Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden) has become the first sitting New Jersey member of Congress to issue an official endorsement in the 2025 race for governor – and it’s not for either of his two House colleagues who are likely to enter the race.
Norcross will instead support former Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford), a fellow South Jerseyan who until a couple of years ago was one of the most powerful people in state government. In a wide-ranging interview with the New Jersey Globe, Norcross said that Sweeney was the man he most trusted to stand up for organized labor.
“When it comes to passing legislation and helping the men and women of organized labor, there is nobody who has a resumé even close to what Steve Sweeney has,” Norcross said. “So far, I love all the candidates, but there’s certainly one I believe stands above all the others, whose life has been devoted to organized labor.”
The endorsement is hardly surprising, for a number of reasons. Norcross and Sweeney, just six months apart in age, were high school friends growing up in Pennsauken, and have been closely politically allied since. As Norcross’s brother George built himself into the most powerful man in South Jersey politics, Donald Norcross and Steve Sweeney were both right at his side; Norcross became a state legislator and later a congressman, while Sweeney ascended to the most powerful post in the State Senate (though he lost his seat in a famous 2021 upset).
Still, it’s notable given that two other members of the state’s congressional delegation, Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) and Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff), are likely to enter the gubernatorial race after winning re-election this year.
No other current member of Congress has issued an endorsement yet in the race, though Sweeney also has the backing of Assemblyman Herb Conaway (D-Delran), who is favored to win the 3rd congressional district in November.
When Sweeney launched his gubernatorial campaign last year, nearly the entire South Jersey Democratic apparatus came out in support of his campaign, including every state legislator and nearly every county chair from the region. If the 2025 Democratic primary for governor does indeed become a geographical contest, South Jersey Democrats have made it very clear where they stand.
Donald Norcross, too, was part of Sweeney’s campaign launch, attending several fundraisers for Sweeney earlier this year. He had not made a formal endorsement, however, until now.
“I am 100% for Steve Sweeney,” Norcross said. “Listen, I saw what he did in the State Senate firsthand – nobody comes close. Card check, project labor agreements, the list goes on and on, what he was able to do… In terms of what Steve has done when it comes to labor, there’s no second.”
See here for a full list of endorsements in New Jersey’s 2025 gubernatorial contest.