Marc Kovar
Executive Vice President
Important elections quickly approaching:
Stand unifi ed in the voting booth
Election Day is Nov. 6! This is the last issue of NJ COPS Magazine
before the upcoming midterm national elections, which means it is
time for my annual rant about the importance of voting for NJ State
PBA-endorsed candidates. My message is simple: NJSPBA cam-
paign efforts on behalf of our endorsed candidates are important.
To confirm this, simply turn on your TV or radio at any point
during the day and see candidates once again spending millions of
dollars on advertising to swing your vote. As the partisan bickering
increases and the political advertising continues to spiral downhill
into personal attacks against candidates - with generally no effort
made to outline a vision for the future — the most trusted source of
election information should be the NJSPBA.
The truth is that elections have consequences, and we need to en-
sure that together we make every effort to elect representatives who
know and care about issues that matter to law enforcement officers
and our families. So this Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6, we cannot
waste an opportunity to demonstrate the power and influence of a
unified voice for law enforcement.
Every year, the NJSPBA goes through, process of endorsing can-
didates for public office. That process has only one objective in
mind: determining which candidates will best serve each of you.
These endorsements become more powerful if each of us makes it
our responsibility to fulfill one simple request on Election Day: vote
for candidates endorsed by the NJSPBA.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to vote and spread the
message to family and friends about NJSPBA-endorsed candidates.
During the past several election cycles, we have worked alongside
endorsed candidates, and together we have made an increasingly
powerful impact on important elections.
A good example of the strength our union has generated to pos-
itively influence the political process through organization and ac-
tion came two years ago, when our membership played a big part
in the election of Congressman Josh Gottheimer. We had members
working phone banks, going door to door and generally spreading
the word to get out the vote for Josh. With our support, he defeated
a longtime politician who was the only congressional member from
New Jersey to vote against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Com-
pensation Act — legislation that ensures that critical benefits for first
responders who have developed an illness related to responding to
9/11, and survivors of first responders who were lost and continue
to be lost, does not lapse.
We have to continuously show that our endorsements mean
something more than the paper they are written on. We need to
confirm our strength by helping elected officials and candidates
who support law enforcement and our families. It is each individual
member’s responsibility to stand unified with our brothers and sis-
ters when we enter the voting booth.
We are simply stronger together, and our votes are more valuable
when they are cast for NJSPBA-endorsed candidates. The NJSPBA
endorsements can be found on page 10 of this issue of NJ COPS
Magazine, alongside analysis of our endorsed candidates from
NJSPBA Director of Government Affairs Rob Nixon.
It remains a privilege to represent my PBA brothers and sisters,
and President Colligan and I will continue to fight for each and every
one of you every single day. This is my last written communication
before Election Day, so let me stress once again how important it is
for every one of our members and all their family members to be
part of our political action.
Please remember to vote! Please remember to support
NJSPBA-endorsed candidates!
If any members want more information on the upcoming elec-
tions and NJSPBA endorsements and campaign activities, please
reach out to your Local State Delegate or to me personally.
In closing, the NJ State PBA sends its thoughts and prayers to de-
partments and family members of Patrolman James White and Cor-
poral Zach Moak of the Brookhaven, Mississippi Police Department
and Officer Terrence Carraway of the Florence, South Carolina Po-
lice Department, who were gunned down in the line of duty recently.
Everybody be safe out there.
Welcome, New State Delegates
The following new State Delegates were sworn in during the NJ State PBA Convention on Sept. 21 at the Boca
Raton Resort & Club:
• Daniel Granato, Metuchen Local 60
• Christian Ostrowski, Scotch Plains
Local 87
• Anthony Cirri, Hoptcong Boro
Local 149
• William Kleeman, Westfield Local 90 • Jeffrey Bell, Middlesex County Sheriff’s
Department Local 165
• Giuseppe Rinzivillo, North Arlington
Local 95 • Michael J. Greco, East Windsor
Township Local 191
• Douglas R. Gumprecht, Sayreville
Local 98 • Anthony F. Piccinich, Pascack Valley
Local 206
• John Leshko II, Roselle Local 99 • Ryan Kernan, Kenilworth Local 135 • Beverly Dragotta, Cumberland County
Sheriff’s Officers Local 299
• Brian A. Newman, South Bound Brook
Local 148 • Douglas J. Herrmann, Monmouth
County Sheriff’s Officers Local 314
• Nicolas Salamone, Chester Township
Local 315
• John Petracci, Camden County
Corrections Local 351
• Owen Morrissey, Ho-Ho-Kus Local 353
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ OCTOBER 2018 7