MONTCLAIR - Americans today stood up against Donald Trump and his narrow, autocratic, alligator

alley-sized vision of an immense and proudly diverse country, founded as a Constitutional republic on the first amendment right of free speech - and with them at the head of an overflow rally in her hometown stood Mikie Sherrill, Democratic candidate for governor.

"New Jersey is not a red state," she told the crowd. "It is not a purple state.

"It is a blue state," she reminded people, her voice engulfed by the ensuing roar.

The candidate for governor referred to her service to the country as a nearly-decade long U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, as a strong counterpoint to TV personality turned politician Trump.

"This president is running a worldwide extortion racket and putting billions of dollars in his pocket," Sherrill said. "Not here. Not in New Jersey."

"I hear from people again and again: you've got to drive my costs down, that's why I'm going to declare a state of emergency on utility costs on day one of my administration. People tell me it's too expensive to afford rental prices. I am going after people colluding to raise rental prices. I'm going to take on those middlemen. People are telling me I can't pay for my prescription drugs and my family's groceries."

She'll take on the drug companies, Sherrill vowed.

"We are going to drive down costs in New Jersey for families," said the Congresswoman.

For the (FULL!) speech, see below:

The Democratic nominee for governor, Sherrill is running against Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who has the support of President Donald Trump, which to a lot of the people here today, makes it terribly difficult for the Republican to win a state with 850,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans.

"What they don't need is anyone who's going to bend a knee and bow down to a king," Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin told InsiderNJ. "You've got a guy running for governor who just gave Donald Trump an 'A' rating."

Earlier this week, the President said he had stuck a fork in the Gateway Tunnel, a massive, $20 billion public improvement project aimed to ease access to the region's core.

More than a few people acted like Trump had stuck a fork in Ciattarelli's campaign.

"Donald Trump is taking 100,000 hobs away from New Jerseyans," said Martin. "You've got a president and his enabler-in-chief, Jack Ciattarelli, who are doing nothing to make people's lives more affordable."

A statement yesterday by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson about the ensuing No Kings Rallies brought a lot of people out of their lawn chairs in this gently sloping and gracefully landscaped suburban park. "We refer to it by its more accurate description," said Johnson "- 'The Hate America Rally.' I'm not sure how anybody can refute that."

Johnson's words irked people, precisely because dissent stands at the core of the country.

NJ Democratic State Committee Chairman LeRoy Jones addressed the remark as he made his way into the rally.

"We're here to let America know that there are no kings in what we call a democracy," Jones told InsiderNJ.

What overreach by the President and his administration precisely motivates people?

Amol Sinha, executive director of the NJ chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, addressed the question:

"This is not about partisanship," Sinha told InsiderNJ. "On day one of this administration, within two hours of his executive order ending birthright citizenship, we filed our first matter against the Trump Administration, suing that it could not undermine the 14th Amendment in this way."

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Others present at the rally included U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ), who received enthusiastic support

here, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, U.S. Rep. Nellie Pou (D-9), Senator John McKeon (D-27), Senator Britnee Timberlake (D-34), Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos Gill, Assemblywoman Rosy Bagolie (D-27), Assemblyman Al Abdelaziz (D-35), Essex County Commissioner (and Montclair Democratic Chairman) Brendan Gill, Essex County Sherrif Amir Jones, Essex County Clerk Chris Durkin, East Orange Mayor Ted Green, Paterson Councilwoman Maritza Davila, East Orange Councilman Casim L. Gomez, and Steve Beatty, President of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA).

"This country is about the people," said Kim. "It is not about one person who thinks he can take it over."

Local Party Chairman Gill - the emcee of today's festivities - discussed his organization's support for the rally and for the candidacy of Mikie Sherrill.

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East Orange Mayor Green and Assemblyman Abdelaziz:

Offering a local perspective, with global implications, East Orange Councilman Casim L. Gomez graciously offered impromptu thoughts: