Governor's Race
Mikie Sherrill
Democrat
Jack Ciattarelli
Republican
Labor & Wages
Mikie Sherrill
Sherrill doesn’t believe Americans should have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. She stood with workers during negotiations for higher wages and better benefits. She voted for legislation to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, grant hazard pay for frontline workers, and expand paid sick days and family and medical leave. She supports equal pay for equal work and proudly cosponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act because “we need more pay transparency and protections for working women everywhere. Paying women their fair share would only boost the economy and improve the outlook for millions of American families.”
Sherrill proudly voted for the PRO Act. She said, “I know first-hand the impact a good-paying union job can have on a family. […] In North Jersey, unions are protecting workers’ rights and creating success for families just like it did for mine.”
Jack Ciattarelli
Ciattarelli repeatedly blocked efforts to raise the minimum wage, even opposing a $15 minimum wage—at a time when the cost of everything is skyrocketing. He questioned whether a teenager earning minimum wage deserves a living wage. And he wants to take away your hard-earned vacation and sick time with a “use it or lose it” policy.
U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 582, Roll Call Vote #496, 7/18/2019; NBC News, 7/18/2019; Representative Mikie Sherrill, 7/18/2019; U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 4/15/2021.
U.S. Congress, HR 2747, Roll Call #50, 2/6/2020; U.S. House of Representatives, HR 842, Roll Call #70, 3/9/2021; U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 3/9/2021; Hudson County View, 5/6/2025; Insider NJ, 7/19/2022; AFL-CIO, 11/7/2018; AFL-CIO, accessed 9/30/2022; Mikie Sherrill For New Jersey, 1/29/2025; Mikie Sherrill For New Jersey, accessed 6/23/2025.
- New York Observer, 2/23/2016; DGA, 2/1/2021; New Jersey Democrats 1/23/2021; NJ Advance Media, 4/18/2017.
Labor & Wages
Mikie Sherrill
Sherrill doesn’t believe Americans should have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. She stood with workers during negotiations for higher wages and better benefits. She voted for legislation to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, grant hazard pay for frontline workers, and expand paid sick days and family and medical leave. She supports equal pay for equal work and proudly cosponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act because “we need more pay transparency and protections for working women everywhere. Paying women their fair share would only boost the economy and improve the outlook for millions of American families.”
Sherrill proudly voted for the PRO Act. She said, “I know first-hand the impact a good-paying union job can have on a family. […] In North Jersey, unions are protecting workers’ rights and creating success for families just like it did for mine.”
Jack Ciattarelli
Ciattarelli repeatedly blocked efforts to raise the minimum wage, even opposing a $15 minimum wage—at a time when the cost of everything is skyrocketing. He questioned whether a teenager earning minimum wage deserves a living wage. And he wants to take away your hard-earned vacation and sick time with a “use it or lose it” policy.
U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 582, Roll Call Vote #496, 7/18/2019; NBC News, 7/18/2019; Representative Mikie Sherrill, 7/18/2019; U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 4/15/2021.
U.S. Congress, HR 2747, Roll Call #50, 2/6/2020; U.S. House of Representatives, HR 842, Roll Call #70, 3/9/2021; U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 3/9/2021; Hudson County View, 5/6/2025; Insider NJ, 7/19/2022; AFL-CIO, 11/7/2018; AFL-CIO, accessed 9/30/2022; Mikie Sherrill For New Jersey, 1/29/2025; Mikie Sherrill For New Jersey, accessed 6/23/2025.
- New York Observer, 2/23/2016; DGA, 2/1/2021; New Jersey Democrats 1/23/2021; NJ Advance Media, 4/18/2017.
Key Food Industry Legislation
Mikie Sherrill
Protecting New Jersey’s workers is Sherrill’s top priority. She voted to modernize the visa process and strengthen protections for them, ensuring fair treatment and a path to success. She also championed legislation to protect workers from dangerous heat, and introduced a bill to lower grocery prices, putting more money back in worker’s pockets and creating better jobs for everyone.
Sherrill believes in protecting and expanding key social safety nets like SNAP and is deeply critical of Republicans’ plans to cut the program. Her ability to recognize food insecurity as a critical issue led her to urge Congress to increase funding for SNAP benefits and pressure the USDA to remove a proposal to weaken broad-based categorical eligibility for SNAP.
Jack Ciattarelli
Ciattarelli made disparaging comments about efforts to raise the minimum wage for food and grocery workers, saying that people who “bag groceries” shouldn’t be paid “the equivalent of $30,000 a year.”
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 3/18/2021; U.S. Congress, H.R. 4897, 7/6/2023; U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 10/16/2024; chrome-extension://
efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmk aj/https://www.congress.gov/ 117/meeting/house/113942/ documents/HHRG-117-SY18- MState-S001207-20210721.pdf - U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 5/26/2020; U.S Congress, H.R.2045, 3/11/2025; New Jersey Globe, 5/15/2025; U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 5/15/2025; U.S. Senator Cory Booker, 4/16/2020; U.S Senator Cory Booker, 8/20/2019.
- New York Observer, 2/23/2016.
Health Care
Mikie Sherrill
Sherrill believes in quality and affordable health care for every New Jerseyan and understands how debilitating health care costs can be. That’s why she proudly passed legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs, reduce healthcare premiums, cap the price of insulin for 1.3 million New Jerseyans, strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and help 292,000 New Jerseyans access affordable health care coverage.
She is committed to working with labor leaders to bring down healthcare costs and expand transparency in healthcare pricing. She also plans to direct the Attorney General to investigate monopolies, price gouging, and high denial rates for coverage among insurers, holding large corporations accountable for threatening health care access for New Jersey residents.
Jack Ciattarelli
Ciattarelli wants to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, jeopardizing health coverage for over one million New Jerseyans. He’ll let the Administration’s cuts to Medicare and Medicaid stand. He wants a healthcare system controlled by insurance companies, shifting Medicaid funds away from those who need them most.
- NPR, 8/12/2022; U.S. House of Representatives, HR 5376, 8/12/2022; U.S. House of Representatives, HR 5376, Roll Call #420, 8/12/2022; BlueGreen Alliance, accessed 9/19/2022; White House, 9/17/2023; U.S. House of Representatives HR 1425, Roll Call #124, 6/29/2020; Mikie Sherrill For New Jersey, accessed 6/23/2025; Joint Economic Committee Democrats, accessed 6/24/2025; The Village Green, 4/27/2025; Washington Examiner, 6/11/2025; NJ11th For Change, accessed 6/24/2025; North Jersey, 5/22/2025; Designed to Run, accessed 6/25/2025.
- Associated Press, 3/18/2017; The Montclarion, 11/1/2021; NJ Spotlight News, 5/18/2017; NJ Spotlight, 5/18/2017; Insider NJ, 3/23/2021; Democratic Governors Association, 3/12/2025; WHYY, 6/10/2025; North Jersey, 5/22/2025.
Economic Security
Mikie Sherrill
Sherrill understands there is an “affordability crisis” in New Jersey. She is committed to holding large corporations accountable for charging excess bank fees that raise costs for working families. To curb rising food prices, she introduced the REDUCE Food Prices Act to increase competition among supermarkets and grocery stores while cracking down on price gouging, lowering prices for consumers.
Jack Ciattarelli
Ciattarelli’s plan slashes vital services, hurting thousands of families and their kids. He chose a CEO who profited from overcharging cancer patients to lead New Jersey Republicans prioritizing the rich and powerful over families.
- Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 7/28/2022; Mikie Sherrill, accessed 7/28/2022; Mikie Sherrill, accessed 7/28/2022; U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 1/23/2025; U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 10/16/2024; Insider NJ, 10/15/2024.
- NJ Dems, accessed 6/26/2025; American Journal News, 4/30/2025.
Social Security & Retirement
Mikie Sherrill
Sherrill is a champion for pensions, cosponsoring the Butch Lewis Act to boost financially struggling pensions. She wants to continue fully funding pensions and committed to working with labor leaders to continue servicing pensions that keep New Jersey’s retired community afloat.
She urged Democrats to vote against Republicans’ continuing resolution that jeopardized Social Security. Sherrill is a staunch defender of Social Security.
Sherrill also introduced legislation to protect Social Security and veteran’s benefits from devastating DOGE cuts.
Jack Ciattarelli
Despite benefitting from a pension plan himself, Ciattarelli thinks retirement with a pension and Social Security is “absurd.”
New Jersey AFL-CIO, 7/25/2019; ROI-NJ, 8/28/2024; Mikie Sherrill For New Jersey, accessed 6/23/2025; Twitter, @RepSherrill, 8/14/2025; Mikie Sherrill, 3/6/2025; U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 11/12/2024.
- U.S Congress, H.R.2045, 3/11/2025; New Jersey Globe, 5/15/2025; U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 5/15/2025.
- U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 5/15/2025.
- WNYC, 5/18/2017.
Tax Justice & Wealth Accountability
Mikie Sherrill
Sherrill is committed to providing tax relief to New Jersey’s working- and middle-class households while making billionaires and large corporations pay their fair share. She called out Republicans for their “reckless” and “cruel” 2025 budget bill, which made drastic cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and education while providing tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy.
Her support for the American Rescue Plan expanded the child tax credit and cut child poverty in half. In New Jersey, Sherrill will fight to expand the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, Caregiver Assistance Tax Credit, and back-to-school sales tax holidays, putting money back in the hands of millions of hard-working New Jerseyans.
Jack Ciattarelli
Ciattarelli is more concerned with slashing taxes for corporations and billionaires than fighting for New Jersey’s middle-and working-class families. He praised Elon Musk DOGE agency and threatened to make a similar commission in New Jersey despite the department’s aggressive tactics to fund tax cuts for billionaires at the expense of federal workers.
He promised to reduce the corporate tax rate and lower income taxes on New Jersey’s wealthiest households by 30%. He holds no allegiance to property tax relief programs like Stay NJ, ANCHOR, and the senior freeze, calling them “administrative nightmares” that do “absolutely nothing to permanently lower taxes.
New Jersey Herald, 3/17/2019; New Jersey Globe, 3/24/2025; U.S. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, 1/18/2024; Designed to Run, accessed 6/25/2025; New Jersey Herald, 3/7/2019.
NJ Advance Media, 7/25/2021; American Journal News, 4/30/2025; New Jersey Division of Taxation, accessed 5/13/2025; City of Livingston, accessed 5/13/2025; New Jersey Herald, 12/20/2023; Politico, 4/26/2024.
Education & Future Investment
Mikie Sherrill
Sherrill will be a champion for New Jersey public schools. She supports increasing the number of counselors and mental health services for students, protecting after-school programs, and providing free school lunches.
Jack Ciattarelli
Ciattarelli’s plan hurts New Jersey kids. He’ll slash funding for our public schools, overcrowd classrooms, and force local property taxes sky-high to cover the shortfall. His plan rewards the wealthy with tax cuts while shortchanging our children.