Sue Altman, the newly minted Democratic nominee for New Jersey’s highly competitive 7th congressional district, has picked up two new labor endorsers: the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) and the New Jersey State Council of Machinists (part of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers).
“Like the thousands of IFPTE members we represent throughout New Jersey, Sue Altman is a longtime public servant, having worked as a teacher in our public school system,” IFPTE Local 196 President Sean McBride said. “As a teacher she not only educated our most cherished asset, our children, she did so while fighting against then-Governor Chris Christie’s attacks on teachers and public school budgets. She will be an excellent member of Congress and IFPTE is happy to lend her our backing.”
“We’re excited to endorse Sue in NJ-07 – she has a strong record of fighting for the right of workers to organize and negotiate fair wages and better working conditions,” IAMAW State Council President Cristino Vilorio said. “We know how essential regaining the House majority is to deliver vital legislation that will give unions and our members the necessary tools to organize in the 21st century, while also preventing extremists from passing anti-union, anti-worker legislation through Congress.”
The two unions each represent a sizable number of workers in New Jersey: IFPTE represents more than 15,000 public sector workers, while the Council of Machinists has more than 23,000 members in the aerospace, transportation, and warehouse industries.
Altman, a former state director of the Working Families Party, has been steadily building up union support for her bid against Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), who defeated Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) in 2022 to flip the 7th district to the GOP. Democrats are hopeful that they can take the seat back this year, and Altman outraised Kean in recent campaign finance reports.