EWING - An expert in detecting and fighting voter suppression ("They want the cities to sleep," she told InsiderNJ in 2008, in reference to the establishment, as she pounded on doors for Barack Obama), Senator Shirley Turner (D-15) wrote the law to keep law enforcement removed from polling places.

She's watching ICE now, especially in those battleground districts that will decide the 2026 midterm elections. "We have to be prepared for anything untoward as far as voter suppression, because I think this president is going to pull out all the stops to try to prevent people from voting," she said, in a wide-ranging interview with InsiderNJ this afternoon in her office.

A maverick policy wonk first elected to the state senate in 1997, Turner bucked the establishment in 2008 when she backed Obama in the 2008 Democratic Primary. It wasn't the first time she cut against the grain in presidential politics. She also served as a delegate for presidential candidate Ted Kennedy at the 1980 Democratic National Convention.

Turner's signature pieces of legislation include safeguards against police profiling, the creation of the office of lieutenant governor to eliminate the concentration of power by the senate president, civics education intensification, environmental and worker protections, and safe elections protections, including the recently signed John R. Lewis Voter Protection Act, to name just a few.

At present, she is sponsoring a worker protection bill with her colleague, state Senator Andrew Zwicker (D-16), to regulate artificial intelligence in the workplace. She also has a public health bill to stimulate urban gardening.

Senator Turner reflected on the Donald Trump era, the president's broken promises to working class voters, the tremendous implications of Nov. 3rd here and nationally, and discussed lessons from her own elections in Mercer County.

For the (FULL!) InsiderNJ Interview with Senator Turner, please see below: