In case you missed it, when U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) declared her candidacy for New Jersey Governor last November, four members of the Maplewood Township Committee — and one member-elect — immediately endorsed her.
Maplewood Mayor Nancy Adams — along with then-Deputy Mayor Jamaine Cripe, TC members Vic De Luca and Dean Dafis, and TC member-elect Malia Herman, who is now Deputy Mayor — announced their endorsement of Sherrill in a Facebook post by De Luca (see below). The Maplewood Dems joined over 100 county and local elected officials in New Jersey’s 11th district in endorsing Sherrill — including Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr., County Clerk Christopher Durkin, Sheriff Amir Jones, and eight of the nine county commissioners.
Sherrill is one of six candidates running for the Democratic nomination in the June 10 primary (early voting June 3-8): The others are Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, former Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller, and former NJ State Senator Steve Sweeney. Follow Village Green election coverage here.
In November, Adams provided the following statement to Village Green: “Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill has been incredibly responsive and helpful to us here in Maplewood including helping us get a $950,000+ grant for a stormwater management project on Kendall Avenue just this past year. She knows our communities very well, living in Montclair and Essex County, she understands our needs and our issues. Her public service began long before she ran for office with her service in the military, and her education in law makes her well suited for the seat she holds now; and her experience in Congress and in working with the New Jersey communities in her district makes her very well qualified to serve as governor. She has shown herself to be a dedicated friend to Maplewood and South Orange, I strongly support her in this race.”
Recently, De Luca sent his endorsement, writing, “I believe Mikie Sherrill is the best Democrat to beat the MAGA Republican Jack Ciattarelli in November. Sherrill turned a long time red Congressional District to blue by bringing people together, bridging divides and solving problems. Most importantly she did that by building an electoral coalition that wins elections. For our town, Sherrill has been a proactive representative, regularly reaching out to us at the local level to get our input on issues. And she has delivered, working in Washington to get Maplewood almost $1 million in stormwater infrastructure grants.”
De Luca continued: “In my opinion she has the skills and commitment New Jersey needs in our Governor. And she is a winning candidate. That’s very important given the state’s electoral history for governor. In the last 8 gubernatorial elections the Republican has won 4 times and the Democrat won 4 times. With Trump in the White House, we can’t let a Republican, with Trump’s full support, get into the statehouse. I think Mikie Sherrill is the candidate who can stop that from happening. And I believe she will enact policies and programs to make our state more affordable, equitable and sustainable.”
