NEWARK, N.J.—Hundreds of people lined up outside the Essex County College gymnasium in Newark on Nov. 1 to attend a campaign rally for New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.).
Johnny Freeze was among those waiting to get a glimpse of Sherrill and former President Barack Obama, who headlined the event. The 52-year-old said the rally was a great opportunity to hear what Sherrill had to say. He and his son, Orion, traveled an hour from their hometown of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, to Newark.
“I’ve read her platform, and we tried to catch her when she came to our town, but we missed her that day,” Freeze told The Epoch Times. “I’m pretty positive I’m voting for Mikie. I like what she said about cost controls on rent.”
The cost of living in New Jersey is 14 percent higher than in the rest of the nation, according to the World Population Review, and Sherrill has said that if elected, she will investigate landlords who she alleges are colluding to drive up rental prices.
When asked about President Donald Trump, Freeze said, “His programs are misguided by how they get implemented, and I think that’s the travesty of some of the things he’s doing.”
Sherrill is campaigning against Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican, to fill the seat that Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, is vacating because of term limits.
The event was organized by Get Out the Vote and paid for by the New Jersey Democratic State Committee.
Ciattarelli is a small business owner who served as a state representative from 2011 to 2018 and is endorsed by Trump, and Sherrill is a former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor currently serving as a member of Congress for the 11th district.
Jeanette Burk, 60, said she felt it was important to attend the rally to show support for Sherrill over Ciattarelli.
“I’ve never been more sad and scared for our country,” Burk told The Epoch Times. “The discrepancy between the rich and the middle class has never been wider. This is the first generation where the kids are not going to do better than their parents, and that is sad.”
A Realtor who lives in Sussex County, Burk said she believes that electing Sherrill is a step toward restoring integrity and women’s rights nationwide.
“At the last election, our state all of a sudden became a swing state, and I find that horrific,” Burk said. “I want our state to be a blue state again, and that’s why I’m here.”
Then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the state of New Jersey in the 2024 presidential election with 2.2 million votes to Trump’s 1.96 million votes.
Kemoni Cooper, 19, said the key issues are “introducing LGBTQ studies into schools and being able to have sanctuary cities and equal rights for everybody.”
Cooper told The Epoch Times, “Sherrill matches my values.”
She said Trump should be doing more to help end the government shutdown.
Elizabeth Walsh, a 45-year-old Essex County attorney, said she prefers Sherrill for governor because Ciattarelli supports the appointment of state Rep. Jay Webber to the state Supreme Court. Webber, of Morris Plains, New Jersey, is a Republican politician and lawyer who currently serves in the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 26th legislative district.
“Pro-choice is my number one issue,” Walsh told The Epoch Times. “I believe in the rule of law, and putting Jay Webber on the Supreme Court infuriates me.”
Johnn DeMarzio, 67, said he favors Sherrill because he likes what she stands for and because Ciattarelli is a Trump supporter.
“I am petrified at the direction of our country and the rights Trump is taking away from people,” Bergen County resident DeMarzio told The Epoch Times.
“I am afraid of the cutting of funding. We already have it on the federal level, and if we do that on a state level, we’re not going to have anything.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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