An influential New Jersey labor union backed the Republican nominee in the state’s closely watched governor‘s election later this year.
The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 endorsed Jack Ciattarelli for governor on Thursday, four years after backing Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) for reelection. The union also endorsed Murphy when he first ran for governor in 2017.
Ciattarelli, who is battling Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), will now have the assistance of the 8,000-member union in his quest to flip the governor’s mansion.
Greg Lalevee, the union’s business manager, told the Washington Examiner that the endorsement “has to do with the problems that are facing New Jersey and the solutions offered to fix them. The biggest one really being in the energy space.”
Lalevee pointed to New Jersey’s transformation from a net exporter of electricity under Murphy in 2018 to a net importer “to the tune of 3.4 gigawatts.”
“The Murphy administration either did not permit or sued or, in other ways, administratively killed $38 billion worth of energy projects,” he said. “Be those gas generators, natural gas pipelines, compressor stations, etc. You know, therein lies an economic problem, as you know, every state wants to attract data centers.”
In contrast, Ciattarelli has endorsed projects that utilize natural gas, while Sherrill has advocated solar projects as a solution to the state’s energy challenges.
“Our view is that’s not a real solution, where Mr. Ciattarelli is looking at real, real solutions that impact the bottom line of the state economy,” Lalevee said.
“It’s not going to be able to dig us out of the current issues that we have,” he said of solar energy. “If you can put it up and it can add to the grid, that’s fine. Our members are happy to build solar fields, but we live in a very congested state.”
According to the union leader, Sherrill called him the day after the New Jersey primary and left a message asking to speak with him.
“I returned that call the same day and left her a message that I was returning the call, and it’s been silent since,” Lalevee said. “I’m willing to listen all the time. You know, we’re an organization that supports both Democrats and Republicans.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Sherrill campaign for comment.
The union endorsement is another blow for Democrats, who are struggling with rank-and-file union members along with blue-collar voters after the 2024 election.
Chris Russell, a Republican strategist working on Ciattarelli’s campaign, called the union support “a great endorsement for us” in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
“They understand that Jack is the right candidate for a state that is facing an energy crisis, an affordability crisis, and a common sense crisis,” Russell said.
The Ciattarelli campaign narrowly lost the election to Murphy in 2021 by roughly 3 percentage points, 51.2%-48%. This time around, Ciattarelli’s campaign hopes that the Democratic opponent will be defeated as the party seeks to regain ground under President Donald Trump’s second term.
Lalevee pointed to Trump’s efforts to build natural gas pipelines in the region that will create jobs for the union and Ciattarelli’s support of the efforts as another reason the group endorsed the GOP candidate.
Ciattarelli’s campaign is betting that the 2025 campaign will boost him to the governor’s mansion, in a race that is seen as a political bellwether. Internal polling shows Ciattarelli within a few points of Sherrill, while a poll commissioned by a left-leaning group showed Sherrill comfortably ahead by 13 points.
“I know we can pull it off,” Russell said. “He is going to outwork Mikie Sherrill without a doubt. He has a plan to fix the state. He’s in command of the issues.”
FORMER GOP NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR ENDORSES DEMOCRAT MIKIE SHERRILL IN GUBERNATORIAL RACE
“And again, I think this endorsement says we’re right on the issues,” he added. “And to win an endorsement like this says that we are the candidate who best represents the middle of the electorate.”
The New Jersey Globe first reported the endorsement.
