NEWARK - The two women from Essex County who serve in Congress, one from the suburbs, one from the city, this morning came together in the South Ward, where U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-10) exhorted her constituents to get to the polls and vote for her colleague, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11), the Democratic nominee for Governor.

The Election's Tuesday. Early voting is underway.

"This election is life or death," McIver told InsiderNJ moments after a with Sherrill on board rumbled onto Hansbury Avenue. "You want to know what's on the ballot? You're on the ballot. So get out there and vote for Mikie Sherrill and Dale Caldwell.

"Right now, we have a democracy crisis," the Congresswoman added. "We have a candidate who's running [Republican nominee for Governor Jack Ciattarelli] who says Donald Trump is an A plus for him and doing a great job. No, that's incorrect. People are not getting their SNAP benefits."

The Congresswoman noted the intervention of a judge yesterday, dropping the gavel on the Trump Administration's neglect and ruled that the Administration must tap into" contingency funds to make payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the government shutdown, ruling against the government in a pair of suits over the imminent benefits lapse. Roughly 42 million Americans rely on SNAP to help buy food."

"You have people who can't afford healthcare. This is life or death for communities like mine," added the Congresswoman. "We cannot allow someone who is a mini-Donald Trump coming in here and implementing all of Donald Trump's hateful policies in New Jersey."

Smiling, waving, Sherrill jumped off the bus to meet Councilman (and South Ward Democratic Chairman) Pat Council, Democratic State Party Chairman LeRoy Jones, Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker, West Ward Democratic Chairman (and Assembly candidate) Chigozie Onyema, Councilman Larry Crump, and a crowd of mostly young people affiliated with Team Sherrill, or, as the nominee says, Team Akeem, in honor of Akeem Cunningham.

"I love everybody out today," Sherrill said. "This is the kind of energy we need. This is the kind of fire we need. This is the kind of hard work we need. It all comes down to Essex County. Essex County brings out the vote. Essex County puts us over the line.

"Not just New Jersey," she added. "I'm talking about the future of the nation comes down to whether we - Essex County - gets out the vote. That's how serious this is."

Side by side in the South Ward, in their home county, McIver and Sherrill both get the severity of the situation.

McIver pleaded not guilty in June to the three criminal charges stemming from an incident Delaney Hall in May, when McIver tried to protect Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Armed and masked ICE agents had thrown the mayor in handcuffs as he and a congressional team, including McIver, U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, and U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez sought information about detainees inside the immigration detention facility.

“The legal process will expose this prosecution for what it truly is — political retaliation against a dedicated public servant who refuses to shy away from her oversight responsibilities,” said Paul Fishman, former U.S. Attorney of New Jersey, who represents the congresswoman.

In the words of Amol Sinha, executive director of the NJ-ACLU, speaking in front of the federal building two weeks ago in reference to the motivations by Trump's Justice Department to press charges against McIver: "Vengeance, not governance."

On October 21st, a federal court in Newark heard oral arguments in the ongoing criminal case against the Congresswoman. The court reserved ruling on McIver's motions to dismiss, but instructed the government to take down certain public statements negatively describing Rep. McIver, and to provide additional discovery, such as video footage and government policies.