Why New Jersey's teachers' union is on the sidelines in this Senate race

Laura Waters:

With less than four weeks until New Jersey's primary election for U.S. Senate, the latest Monmouth University poll shows that 49 percent of likely voters support Cory Booker, a lead that Monmouth pollster Patrick Murray calls "impregnable." Fellow Democrats Frank Pallone, Rush Holt, and Sheila Oliver garner anywhere from an anemic 12 percent to a moribund 3 percent. Rush Holt comes in at 8 percent.

U.S. Congressman Holt's middle-of-the-losers status is rankling his new consultant Bob Braun, who this week unleashed a tirade at N.J.'s primary teachers' union, NJEA. Braun, a 50-year veteran of the Star-Ledger and faithful labor union lackey, is appalled that traditional public school lobbyists have failed to endorse any candidate, let alone Holt. NJEA typically issues endorsements for U.S. Senate candidates - in 2008 it endorsed the late Frank Lautenberg (whose open seat is in contention) and in 2012 it endorsed Bob Menendez.

For Braun, NJEA's uncharacteristic passivity this election cycle is indefensible because Booker is a proponent of school vouchers, a controversial plan that would allow parents to use state money for private and parochial school tuition. NJEA hates vouchers and Braun bridles at the union's failure to interfere with Booker's coronation. He attributes NJEA's silence to cowardice:

Posted by Jim Zellmer at July 20, 2013 12:02 AM
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