The state’s largest firefighters union has endorsed Assemblyman Gordon Johnson for the Democratic nomination for State Senate in the 37th district.
“When we have needed him, Assemblyman Johnson has always had the backs of New Jersey Firefighters and when lawmakers stand with us in the halls of government, we stand with them,” said Eddie Donnelly, the New Jersey Firefighters Mutual Benefit Association president.
Johnson and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle are both seeking the open Senate seat of Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, who is retiring at the end of her current term.
Donnelly said that when his union “set out to adopt the most monumental piece of legislation impacting the pensions of New Jersey’s first responders, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson was there.”
“He was among the first to put his name on the bill, now law, that took the management of our pension fund away from the state and put it in the hands of a carefully selected board of active and retired police and firefighters,” Donnelly said. “This gave those of us with the most at stake, a true say in how our pension dollars are invested.”
The union represents more than 5,000 firefighters, EMTs and dispatchers across the state.
“Johnson has always been a legislator we could trust to be on the side of our members day in and day out. In short, he has had our back, and now we have his,” Donnelly explained. “In a lifetime of service, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson has transcended the term public servant and developed into a statesman whose actions are always based on what is best for the people he represents.”