As the New Jersey State AFL-CIO Labor Candidates School marks its 21^st year, we are proud to congratulate this year’s graduating class of 33 rank-and-file union members, who will be running for offices across our state from the municipal to county level. In addition, there are 23 Labor Candidates School alumni, who will seek reelection to office this year, including seven members of the State Legislature.

For photos of this year’s class, please CLICK HERE.

More than 600 delegates, representing 1,000 labor unions and one million members and their families, convened at Harrah’s Atlantic City on June 20-21, 2017, for the purpose of candidate endorsements and reaffirming the priorities of the state labor movement.

A complete list of candidate endorsements is HERE.

Polls Open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

New Jersey will be a focal point in the world of politics this year. We are one of two states to hold a governor’s race – the other being Virginia. All 40 state Senate seats and all 80 state Assembly seats will be up for grabs, and there will be more than 50 rank-and-file union members on the ballot this year.

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO runs the most successful Labor Candidates Program in the country. Since its inception, 915 union members have been elected to offices as diverse as U.S. Congress, state Senate and Assembly, on County Freeholder Boards, in our towns as Mayors, Aldermen, Committee and Council Members, Fire Commissioners and on School Boards across the state. These victories have made life better for all working people in New Jersey by advancing pro-worker causes at every level of government.

While it’s difficult to put into words, all the emotions being felt by Americans at this moment, we are extremely proud of the efforts put forth by our union brothers and sisters across our state and nation to champion working family values. We are fortunate to work with each and every one of you, and we look forward to emerging from this election stronger and more united than ever before. No matter who is in the White House, labor’s mission remains the same: to uplift all working families and ensure that each successive generation is afforded opportunities greater than those of the previous generation.

Polls Open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Election Day is finally here, and we are counting on you now, more than ever, to join for one final push to get voters to the polls in support of Hillary Clinton for president as well as all endorsed candidates, including 51 rank-and-file union members who will be on the ballot. All the work we have done up to this point – making phone calls and knocking on doors – depends on the effort we put forth today.

Polling shows that New Jersey’s 5^th Congressional District is one of the most fiercely contested races in the nation. This gives workers a golden opportunity to unseat entrenched seven-term incumbent Scott Garrett, whose lifetime record on workers’ issues is a whopping zero percent.

Scott Garrett is a Tea Party extremist who isn’t just anti worker; he has spent his time in Congress voting against women’s rights, veterans, first responders, civil rights, modernizing New Jersey’s infrastructure, and job creation. You read that right. Garrett, has cast votes in opposition to all of these issues and more. CLICK HERE to see his record for yourself.

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO Young Workers Program is prepared to live stream the remaining three presidential and vice presidential debates. Each debate will be aired from 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The schedule is as follows:

This election cycle will be unlike any other in recent memory for several reasons. First, the New Jersey State AFL-CIO is propelling state labor walks into the future, using a smartphone app called MiniVAN. This app does away with the paper walk packets of old, replacing them with a smartphone-based map that volunteers can use to conduct their labor walks. We thank the 112 union volunteers who took part in today’s labor walks and look forward to your ongoing support to implement this new system.

CLICK HERE for pictures.

Election Day is closer than you think; we will soon head to the polls – that is of course if you are registered to vote. If you are not registered already, you must do so before the deadline of Tuesday, October 18, 2016.

Check your voter registration status HERE or complete your voter registration form HERE.