Democrat,

The new year is in full swing and with it comes a newly sworn-in state legislature. I’m so proud of all the Democrats who took office this week in new positions, including many who made history including Assemblywoman Ellen Park as the first Korean woman to serve as well as Assemblywoman Shama Haider and Assemblywoman Sadaf Jaffer who are the first two Muslims to take office. They are joined by Gordon Johnson who became the first Black State Senator to represent Bergen County, and my good friend Senator Teresa Ruiz who is now the first Latina Majority Leader in history. Congratulations to all of these outstanding Democratic leaders for pushing our state forward toward truly representing our diverse population.  

I also want to congratulate our new Senate President Nicholas Scutari, who along with Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin will be working together with Governor Phil Murphy to move our state forward. There is a lot of work to do, from making New Jersey more affordable to middle class and working families to bringing more economic opportunities to every community in our state and much more, and we’re excited to see what this new leadership team and our new members will do to rise up to these challenges.  

GOVERNOR MURPHY UPDATE 

Governor Phil Murphy delivered his annual State of the State speech this week, where he took a moment to look back at the successes of the last four years and forward to new initiatives designed to make our state stronger and fairer. Some of the highlights of Governor Murphy’s record discussed in the speech include:  

- New Jersey has jumped from 47th in GDP growth (average 2009-2017) to 4th (3thQ 2021)  

- Slowest growth in property taxes over any four year period on record 

- Lowered health care costs by 22% in the individual market 

- Governor Murphy will deliver a plan to the Legislature to lower prescription drug prices 

- New Jersey has paid its first full pension payment in 25 years 

- Taxpayers will save $36 billion in long term retiree healthcare cost  

Watch Gov. Murphy’s full SOTS speech here to see more of his plans for the coming years. 

CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE 

Congressman Tom Malinowski made it clear this week – he’s running for re-election, and he’s running to win. With an increasingly crowded Republican Primary field on the other side and a massive recent fundraising haul, Congressman Malinowski is ready to run one in what’s expected to be one of the most competitive races in the state. Donate here to Tom’s campaign to help keep him in office and make sure we hold on to control of the House of Representatives.

Sincerely,

-- Chairman LeRoy J. Jones, Jr.

P.S. Thank you to the members of the Democratic State Committee for voting unanimously for a new two-year term for myself and our incredible leadership team. Serving you as Chairman is the honor of my political career and I will always work hard to deliver the results our party deserves.