Former State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, a onetime Democratic state chairman and a fixture in the New Jersey legislature for 40 years, is backing Sean Spiller for governor, the state teachers union’s first individual endorsement.
Lesniak, a longtime powerbroker who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2017, said he admires Spiller’s leadership of the New Jersey Education Association and his work strengthening public education. Lesniak said he’s been friends with Spiller for a couple of years now and said the education leader is “genuine” and “not a typical politician.”
“I have found him as a person to be very genuine and very consistent with my views on environmental protection, on animal welfare, LGBTQ rights, social justice, environmental protection,” Lesniak told the Globe. “We’re in harmony on all those issues.”
The former Montclair mayor launched his gubernatorial bid in June and received the endorsement from the NJEA — which he leads — days later.
Lesniak’s endorsement isn’t the only action on behalf of Spiller. “Working New Jersey,” an independent expenditure committee backing Spiller, launched a $705,000 cable TV ad buy that will last from Monday through November 15.
Working New Jersey reported in a filing that it expects to spend $35 million on the race. Politico reported that several of the committee’s executives have ties to the NJEA.
The ads are the first for the 2025 gubernatorial race.
Lesniak, a prominent fundraiser, said he plans to help fundraise for Spiller, though the candidate has “plenty of money.”
“I expect him to win the Democratic primary and be our next governor.”