NORTH BRUNSWICK – Today, JNESO District Council 1 formally announced their endorsement of Governor Phil Murphy for re-election during a virtual membership meeting. JNESO – a healthcare labor union representing more than 5,000 nurses and other healthcare workers – emphasized the Governor’s leadership throughout the pandemic as a driving reason for the endorsement.

“Today we’ve come together to announce our endorsement for Governor Murphy’s re-election,” said Elfrieda Johnson, JNESO Board President. “It’s a little more than fifteen months since New Jersey reported its first case of COVID-19, and in that time our members have faced life and death circumstances as we collectively navigated a once in a lifetime public health crisis. It is because of Governor’s Murphy committed leadership that we had the resources, information, and support to fight on the front lines of this.”

JNESO represents nurses and other healthcare workers throughout the state of New Jersey who provided direct patient care throughout the entirety of the pandemic.

“The Governor and his team proactively reached out to JNESO to provide updates throughout each wave of this insidious virus, and took the time to hear directly from us about the obstacles we faced and the tools our members needed to save lives while protecting their own,” said Doug Placa, Executive Director for JNESO. “From securing PPE to ensuring that our members had priority access to the vaccine, Governor Murphy has had our back.”

Placa also drew a contrast with the tone of the Republican nominee’s gubernatorial campaign, highlighting the very serious nature of the issues that their members have faced.

“We’ve seen criticism regarding where the Governor was born and how he eats a slice of pizza and I’ll just say this – our members went to work every single day wondering whether they would fall ill with COVID, or bring it home to their families,” said Placa. “During that time, Governor Murphy stood shoulder to shoulder with us, and helped our members navigate one of the most difficult times in their professional and personal lives. If the Governor’s critics want to talk about pizza that’s fine, but we will unequivocally endorse his proven leadership because it quite literally saved lives.”

Governor Murphy thanked the union for their endorsement and their work on the frontlines of the pandemic.

“Throughout the pandemic, JNESO’s frontline heroes have been working around the clock to keep us all safe and New Jersey moving forward,” said Governor Murphy. “Because of their efforts, we are in a position to emerge from the pandemic stronger and fairer than ever. I am honored to have their support, and look forward to working together to achieve our shared goal of providing the very best care to every New Jerseyan who seeks it.

JNESO represents health care professionals in 19 facilities including hospitals, rehabilitation centers and home care services across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. To learn more about JNESO visit www.JNESO.org.