For a few minutes on Monday, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin cleared the Democratic caucus room of staff and held a member-only meeting to talk politics.
Multiple Assembly Democrats, all speaking on the condition of anonymity, gave roughly the same version of what Coughlin had to say.
On his mind was to share his thoughts on the upcoming presidential election. Coughlin suggested that his fellow Democrats spend the next week focused on electing Kamala Harris – and maybe doing something to help Sue Altman win her 7th district congressional race.
Coughlin took a moment to discuss the upcoming 2025 election, directly addressing the likelihood that office block voting was here to stay. He reminded his caucus that some Democrats are already facing primaries and that the number of primaries will increase once the 2024 campaign is over.
He told lawmakers that they need to raise more money for themselves and said they can rely on leadership for support, but stressing that he views the Democratic caucus like “one big family.”
And the four-term Speaker suggested his entire leadership team might be ready for another two years. That’s hardly a secret; there’s no apparent opposition to Coughlin keeping his job, and in his seventh year in office, he remains hugely popular in his caucus.
At some point, Assemblywoman Ellen Park (D-Englewood Cliffs) probably ventured a little off-script and suggested that Democrats endorse Coughlin to stay on in 2026 and 2027. The Speaker didn’t let the “Draft Coughlin” movement move to fast, probably because he didn’t need to.
“We all think Craig should stay,” one legislator said. “He’s doing a great job.”
One member of Coughlin’s leadership team says he expects most of the caucus to publicly sign on to back the speaker’s re-election soon.
Coughlin had considered running for governor next year, but appeared to have chosen not to. Democrats in his home county, Middlesex, seem prepared to back Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) for the Democratic nomination.
He is the longest-serving Assembly Speaker in New Jersey history.