Sweeney declines to endorse Van Drew

Senate President Steve Sweeney declined to endorse Rep. Jeff Van Drew for re-election, indicating that the congressman’s vote on articles of impeachment could earn or lose support from his longtime ally.

“The congressman has a very important vote coming up, and we’re going to talk about it after that vote,” Sweeney said. “I will base it on my own thoughts, but right now, that impeachment vote’s very important.”

Sweeney declined to clearly say whether his support — or lack thereof — for Van Drew hinged on which way the congressman goes in a vote on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump that could be held as early as next week.

“Listen, the congressman is a very principled person and friend of mine and a colleague for a long time,” Sweeney said. “I’m very principled too, so we’ll see what happens here.”

Van Drew’s stance on impeachment has earned him significant ire from local Democrats.

They’re upset enough that Atlantic County Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman last week told Van Drew he could not guarantee the first-term congressman a primary victory if he continued to oppose impeachment.

Brigid Harrison, a well-known political science professor who lives in Atlantic County, has expressed interest in a second district House bid, and months remain for other candidates to throw their hats in the ring.

On Wednesday, Van Drew told USA Today he intended to vote against the two articles of impeachment. He said the same thing to CNN last week, before House Democrats released specific charges against Trump.

The first of those articles charges Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, and the second claims he obstructed Congress by ignoring House subpoenas seeking documents and testimony from administration officials.

On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy similarly sidestepped a question about his support for Van Drew, declining to say whether his July endorsement of the congressman still stood.

Murphy said he supported Democrats up and down the ballot but did not respond directly to a question about his Van Drew endorsement, though he did say that “he’s got a lot to explain to his constituents and, it looks like, to his county chairs” over impeachment.