Joe Egan’s IBEW Local 456 endorses Steve Sweeney

The politically potent International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 456 has endorsed Steve Sweeney for the Democratic nomination for governor, giving the former Senate President the backing of a union that comes with boots on the ground and money in Central New Jersey.

“Over his career, Steve Sweeney has always stood with labor, and he’s made a real difference in the lives of our members,” said the union’s business manager, Joe Egan, a former Assembly Labor Committee chairman. “As a union ironworker, he knows the challenges that workers face on a daily basis. Steve’s leadership has been crucial in protecting the rights and wages of working men and women in New Jersey, and we’re proud to stand behind Steve so that he can finish the work he started.”

Egan held off his endorsement until after last night’s Middlesex County Democratic convention, where a show of hands vote gave the organization endorsement and slogan to Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair).

Sweeney, a union ironworker, and Egan are longtime political and labor allies.

Assemblyman Kevin Egan (D-New Brunswick), the Local 456 assistant business manager who won an Assembly seat in 2023 after his father declined to seek a 12th term, told the New Jersey Globe that he is supporting Sherrill for governor.

“I’m with the party,” he said.  “I’m with the chairman.”

Sweeney has won a number of IBEW local endorsements, and the building trades unions are a key component of his political base, with some exceptions: the Laborers are with Sherrill, and Operating Engineers Local 825 is supporting Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly).