NFIB unveils bipartisan list of legislative endorsements

The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), a nationwide advocacy group for small businesses, released a list of legislative endorsements today for candidates the group considers “pro-small business.”

The list of 46 candidates includes 10 Democrats and 36 Republicans, most of them incumbents, in the State Senate and Assembly.

“I am pleased to extend the National Federation of Independent Business endorsement to these strong, pro-small-business candidates,” NFIB State Director Eileen Kean said in a statement. “Each has consistently shown a commitment to main street, free enterprise, and small-business owners and their employees.”

In the three districts that are considered the state’s most competitive this cycle – the 2nd, 8th, and 16th – the NFIB split their endorsements, supporting Democratic Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo (D-Northfield) for the 2nd district Senate seat but Republican Assemblywoman Jean Stanfield (R-Westampton) for Senate in the 8th district and former Republican Congressman Michael Pappas in the 16th district.

The group also endorsed Democrat Caren Fitzpatrick for Mazzeo’s Assembly seat; Fitzpatrick was the only Assembly candidate across the three seats who received an endorsement. 

Also of note are the candidates who received endorsements from both the NFIB and the New Jersey AFL-CIO, thus rallying both business and labor interests to their sides.

One Republican, State Sen. Robert Singer (R-Lakewood), is among this group, as are State Sens. Fred Madden (D-Washington), Troy Singleton (D-Delran), Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch), and Paul Sarlo (D-Woodridge); Mazzeo and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Englewood), both running for the Senate; Assemblymembers Adam Taliaferro (D-Woolwich), Daniel Benson (D-Hamilton), and Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City); and Fitzpatrick.