Moving forward
Building a stronger and fairer New Jersey
Back in 2016, I could see that New Jersey was on the wrong path: there seemed to be a disconnect between the realities in our communities and policy initiatives. That’s why I decided to run for Governor — to make sure our state worked for everyone, not just the wealthy and well-connected. We’ve accomplished so much to make New Jersey stronger and fairer over these past three-plus years. But there’s still more work to do to move our state forward.
I thank my parents for instilling in me the value of public service and the importance of giving back to my community. Our dinner table conversations revolved around the politics of the time: the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Vietnam War, George Meany and the AFL-CIO, to name a few. I learned a lot from sitting at that kitchen table (and was witness to a few impassioned debates between my dad and my sisters), but the one lesson I learned is how politics can change people’s lives for the better.
From my time serving on the boards of notable national organizations, like the NAACP and the Local Initiatives Support Coalition, as well as local organizations, like 180 Turning Lives Around, I learned about the issues that are top of mind for most New Jerseyans. Keeping a roof over their loved ones’ heads, accessing affordable health care, earning a living wage, having equal protection under the law — these are the struggles facing people every day. My wife Tammy and I founded New Start New Jersey in 2014, and we saw firsthand how New Jerseyans were fighting day in and day out just to get by. It was clear: New Jersey was broken. I wanted to stop kicking the can down the road and help make New Jersey work for everyone again — so I ran for Governor.
We’ve done so much over the last three-plus years from raising wages, ensuring equal pay for equal work, making our economy sustainable for the future, and battling to protect and sustain all in times of COVID. When I spoke with some of the courageous health care workers who have been leading the fight against COVID-19 recently, I met a woman named Pricalla from Union County. She talked about how she needed to care for her five-year-old daughter after schools moved to online learning, on top of working shifts at the hospital to help fellow New Jerseyans beat the virus. Pricalla thanked me for making sure health care workers had the supplies and PPE they needed to protect their loved ones when they go home, but really, I cannot thank her enough for putting her life on the line to help our friends and neighbors.
We never could have foreseen the challenges we would face with the COVID-19 pandemic. We lost over 26,000 of our neighbors, and all New Jerseyans felt the effects of the pandemic in some way. But one thing I know about New Jersey is that we’re tough. No other state has our grit and our fight. Businesses are open, and our economy is getting back on track. Our future has never been brighter. But the journey is not yet finished. It’s for people like Pricalla from Union County that I’m running for reelection, because there’s still work to be done.
The choice in November is clear. We can either keep New Jersey moving forward or go backward. It’s a choice between standing for higher wages or going back to an economy that only worked for the wealthy and well-connected. It’s a choice between defending reproductive rights under threat from the U.S. Supreme Court or putting political ideology over health care. It’s a choice between making education better and more affordable, from pre-K to college, or returning to a place that only works for the few and not for all.
We’ve done exactly what we said we would do from day one: fight to make New Jersey stronger and fairer for everyone. Now, it’s about how we move forward and keep building on that progress. I hope you’ll join our team — we need each and every one of you to get involved and help us win in November.
Onward,
