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Two Democrats in the 2025 race to succeed with a limited term Philip Murphy, Governor of New Jersey did not cast votes this week in Congress on the Laken Riley Act, leading to criticism from gubernatorial candidates in both parties.
The House Clerk’s office listed Reps. Mikie Sherrill of Essex and Josh Gottheimer of Bergen County as “not voting” on the landmark bill, which would require illegal immigrants convicted of crimes related to the theft were arrested by municipal and state authorities.
The bill is named after a young woman killed by an illegal immigrant in Georgia who had been arrested and released on lesser charges.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop exclaimed, “This is cowardly,” in an X post.
Reps. Mikie Sherrill and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (Getty)
“We lose elections when we don’t have a core conviction … when we can’t explain why we have a vision and why we believe in it. Hiding is not an answer that wins elections,” the Democrat said.
“Mikie and Josh are equal again: If you don’t have the courage to vote for a bill, what does that say about your courage to lead as governor?” Fulop added.
Meanwhile, former Republican Rep. Jack Ciattarelli slammed the two lawmakers from his right.
“Shame on (Josh and Mikie) for rejecting a vote on the Laken Riley Act today,” Ciattarelli said.
AX, Ciattarelli said Riley “fought to his last breath against a murderous illegal immigrant, but Josh/Mikie didn’t have the courage to stand up to his far-left base.”
Ciattarelli ran against Murphy in 2021 and nearly defeated him by Garden State standards, losing by less than three points. In November, President-elect Trump lost the state by just four points, prompting the GOP to show its optimism for turning Trenton red this fall.
The last time the bill came up for a vote, Gottheimer voted “yes,” and a spokesman told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he would have supported the bill this week if he had voted.
New Jersey three Republican congressmen: Reps. Christopher Smith, Jeff Van Drew, and Tom Kean Jr. all voted for the Laken Riley Act.
Democratic representatives Nellie Pou, Frank Pallone, Herbert Conaway, LaMonica McIver, Donald Norcross and Rob Menendez Jr. they voted against.
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Republican Rep. Dawn Fantasia, who is not running for governor, blasted the pair Wednesday with a joke:
“The road to Drumthwacket is paved with squirrels who couldn’t make up their minds,” he said, referring to the historic governor’s mansion near Princeton.
status Senator Jon Bramnicka GOP gubernatorial candidate, told Fox News Digital Thursday that a lawmaker’s first responsibility is to his constituents, not his next campaign.
“I think campaign activities need to be secondary to your responsibility,” Bramnick said when asked about Gottheimer and Sherrill’s no-votes.
“The key question is: If you’re going to run, should your campaign activities be secondary to your voting,” he said, adding that it systematically appears that “the more (someone) campaigns, the less they vote.”
Bramnick, who is also an attorney in Plainfield, added that he couldn’t guess what the two Democrats had in mind for their vote, but that immigration is a hot-button issue and often difficult to navigate.
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State Senator Jon Bramnick recently spoke about drone sightings in New Jersey. (Bobby Bank/Getty Images | Doug Hood/Asbury Park Press)
With the Laken Riley Act scoring 48 “yes” Democrats, Bramnick said immigration is a bipartisan issue.
If elected governor, he said he would “follow the law” when asked how he would approach President-elect Trump or the designated border czar. Tom Homan
“Unfortunately, Congress has done nothing to (create) a path to citizenship for people who may have the opportunity to stay here,” he said, referring to those who have lived in the US for many years as to law-abiding members. of their communities.
“If America doesn’t like the law, change it, but state by state shouldn’t change the law based on how they feel about the issue.”
Sherrill and Gottheimer did not immediately respond to inquiries made through their campaigns.
Another Democrat in the race, Ras Baraka, mayor of the state’s largest city, Newark, also did not respond.
Baraka, however, indicated separately that he would have voted against the Laken Riley Act if he were in Congress.
