also would establish a yet-to-be created online gun sales portal.
It increases from three to four the number of endorsements from non-family members in order to get a permit. They would also have to be interviewed by law enforcement officials as well.
The measure also boosts training requirements, calling for online, in-person classroom and target shooting instruction. And it would require permit carriers to carry liability insurance.
It bars people from carrying in many public places, including state buildings, schools, polling places, child-care facilities, publicly owned parks and beaches, as wells concert venues and bars.
New Jersey requires permits to both purchase as well as carry firearms. Purchase permits for handguns would go from $2 to $25 under the measure. For other firearms, the rate goes from $5 to $50. The measure calls for a $200 fee for a carrier’s permits. Current applications list a $50 fee. The increased fee would permit local governments to keep $150 for the cost of processing, with the remainder slated for the state’s office of crime victim’s compensation.
Scott Bach, the head of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, predicted Monday the bill would “go down in flames” and amounted to a “big middle finger” to the Supreme Court.
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Former President Barack Obama announced plans Saturday for three midterm campaign stops this month, bringing star power Democrats hope will boost their candidates’ chances in a series of extremely tight races.
Former President Barack Obama speaks during a rally for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) on October … [+]
The first event will be in Atlanta on October 28, followed by rallies in Detroit and Milwaukee the following day.
Campaign appearances are rare for Obama, at least compared to former President Donald Trump’s regular rallies, and CNN reported this week Obama has turned down numerous requests to show up for in-person events.
His three stops are in states with some of the tightest midterm races, such as the Sen. Raphael Warnock (D)-Herschel Walker (R) Senate contest in Georgia and governor elections in Michigan and Wisconsin where polls show Democratic incumbents neck and neck with Trump-backed challengers.
Obama was similarly a rare sight during the 2020 campaign, not appearing at an event for then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden until October 21. His most recent rally appearances were a year ago for Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey, but both races brought disappointing outcomes for Democrats—Virginia Democratic nominee and former governor Terry McAuliffe lost in an upset to Glenn Youngkin (R), and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) performed well below expectations, narrowly beating Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli. But many Democrats believe Obama remains the party’s best asset, despite concerns he is still a polarizing figure that can rile up Republican opposition. Obama left office in 2017 with an approval rating of about 51%, according to FiveThirtyEight, far higher than the 42.3% approval mark Biden now holds.
“We have to show up this election for the Governors, Secretaries of State and the candidates down the ballot who are going to protect voting rights and our electoral process,” Obama tweeted Saturday.
Democrats won’t get as much Obama as they want in the midterms. But he has some other plans. (CNN)
Obama hits campaign trail ahead of gubernatorial elections in Virginia, New Jersey (ABC News)
Trump Plans Penn. Rally For Struggling Oz And Rest Of His ‘Ticket’ (Forbes)
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Nicholas Reimann, Forbes Staff
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