This powerful labor leader thinks he should run New Jersey

MONTCLAIR, New Jersey — The New Jersey Education Association has long been a fixture in state politics.

Former GOP Gov. Chris Christie rose to national prominence in part from his public squabbles with the teacher’s union, the largest public-sector union in the state. And it remains a financial juggernaut in state politics, spending around $5 million in 2017 on an unsuccessful attempt to oust the state’s Senate president at the time.

Now, the union faces its most ambitious political goal yet: Getting its leader in the governor’s office.

NJEA President Sean Spiller is running for governor in a crowded Democratic primary next year. Aside from Spiller, there are three other declared Democratic candidates and two members of Congress expected to launch their candidacies after November’s elections. Spiller comes into the race with the union’s financial muscle and the support of its 200,000 members. An independent expenditure group run by former NJEA leaders estimated it will spend $35 million in the primary for governor.

It’s not Spiller’s first time running for public office. He most recently served one term as mayor of suburban Montclair, where he implemented a local rent control ordinance that could earn plaudits from progressives. But his tenure as mayor was also marked with controversy; the town’s chief financial officer accused Spiller of retaliating against her after she filed a whistleblower complaint against Montclair officials.

Spiller points to his time as a teacher as separating him from his opponents, trying to bring an everyman appeal to Democratic primary voters — just as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz does the same as the nominee for vice president.

“This is a chance to have one of us become governor of this state,” Spiller said in a recent interview at French restaurant Faubourg.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

During your video campaign launch, you had mentioned making New Jersey more affordable and creating an “economy that works for the working class.” What actual policies do you implement to achieve those goals?

Everything I've tried to do in my time of service has been around looking at New Jersey and maintaining it as a quality, lovely place to live — but one that has to be affordable. Now, those policies are and can be and should be, extensive. They should look at things like … early quality childhood education. I know right now it costs $20,000 to send one of our children to that early quality childhood education. That's affordability. If we can make sure we've got policies that allow more and more children to go and be covered by the state, that's important.

I know at some point they're going to be looking at potentially going to college and college affordability. We've got to look at the structures there. And I think there's a lot of spaces, both in our community colleges, state colleges, others, where we can make sure that we're making sure it's affordable, not just relieving the debt on the back end, but make sure you can get there on the front end.

[As] mayor of Montclair, I've seen firsthand — especially during the pandemic — so many coming out of the city [to] Montclair, a very desirable place to live. But our housing prices [are] through the roof. And with that, rents. We had to enact a rent control law here, and very proud of that here in Montclair. We said “nope, we've got to cap this.” Housing costs are one of the big drivers.

The NJEA has been a very large supporter of Gov. Phil Murphy throughout his time as governor. What are some things that you think the Murphy administration has done well that you would like to build off of if you’re governor, and what are some things that you think have been mistakes?

Gov. Murphy, I think, has understood more broadly that investing in people is a benefit to us as a state. And that has meant a lot of things — [like] putting dollars into our schools, finally, that were underfunded by billions of dollars. That has meant our kids get a better quality education, our No. 1 schools in the nation. But it also has meant that local municipalities don't have to come up with those local property tax dollars to help fund those schools. That's a huge win-win, right?

Gov. Murphy understands certainly college affordability. … Gov. Murphy fighting along with us for raising the minimum wage. We know that every family in New Jersey struggles when you don't have a base salary that allows you to provide the basic necessities from your family and New Jersey, broadly, no matter the community you're in, is an expensive place to live.

I think where I'd say there's still opportunities for growth [is] around just bringing a different lived experience, with full respect to Gov. Murphy. Understanding that childhood early education piece — it's just a different lens, right? From his perspective versus a teacher like mine.

You had mentioned a success of the governor was raising the minimum wage. I know that [Jersey City Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve] Fulop has expressed support for bringing the minimum wage in New Jersey above $15 . Is that something that you would support, or you think that New Jersey should look into?

Yeah. Yes, I do.

Care to elaborate?

We know there are drivers already built in to increase as time goes forward, yes. But I think even beyond that, we all know that really, if we're talking about a livable wage in New Jersey, no one's thinking, that's $15, right? $15 is a great start.

So if you're governor, what would you want the new minimum wage to be in the state?

I think that's a conversation, right? One of the things that I think is important, and one of the frustrating pieces as an educator, is we often feel decisions are made to us and without us in the room …. I think it's important if you're having that conversation, you do have to get everybody at the table.

The NJEA’s super PAC, Garden State Forward, has spent at least $8 million towards a political nonprofit called “Protecting Our Democracy,” which is basically supporting you. How do you justify such a large sum of money originating from the union that's ultimately funding your gubernatorial ambitions?

We have a union that fundamentally supports our vision and goals for the state of New Jersey, and that means making sure that our communities [and] our families and our students can succeed.

We're a justice-centered union. We're focused on a number of issues, not just education. We're focused on housing, we're focused on good quality jobs. We're focused on clean drinking water. And we're not shy about pooling the resources of 200,000 members to say we're gonna fight for that. That's what being a union is all about, right? It's people coming together and understanding that as a group we have at least an ability to push back against the mega dollars, right? The one or two billionaires that can throw in at something.

Talking a little bit about your Democratic primary opponents — Fulop has run a campaign that's, as of now, been largely defined as being very critical of New Jersey's political machinery . He's criticized Democratic political leaders and the so-called county line, which placed party-backed candidates more prominently on primary ballots. Do you think that criticisms of New Jersey's political culture are warranted?

I think anyone who looks at New Jersey's political structure in the context of looking at others will sometimes scratch their head going, ‘Wow, that's that's interesting’ or ‘that's unique.’ And certainly it's always good, I think, to question something and to ask about it, and to say, ‘how do we make some changes,’ or ‘how do we make things better?’ That is absolutely fair.

For me, my goal, though, is to try and earn and work to get everyone's support in the state. Certainly, in the primary, every Democrat — and then, more broadly, in the general, every single resident in this state. And I think you do that through conversation. I think you do that through bringing forward your ideas and your vision. I think that's an important piece. Does that mean you reflect on and assess some of that political infrastructure along the way? Yeah, we should be looking at that as a party, and I think we are — some of it forced, through court cases and others.

Are there any taxes right now that you think ought to be raised, reinstated, or perhaps even created anew?

I think there always is an opportunity to look at, especially our brackets, that we have in New Jersey. Should you always be looking at that to make sure that those who are doing well, those who are earning high incomes, are paying their fair share, that's an important piece of it. They're relying on that same infrastructure that we all are, and, quite frankly, maybe more in some degrees, to more extent. I don't start from that position. I think we've got to look at everything.

I wanted to talk about your time as mayor of Montclair. When you were mayor, you received payments in lieu of health benefits [and] dental care which many have said that you were not entitled to. What's your explanation for that and do you regret taking those benefits?

I'm fortunate enough to have the benefits that I do, and say that, I don't need them … Many employers, if you don't take those benefits, will give you something that offset[s] — to encourage you not to take them. It's a savings for the municipality in this sense, or any employer. So that's what we did — we followed the advice of our counsel. We did what we were supposed to do in terms of filling out the forms. And that's literally where my thought process on it ended, of course, until it became a focus piece and certainly more throughout the state because everybody started to look at it. So whenever we looked at it, we immediately said, somebody assess this for us. And once we had that assessed … we made sure we're fully compliant with everything we're supposed to be doing, and that's what we've done.

Is it your contention that you were eligible to receive those benefits? Do you think it is right that you took them?

I leave it to someone else to decide. … So you rely on your experts in those spaces, and you listen to them when they say, here's what you have or don't have, and you follow their instructions.

The town reached a $1.25 million settlement with the town CFO that was based in part on a whistleblower complaint that had to do with those health benefits and which alleged that you had created a toxic work environment during your time as mayor. So I’m curious — what should voters make of both that complaint and the settlement?

In the position as mayor, when something is brought to your attention, you've got to address it. And specifically, when it was noted that an employee had an issue with another employee raising their voice … you got to address that, which is what we did.

If you were elected governor, what would be some executive actions or executive orders that you would take on your very first day?

I don't think I have an executive order ready to go on my very first day. … Let's have the conversation as a state. Let's have the conversation as just working class folks to kind of come together and share with me what you think is important in this state. That's where we're at.

And I think from there, we'll decide on what legislation we're going to try and push, how we frame up a budget, what executive order you're going to sign on the first day. I think those things come from conversation.

Something that's been very much a part of the national conversation recently is the politics of immigration. And there is a New Jersey component to that, since the Murphy administration has the Immigrant Trust Directive, which basically limits local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. And it will be upon the next administration to decide whether to continue that policy. Some people call it a sanctuary state policy. Is that something that you think that the state should keep in place?

I don't think we should be criminalizing someone trying to take an action to better themselves. When they're trying to flee something, or come to this country, or look for that American dream. We need, obviously, to have supports. We need to make sure that there are resources and investment in the success of our communities as a whole, so they can support an influx of individuals who may be coming in.

So you would support keeping in place the immigrant trust directive?

Some version of that, yeah. Of course, I think you look at everything. … I think everyone also still understands that while you talk about sanctuary states or sanctuary cities, what was left out of the original conversation [was], what are the resources that are provided to those communities? Because, very quickly, you can see a community becoming overburdened and the challenges that they face.

I leave you with the final word. It's shaping up to be a crowded field for governor in the Democratic primary. Why should you be the next governor?

This is our chance to do something differently. I think I bring forward a lived experience that's more in line with most New Jerseyans. … I think many can relate to and understand an experience growing up when you're in a wonderful place, but you weren't able to experience it fully as a family because you had parents who were pulled to do all they could to earn enough for you to stay here in New Jersey. And that's a challenge many are facing, right?

I think many can relate to the fact that when you're faced with unexpected costs and rising health care, or whatever it may be, that you shouldn't be on knife's edge, worried about what that means for you and your family, just because you want to live in a great state. I think this is our chance to just have a different perspective with different voices in the governor's seat.