National Organization for Women of New Jersey’s political action committee (NOW NJ PAC) is endorsing thirty-five candidates for election to the New Jersey General Assembly in the upcoming November election.

“NOW NJ is committed to electing pro-choice candidates at all levels of our government who will work to defend the right to abortion and increase access to all reproductive health services,” said Anjali Mehrotra, Chair of the NOW NJ PAC. “We cannot afford to lose the protections that our members have fought so hard to attain in the last fifty years – we refuse to go back! In these times when women’s rights to bodily autonomy are under constant attack at the federal level, we will work with our legislators to safeguard and advance these rights at the state level.”

Linda Weber, Legislative VP of NOW-NJ, said “The fight for equality has come a long way, but we still have so far to go. We look forward to continuing to work with committed legislators and candidates, particularly on legislation that furthers economic justice, such as the millionaire’s tax here in NJ.”

Vishwa Bhatt, a high school student from Monroe Township who interned with NOW NJ PAC this summer reiterated the importance of securing women’s rights through legislation. “If girls are going to be told that they can be whatever they want to be, then we must provide for them a society where they can achieve their full potential. We need legislators who understand that the empowerment of women is the only way to guarantee the equality we are all promised.”

For the November 2019 Legislative election, NOW NJ PAC has endorsed:

LD          Candidate(s)

4             Gabriela Mosquera* (D)

6             Pamela R. Lampitt* (D) and Louis D. Greenwald* (D)

7             Kathleen Cooley (I) and Carol Murphy* (D)

9             Wayne Lewis (D)

10           Eileen Della Volle (D) and Erin Wheeler (D)

11           Joann Downey* (D)

12           Malini Guha (D)

15           Verlina Reynolds-Jackson* (D)

16           Roy Freiman* (D) and Andrew Zwicker* (D)

18           Nancy Pinkin* (D)

20           Annette Quijano* (D)

21           Stacey Gunderman (D) and Lisa Mandelblatt (D)

22           Linda Carter* (D)

23           Marissa Trofimov (D)

24           Deana Lykins (D)

25           Lisa Bhimani (D) and Darcy Draeger (D)

26           Christine Clarke (D) and Laura Fortgang (D)

27           Mila Jasey* (D) and John McKeon* (D)

31           Nicholas Chiaravalloti* (D) and Angela McKnight* (D)

32           Angelica Jimenez* (D)

33           Raj Mukherji* (D)

34           Thomas Giblin* (D)

35           Shavonda Sumter* (D) and Benjie Wimberly* (D)

36           Clinton Calabrese* (D)

37           Valerie Vainieri Huttle* (D)

38            Lisa Swain* (D)

* – Incumbent

The NOW NJ PAC consists of representatives from all our chapters throughout the state along with members of the NOW NJ state board. All candidates were invited to submit applications to the PAC. The candidates were asked to pledge their commitment to push a legislative agenda in support of NOW’s six core values and provide a brief summary of their past work to advance the same. NOW’s core missions are as follows –  achieving constitutional equality, ending violence against women, supporting LBGTQ+ rights and fighting for reproductive rights and justice, economic justice and racial justice. Incumbents were recommended for endorsement on the basis of their strong voting record on bills and resolutions supporting our feminist agenda, that were passed since the last election and their application whereas challengers were recommended on the strength of their submission. In the absence of both for a candidate, no endorsements were made.

For more information about NOW New Jersey, please visit www.nownj.org.

About National Organization for Women of New Jersey (NOW-NJ)
The purpose of NOW-NJ is to take action through intersectional grassroots activism to promote feminist ideals, lead societal change, eliminate discrimination, and achieve and protect the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political, and economic life.