One measure of the impressive reach of the New Jersey Jewish Business Alliance (NJJBA) is their capability to arrange a small group meeting between Jewish business leaders from a variety of industries and one of the leading Democratic candidates for New Jersey governor, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (D, 11th District), less than a month before the primary election.
On May 12 Sherrill spent an hour talking with about 16 members of NJJBA in a private venue in Orange, New Jersey. She started by joking that, as she is the mother of four teenagers, her husband says that she is running for governor to get out of their house as often as possible. She added that when she served in the U.S. Navy, they often ran to a crisis, and that is part of her motivation to run for the post of governor.
Sherrill said that she often hears about the housing shortage in our state and is told that “it can’t be solved,” but she doesn’t believe that. Sharing some of her personal history, she said that as a young girl she told her father that she wanted to go to the Naval Academy and he replied that as he understood, they didn’t admit women. She persevered and not only was admitted but graduated in a class with women who were approved for combat roles. When she first ran for Congress, she faced an incumbent (Rodney Frelinghuysen) who was in office for 22 years and she prevailed, causing the biggest red-to-blue district flip in the U.S. at the time. She was identified as the most effective House member from New Jersey during the 2021-2022 session by the Center for Effective Lawmaking.
Returning to the topic of housing, she said that the state needs a broader vision for how to create housing. She said that the state must also urgently take a closer look at public transportation and preserve open space, while also respecting concerns for local control. She decried the fact that it can often take six years for an energy project to get connected to the grid by the Board of Public Utilities, while it takes an average of three years in Texas.
Shifting to Jewish communal concerns, Sherrill said that she spoke with Eden Alexander’s family very recently and was hopeful for good news soon. (Note: Alexander was released later that day.) She mentioned that she is monitoring the activities on college campuses and wants “to make sure that our children always feel safe there.” She added that she was aware of what happened when Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D, 5th District) spoke at Rutgers recently and faced a “really disgusting” protest there that got out of control and resulted in four arrests.
Sherrill talked about the impact of the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump and asserted that as governor she would work with other states to mitigate the tariffs’ impacts. She stated that with the chaos in Washington, New Jersey needs “a more muscular plan” to resist poorly conceived policy changes. As an example of ways the state can improve the business climate, she pointed to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s efforts, which resulted in cutting permitting time by 90% and said “we can do that here too.”
In a Q&A session, an attendee asked what can be done to address the rise in antisemitism in the state and Sherrill expressed interest in increasing anti-bias educational programming. Another attendee asked her to clarify her views on Israel and she stated that she believes strongly that “Israel has a right to exist, to thrive, and to defend itself” but she does not support the forcible removal of Palestinians from the area. She added that she voiced opposition to Israel’s plans to attack the city of Rafah in 2024 because there were reports that humanitarian aid could not get into the city. She said that currently, she is very concerned about reports of the spread of illness and starvation among the children in Gaza.
Harry Glazer is the Middlesex County editor of The Jewish Link. He can be reached at harryglazer615@gmail.com and he welcomes reader feedback.
