Democrat Endorsements

Ridgefield Democrat's

Are Proud To Be Endorsed By...

So What Do These

Endorsements Stand For?

Cair Action New Jersey which seems to be a thinly veiled anti Israel organization.
The Ridgefield Education Association and The Bergen County Education Associations are directly associated with the NEA and other Left Wing political activist groups.

The Democratic Committee of Bergen County which apparently Cannot agree on their positions. With a tent so big they cannot satisfy everyone so they satisfy no-one.

Here are presented a number of article excerpts, giving further details on these groups. And, also a RECORD article reprint.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What is Cair action New Jersey?

CAIR Action New Jersey is the political advocacy affiliate of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which works to mobilize the state's Muslim community for political action

. Through voter education and lobbying efforts, the organization seeks to advance policy priorities that benefit the community and promote justice and mutual understanding.

Recent activities of CAIR Action New Jersey

Voter and civic engagement: The group has historically focused on voter registration and providing voter guides to encourage greater Muslim participation in elections. During the 2024 general election, it released a guide evaluating candidates and recommending those who supported a ceasefire in Gaza.

Advocacy for Palestinian rights:

CAIR Action NJ has taken a strong stance against Israeli actions in Gaza.
In September 2025, the group protested New Jersey's $30 million investment in Israel Bonds, calling it complicity in genocide.
It has also condemned certain US representatives for taking trips to Israel funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Response to hate and discrimination:

The organization combats Islamophobia and supports victims of discrimination.

In 2025, CAIR-NJ, the non-profit arm of the organization, condemned the cancellation of a Palestinian author's book event, calling it censorship.
The group has also issued alerts calling for investigations into alleged police misconduct in incidents involving the Muslim community.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEA Affiliation

Support for Educators

Is the NEA a political organization?

The National Education Association (NEA) is an influential and politically active labor union, not a political party. While its primary mission is to advocate for educators and public education, it engages in significant political activity through lobbying, campaign spending, and voter mobilization to influence public policy.

Political influence and partisan alignment

Lobbying: The NEA has a legislative program developed by its members to guide its lobbying efforts in Congress and with federal agencies. It advocates for a wide range of issues, from federal education funding to social issues like voting rights. The organization and its state affiliates also lobby state legislatures.

Campaign spending: The NEA spends tens of millions of dollars on political activities and campaigns through its political action committees (PACs), which include the federal NEA Fund for Children and Public Education and the "super PAC," the NEA Advocacy Fund. It is among the largest organizational political spenders in the United States.

Democratic Party affiliation: The NEA is heavily aligned with the Democratic Party, supporting every Democratic nominee for president since Jimmy Carter. Historically, the vast majority of its political contributions have gone to Democrats and liberal causes.

Targeting opponents: Beyond supporting its preferred candidates, the NEA and its PACs have spent millions of dollars actively opposing Republican candidates based on their stance on education issues.

Voter mobilization: The union mobilizes its millions of members for voter outreach and "get-out-the-vote" efforts on behalf of endorsed candidates.

The NEA's core mission and political expansion

The NEA was founded in 1857 as a professional association but transformed into a labor union in the 1970s, which increased its political activity.
It advocates for issues like increased teacher salaries, better working conditions, and equitable school funding.

Critics argue that the organization's focus on a broad political agenda and partisan spending comes at the expense of its core mission of representing members and prioritizing students. In 2024, one report claimed the NEA spent four times more on politics and contributions than on member representation.

The National Education Association (NEA) supports a student's social transition at school without requiring parental consent

. This refers to a student changing their name, pronouns, or gender expression at school. However, a student's medical transition—which can involve hormone therapy or surgery—is a private healthcare matter governed by state laws and typically requires parental consent for minors.

The NEA position on social transition

The NEA's stance on social transition in schools is outlined in its guidance for educators. Key elements include:

Affirming student identity: The NEA promotes affirming a student's self-asserted gender identity, stating that schools should honor a student's chosen name and pronouns without requiring parental consent, legal documents, or a medical diagnosis.

Privacy over parental notification: The NEA counsels schools on how to create "gender support plans" that may intentionally exclude parents if there are concerns about their potential negative reactions. The guidance advises staff to prioritize the student's privacy, especially if the student does not have a supportive family.

Access to facilities: The NEA supports providing transgender students with access to restrooms, locker rooms, and overnight accommodations that align with their gender identity.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bergen County Education Association Affiliation

The Bergen County Education Association (BCEA) is affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA). This affiliation allows BCEA to connect with a larger network of educators and benefit from the resources and support provided by the NEA.

Affiliation of Ridgefield Education Association

The Ridgefield Education Association (REA) is affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA). This connection allows REA members (Students are not mentioned) to benefit from the resources, support, and advocacy provided by the NEA at both state and national levels.

What is the Democratic Committee of Bergen County's policy on Gaza?

As of October 2025, the Democratic Committee of Bergen County has not adopted an official, unified policy statement specifically on the conflict in Gaza

. Like the national Democratic Party, the Bergen County committee contains a range of views on the issue, which has caused internal division and has been largely addressed on an individual basis by local Democratic officials.

Key points regarding the party's position:

No formal resolution: Unlike the national Democratic Party (DNC), which saw failed attempts to pass resolutions on Gaza in August 2025, there is no public record of the Bergen County committee voting on or passing its own resolution.
Members' individual actions: The public record on the issue mostly reflects the differing stances and actions of individual Bergen County Democrats, particularly elected officials.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer: The U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 5th congressional district, which includes a portion of Bergen County, has shown strong support for Israel. This includes attending a vigil for the October 7th attack, speaking out against Hamas, and dedicating a street to a Tenafly resident who fought against terror in Israel.

Congresswoman Nellie Pou: While not a Bergen County official, she represents a district close to the county and has called for a permanent ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid to Gaza. She faced push back for a trip to Israel.

Local dissent: The Israel-Gaza conflict has also caused friction at the municipal level within Bergen County. In Teaneck, a suburb with a large Jewish population, a pro-Israel resolution passed by the town commission in 2023 led to protests and resignations from the local advisory board on community relations

The diversity of opinion among Bergen County Democrats mirrors the broader national division, with both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian sentiments represented among elected officials and constituents.

Can anyone trust a Political Party without a fixed set of values. Voting Democrat is voting for the confused and disoriented

Senator Tom Cotton has recently alleged that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has "deep ties to terrorist organizations like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood" in letters to the IRS and the Department of Education

Cotton's office asserted that "substantial evidence confirms CAIR has deep ties to terrorist organizations".

Senator Cotton's accusations included claims that CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial and was identified as part of the Muslim Brotherhood's "Palestine Committee". He also alleged that CAIR's founders attended a 1993 meeting of Hamas supporters and highlighted a statement by CAIR's executive director, Nihad Awad, which Cotton interpreted as supporting the October 7th attacks.

· Background information includes the FBI ending outreach with CAIR in 2009 due to concerns from the Holy Land Foundation trial. While the UAE designated CAIR as a terrorist organization in 2014, the U.S. State Department criticized this action. No legal judgment has designated CAIR as a terrorist organization. Some lawmakers have renewed efforts to designate CAIR as a terrorist organization, and resolutions against CAIR have been passed in Texas and Florida.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Teachers, anti-union firm sue NJEA

Lawsuit alleges a misuse of union dues

Mary Ann Koruth

NorthJersey.com USA TODAY NETWORK – NEW JERSEY

Former New Jersey Education Association leader Sean Spiller is named in a lawsuit filed by two teachers who allege that around $45 million in union money was wrongly spent on Spiller’s run for governor this year. YANNICK PETERHANS/NORTHJERSEY.COM

Two public school teachers have sued the state’s largest teachers’ union, the New Jersey Education Association, and its former president and former Montclair mayor, Sean Spiller, for allegedly spending around $45 million in union dues on Spiller’s failed run for the Democratic ticket in the upcoming gubernatorial election on Nov. 4.

Spiller’s long-shot bid ended when he dropped out of the Democratic primary after losing to Rep. Mikie Sherrill of Montclair.

The plaintiffs are Marie Dupont, a teacher of 18 years in Roselle Park, in Union County, and Ann Marie Pocklembo, who has taught in Hamilton Township, in Mercer County, for 30 years.

Representing the teachers is the Fairness Center, a nonprofit law firm offering free legal help to people “hurt by public-sector union officials.”

“Our teacher clients believe that NJEA officials misled their members when they used teachers’ dues in ways not consented to by the teachers, and to pursue their political ambitions,” said Nathan McGrath, president and general counsel of the Fairness Center. During the 2025 campaign, he said, “the NJEA spent $40 million of members’ mandatory union dues to bankroll then-President Sean Spiller’s run for governor.”

The plaintiffs seek a judgment against Spiller and the NJEA separately, according to the lawsuit. They allege that Spiller, who was serving as NJEA president when running for governor, was “one of three union executives”who directed the union’s PAC, Garden State Forward, to send over $40 million to two other PACs, Protecting Our Democracy and Working New Jersey, which he allegedly knew would spend on his campaign.

The NJEA rebutted those allegations.

“This lawsuit is baseless and without merit,” NJEA Communications Director Steven Baker said in a statement. The member-led union “operates as a representative democracy.” “Our members’ decisions about which candidates to endorse and what resources to use in support of those endorsed candidates are made by our elected bodies,” he said. “We will defend the right of our members to join together in power to advocate for our profession and our students.”

Spiller did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Union members ‘had no say in the spending,’ suit says

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 1 in Mercer County, follows the NJEA’s move to push Sean Spiller as a 2025 gubernatorial candidate. The teachers’ union has long been a powerful player in state politics and elections with its endorsements and donations made through two political action committees, Garden State Forward and the New Jersey Education Association Political Action Committee. Both these PACs – tax-exempt entities created so organizations can make and accept political donations – are named in the legal complaint brought by the teachers.

Dupont, the Roselle Park plaintiff, said teachers like her “had no say in the spending,” during a press conference announcing the lawsuit. “Money that paid for giant billboards, television ads, thousands of mailers and other expenses came out of members’ paychecks,” she said, “even those who, like me, chose not to support the union’s politics.”

The legal complaint notes that while union members have the option of checking a box in their membership contracts granting permission for the NJEA to use dues for political work, the union “misrepresented” itself and used the dues anyway.

Dupont said that although she had checked off this option as a new member, she later changed her mind. She “chose to cease making voluntary payments to the NJEA PAC because she did not believe that its expenditures were in the best interests of NJEA members,” the complaint says.

“Our clients allege that their membership contract with the union made this kind of political donation optional,” and that by spending money on Spiller’s campaign, “union officials engaged in a conflict of interest and violated their fiduciary duty by using their control over the union and its affiliated or related political entities to advance Schiller’s political career on the backs of union members,” by “funneling” their dues into a series of political organizations, the Fairness Center said.

Second complaint also announced

A second matter also announced on Oct. 1, brought by the New Jersey Policy Institute with representation by the Fairness Center, involves complaints with the Internal Revenue Service and the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission requesting investigations into whether the union’s political spending violated tax and election laws.

The New Jersey Policy Institute was created in 2018. The group supported a burgeoning parental rights movement when it started in the state, taking anti-masking, anti-vaccine mandate and pro-school choice positions, in line with many conservative and Republican lawmakers.

The right-leaning Fairness Center was created in 2014 and represents union members who don’t want to pay mandatory dues to benefit from collective bargaining agreements, says InfluenceWatch. org, a website that tracks groups with public policy impact. It has also taken strong anti-DEI positions in recent years, and has accused labor unions of fueling campus antisemitism after Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The NJEA, which has worked to pass laws protecting teacher pensions in New Jersey, was the largest political donor to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in 2020 when it contributed $6 million to a nonprofit run by his allies.

“Our teacher clients believe that NJEA officials misled their members when they used teachers’ dues in ways not consented to by the teachers, and to pursue their political ambitions. The NJEA spent $40 million of members’ mandatory union dues to bankroll then-President Sean Spiller’s run for governor.”

Nathan McGrath

President, general counsel of the Fairness Center