Rutgers Faculty Unions Endorse Mikie Sherrill For NJ Governor

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The Rutgers adjunct faculty union, and the Rutgers AAUP-AFT (the full-time professors' union), are endorsing Democratic Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill for New Jersey governor.

Combined, the two unions represent more than 9,000 professors, graduate workers, postdocs and counselors employed by Rutgers University.

The executive council of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT — the union of graduate students, full-time faculty, librarians and postdocs — voted to endorse Sherrill on October 7. A week later, the Rutgers Adjunct Union, which represents all adjunct faculty at Rutgers, similarly voted to endorse Sherrill.

The unions said they chose Sherrill over Republican rival Jack Ciattarelli because of her "shared commitment to defending academic freedom and supporting investment in New Jersey’s public higher-education institutions."

"We have had productive conversations with Representative Sherrill on the issues that matter to our members," said Rebecca Givan, president of Rutgers AAUP-AFT. “I am confident that with Sherrill in office, we will be able to defend against Trump’s attacks on research, science and academic freedom.”

“We trust that Mikie Sherrill will be a powerful voice for higher education and labor issues in the state of New Jersey,” said Heather Pierce, president of the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union. “She has also pledged her support on other key issues, such as defending the rights of all residents, regardless of citizenship status, and protecting reproductive rights and the rights of LGBTQ+ people. Jack has made it clear, on the other hand, that he will faithfully carry out the MAGA agenda if elected.”

The Nov. 4 New Jersey governor's election is increasingly shaping up to be a nail-biter of a race: President Donald Trump has endorsed Ciattarelli and former President Barack Obama is now campaigning for Sherrill. Obama just announced this week he will hold a campaign rally Nov. 1 in Newark for Sherrill.

Trump posted on Truth Social Monday evening: "Jack Ciattarelli is a winner for New Jersey."

Early in-person voting starts this Saturday, Oct. 25.

"Democrats and Republicans know nationwide, this is a do-or-die race for them," Ashley Koning of the Rutgers Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling told ABC 7 Tuesday. "We also have President Trump looming over this entire election as a huge political figure. It's not surprising that now we see who is probably still the most popular democratic figurehead at the national level, Barack Obama, now wading into this race as well ... There's a lot of really important issues facing New Jersey. Probably the biggest one is affordability."