HAMILTON - Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo of Mercer County, lawmaker and labor leader, electrician by trade, chair of the utilities committee, IBEW president/assistant business manager, and Building Trades movement diehard, wants the next governor to work with him and labor to prioritize a robust trades vocational program for the next generation of New Jersey workers.

He also wants the next governor to not just support project labor agreements (PLAs) but to be the state's strongest public bulwark against corporations that would try to locate here without employing Building Trades labor.

New Jersey has considerable problems, including energy deficits produced in part by a wind initiative that went bust because of politics, a federal budget that disincentivizes solar and renewable energy, and the expansion of population and artificial intelligence putting tremendous demands on the grid.

But none of those problems can be fixed without the simultaneous support for labor coming out of Drumthwacket, DeAngelo maintains - and the future of labor in the form of public incentivizing real trades opportunities for New Jersey youth.

Earlier this month, the Building Trades Council staged their annual conference in Atlantic City, where they declined - for now - to back a candidate for governor, as they continue to process the last place finish of Steve Sweeney, who had their support in the Democratic Primary. A few of the 15 trades under the auspices of the organization have gone their own way. The Laborers, for example, back Democrat Mikie Sherrill, while the Operating Engineers support Republican Jack Ciattarelli.

Democrat DeAngelo, for his part, is aware of the erosion of support by rank-and-file labor workers for the Democratic Party, even though President Joe Biden prioritized projects like the Gateway Tunnel, which former Republican Governor Chris Christie killed.

Biden was a good president for labor, the assemblyman acknowledges, and specifically to the trades.

"But as a blue-collar person and as a person who goes door to door and talks to people, I recognize that a lot of people - most, in fact, are exhausted and they don't know the name of their local councilman or county or state lawmakers or what they do. They don't know what the president is doing, in many cases. Unfortunately, within that environment, Biden, during the second half of his presidency, was not the same guy."

People saw that, at the very least.

"There comes a time," DeAngelo added, "when you have to pass the torch. You don't want your grandfather or great grandfather standing in the doorframe protecting the family. You need the guy in his prime who's going to punch you in the mouth if you threaten people with power, see? You need the guy, when confronted with a problem, who's going to fix it. That's the leader you want. You want the leader who says, 'Wake up.'"

Without that guy, Building Trades leaders had a tough time making the substantive case to the workers, he noted.

Now, as the Trades regroup and figure out a statewide strategy in the aftermath of Biden and Sweeney failing to galvanize voters, and as Governor Phil Murphy exists after eight years, DeAngelo needs a strong advocate in the executive branch.

He needs someone ready to go to work with him for workers.

"We have enough laws," said the assemblyman. "We need the laws enforced. I want to hear the next governor say, 'I believe in PLAs on all state-contracted projects. When developers come into our state, I need the governor to demand they use local labor. I want building trades to have a seat at the table. I need an advocate who tells big business, 'This is how it is. If you don't like it, leave. You're not going to build on the backs of the workers here. I need someone who can work through the problems, who can sit down with us, together, someone who's not going to let the casino industry or high-rise complexes or warehouses build here without employing us. I want the governor, with no excuses, to recognize that we have enough laws. I want them enforced."

And he wants the governor to work with him to get young people - too often mired in the vacuousness of their phones - into hardhats and into the vitality and productiveness of real world jobs.

"I want real investment in vocational programs," said the assemblyman, an electrician out of Steinert High School in Hamilton. "We need to take these kids to a construction site - busloads of kids, so they can see an active construction site, breathe the dust, see the heaviness of real objects, how to bend a piece of pipe, or cut a piece of wood, and feel what it does to your arms when you cut a two by four in half. They need a lesson in labor."

Not just the young people, but the politicians.

Not just the politicians, but the next governor.

Murphy was good to the Trades, said DeAngelo, but the assemblyman abstained on the last budget because Democrats invested too much power in the executive at the expense of collective bargaining, the core principle at the heart of labor.

"Democrats and Republicans and independents need to sit down with labor, knowing the frustration level with all labor is real, and the more we see that, the more we will see the opportunity to fix it," DeAngelo said.

Whoever the next governor is needs to talk to presidents and vice presidents and the county leaders representing all 15 trades - the heads, for example, of the painters, the roofers, the carpenters, engineers, electricians, steelworkers, ironworkers, know the names and the priorities and the problems. The next governor needs to express, in the strongest possible terms, the conviction of securing investment companies here only if those companies commit to project labor agreements.

He also wants the next governor to understand the politics of labor and the resources of labor in campaigns, from the messaging to the mobilizing of street resources.

"Those who care about working people sit down and talk about labor involved with the infrastructure of the party," DeAngelo said. "We've seen the decline in the legislature of representatives, cut in half, really, in the time I've been there, as the party prioritizes social issues instead of working class issues.

"That," DeAngelo added, "needs to change."