In an editorial, state Senator Raj Mukherji (D-32) makes the case that U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11) will be a governor that protects healthcare for New Jerseyans.
Life in New Jersey has gotten too costly, and President Trump and Washington Republicans are about to make it even costlier.
Families are paying more for groceries, housing, and utilities, and congressional Republicans passed a bill that will kick 300,000 New Jerseyans off their healthcare and raise premiums on nearly another half million to fund tax breaks for billionaires – all while tariffs are making everything from housing to coffee less affordable.
And the federal budget will blow a multibillion-dollar hole in our state budget, threatening our schools, infrastructure, and public safety.
Now, more than ever, we need a governor who will stand up to extremism and this chaotic agenda to defend New Jerseyans and our access to healthcare.
When I was just a teenager, my dad couldn’t go to work anymore because of debilitating medical conditions, but he couldn’t afford coverage or access critical healthcare without his job – a vicious catch-22.
So my parents were forced back to their native India, even though they were proud American citizens who immigrated in the 1970’s, while I stayed in New Jersey working my way through high school, college, and grad school after becoming an emancipated minor.
Lack of health coverage meant I didn’t have parents around on prom night. Lack of health coverage meant my parents couldn’t be there to see me ship off to boot camp for the Marines.
Mikie Sherrill has stood against this disastrous agenda from the jump. In Congress, she fought these healthcare cuts and voted against the Price Hike Bill.
She passed federal legislation that helped dramatically lower the cost of healthcare for seniors, including by capping the cost of insulin at $35/month and capping seniors’ out-of-pocket prescription drug spending.
As Governor, she will bring that fight home. With a plan rooted in fairness and accountability, she’ll take on the PBMs and middlemen who jack up prescription drug prices simply because they can.
She’ll join the lawsuits to claw back the billions illegally withheld from our state and save the Gateway Tunnel project. She’ll declare a state of emergency on utility costs to give families immediate relief and expand programs that help first-time homebuyers.
She’ll prioritize our safety nets and save communities from catastrophic hospital closures.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ciattarelli has cheered on President Trump’s disastrous agenda every step of the way – even pledging to get New Jersey’s congressional delegation to support the Price Hike Bill and praising the administration as being “right about everything.”
He has embraced the President’s failed economic vision and given Trump an “A” grade, while working families face the devastating loss of healthcare that already wasn’t affordable.
This is not an abstract political debate. Kicking people off their health coverage is a direct assault on the stability and security of New Jersey families. When care becomes unaffordable, people delay treatment or go without it. New Jersey deserve better.
We New Jerseyans send more tax dollars to Washington than we receive in return.
While not recommending that individuals evade federal tax obligations by withholding their IRS payments, our state DOES have leverage to hold the federal government to its constitutional obligations – if we have a governor willing to fight for us rather than show blind leadership to a president who sows division and embraces chaos.
Governor Sherrill will demand our fair share and challenge Washington when it shortchanges our communities.
Early voting is this week. Let’s vote to protect our healthcare, our economy, and our future.
Senator Raj Mukherji represents New Jersey’s 32nd District (Hudson County). He is a former: Majority Whip of the State Assembly, information technology CEO, local prosecutor, law professor, and Sergeant in the U.S. Marines.
