Faculty union says 3 NJ House winners were among its first-ever endorsements

WASHINGTON — Three New Jersey congressional candidates were among 11 winners from the first slate of political endorsements ever issued by the American Association of University Professors, the national faculty union said Nov. 6.

The AAUP, a union and membership association of college faculty and other academic professionals founded in 1915, said its endorsed candidates won Senate and House races across the country in the midterm elections. The group said it was the first time in its 110-year history that it had formally endorsed candidates for office.

In New Jersey, the union listed Adam Hamawy in the 12th District, whom it described as a former combat physician; Rebecca Bennett in the 7th District, a former Navy pilot; and Rep. Analilia Mejia in the 11th District among its winners.

“These results prove that higher education is a critical voting bloc in this country,” AAUP President Todd Wolfson said in a statement. He added that students, faculty, staff and campus communities “are not going to stand on the sidelines while our sector is under assault.”

The union said the winners will carry a mandate to defend higher education as a public good, protect academic freedom, push for debt-free college and safeguard collective bargaining rights for faculty and campus workers. The AAUP said it intends to hold the newly elected members of Congress accountable on those issues.

Outside New Jersey, the group listed two Senate winners: Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, who previously chaired the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Its other House winners, according to the union, were Will Lawrence in Michigan’s 7th District; Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney in the 13th District; Brad Lander, a former New York City Council member and comptroller, in New York’s 10th District; New York Assemblymember Claire Valdez in the 7th District; Cait Conley, a former Army officer, in New York’s 17th District; and Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb in the 3rd District.

The AAUP highlighted labor ties among some of the winners. It said Valdez was elected unit chair at her workplace in 2022, representing 500 co-workers, and that Rabb worked to unionize 1,500 adjunct faculty members at Temple University.

The union’s announcement did not include vote totals.

This report is based on information from the American Association of University Professors.

Source: American Association of University Professors