June 12, 2025

Primary elections were held in New Jersey to determine the candidates who will ultimately run for Governor and the Assembly, along with a special election for a sole Senate seat, in November.

Among the democratic candidates, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (D, NJ-11) won the gubernatorial primary election with 34% of the vote. Her outcome was followed by Mayor Ras Baraka at 20%, Mayor Steve Fulop at 16%, Congressman Josh Gottheimer at 12%, Sean Spiller at 11% and former Senate President Steve Sweeney at 7%.

Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli won the republican primary by a generous margin at 68%. That was followed by Bill Spadea at 22%, and State Senator Jon Bramnick at 6%. This is Ciattarelli’s third campaign for the governorship and will be his second time running in a general gubernatorial election.

This was the first election without having the “county line” in place on the ballet for a full primary, which essentially grouped candidates by party endorsement — and the ballots instead used a modified “office block” design, grouping candidates by office while also enabling subtler indications of party endorsements. Despite that change, incumbents tended to be favored with a few exceptions in races that were anticipated to be close.

Notably, approximately 1.16 million people voted in this election — the highest ever turnout in New Jersey for a gubernatorial primary — with approximately 30% of registered democrats and 26% of registered republicans submitting their votes.

Below are outcomes in districts that were anticipated to be close races in addition to the gubernatorial outcome — as well as changes to incumbent tickets.

• Governor:
• Rep. Mikie Sherrill
• Former Asm. Jack Ciattarelli
• LD-35 (State Senate Race)
• Benjie Wimberly*
• Frank Filippelli
• LD-4
• Cody Miller*
• Dan Hutchison*
• Amanda Esposito
• Gerard McManus
• LD-28
• Cleopatra Tucker *
• Chigozie Onyema
• LD-31
• Jerry Walker
• Barbara McCann Stamato*
• LD-32
• Katie Brennan
• Ravi Bhalla
• LD-33
• Gabriel Rodriguez*
• Larry Wainstein
• LD35
• Kenyatta Stewart
• Al Abdelaziz*
• LD-37
• Ellen Park*
• Shama Haider*

(* indicates incumbent)

We are still awaiting outcomes in LD-20, where incumbent Annette Quijano was reelected but her former district-mate, Reginald Atkins, declined to run again.

The race for Governor is anticipated to be very close, competitive and expensive. Democrats have not won the governorship three terms in a row since 1961.

To watch Rep. Sherrill’s victory speech, click here.

To watch Jack Ciattarelli’s victory speech, click here.

While the State Legislature continues to hold hearings focused on the budget, several legislative committees have been having hearings to consider legislation. Some notable legislation includes:

• S3818 (Scutari/Bramnick) — Requires third-party discounts and payments for individuals covered by health benefits plans to apply to copayments, coinsurance, deductibles or other out-of-pocket costs for covered benefits.
• Passed by the Assembly (A5217) in March and was reported by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Monday. A broad variety of Patient advocacy organizations, including the Hemophilia Association of New Jersey, the American Cancer Society — Cancer Action Network, and other members of the coalition of Patients who represent the primary coalition of support for this bill. BioNJ is glad to see this legislation continue to make progress. Ensuring that the support intended for Patients is actually received by Patients is prudent and productive policy. We hope to see it make it to the Governor’s desk soon.
• S1042 (Greenstein/Smith) — "Protecting Against Forever Chemicals Act" establishes requirements, prohibitions and programs for regulation of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
• This bill is posted to be heard today in the Senate Environment & Energy Committee for discussion only. This is not the first time that the bill has been posted for discussion, and BioNJ is hopeful that the bill sponsors and Chair Smith continue to appreciate the complexity of how these compounds are used in healthcare while pursuing better health outcomes for all New Jerseyans.
• S4374 (McKeon/Lagana) — Requires disclosure of third-party litigation funding agreements and establishes certain responsibilities for litigation funders.
• Posted to be heard today in the Senate Commerce Committee. BioNJ is pleased to see this bill posted and hopes to see it continue to make progress until it receives the Governor’s signature.

The USTR has posted a request for comments from interested parties involved in drivers of the pharmaceutical costs that Americans encounter. As the request states:

“…the Office of the United States Trade Representative invites comments from interested parties regarding any act, policy or practice that may be unreasonable or discriminatory and that has the effect of forcing American Patients to pay for a disproportionate amount of global pharmaceutical research and development, including by suppressing the price of pharmaceutical products below fair market value in foreign countries.”

To submit comments prior to the June 27 deadline and read the posting by the USTR, click here.

Earlier this week, BioNJ released the following statement regarding the recent dismissal of the members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP):

Yesterday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced eight new members who will advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding vaccine policy, which is a reduction from the prior 17 members:

• Dr. Joseph R. Hibbeln, a psychiatrist and nutritional scientist who previously worked on nutritional neuroscience at the NIH;
• Dr. Martin Kulldorf, an epidemiologist formerly at Harvard Medical School, who has served on an FDA safety committee as well as the vaccine subgroup of ACIP;
• Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management;
• Dr. Robert Malone, a physician who conducted early research on mRNA vaccine technology;
• Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, who has previously held advisory roles at CDC and FDA, including as an ACIP member;
• Dr. James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician; 
• Vicky Pebsworth, a nurse with a PhD in public health, who has previously served on FDA vaccine advisory committees;
• Dr. Michael Ross, an obstetrician and gynecologist, who has served on a CDC advisory committee for the prevention of breast and cervical cancer.

BioNJ is hopeful that the members who now populate this body will be able to sustain its role as the international leader in enabling every single person to have access to life-saving, effective, and safe vaccines.

For coverage by STAT News, click here.

BioNJ was pleased to attend a press conference hosted by a coalition of pharmacists, techs, students and other coalition members in support of protecting New Jersey communities from confronting pharmacy deserts. The speakers covered everything from predatory PBM practices and protecting Patient access to care to preventing the dismantling of independent pharmacies. Several policymakers, including Assembly Speaker Coughlin, Senators Greenstein and Gopal, and Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Chair Freiman, provided their insights and support. 

To watch the press conference, click here.

On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing that focused on the FY-2026 budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with Director Bhattacharya. The hearing included discussion of budget cuts and reorganization of the Institutes, indirect cost caps and grant funding structures, the status of ongoing research grants and the use of artificial intelligence at the NIH among other topics.

To watch the hearing, click here.

Yesterday, the House Energy & Commerce Committee held a hearing entitled, “Made in America: Strengthening Domestic Manufacturing and the Health Care Supply Chain.” Invited witnesses included representatives of antibiotic manufacturers, pharmacists, the former Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and the Association for Accessible Medicines.

To watch the hearing, click here.

On May 20, the Washington Post Editorial Board published an article that explores the ramifications of the President’s executive order pursuing a most-favored-nation policy. The article describes the unique features of the development of novel therapeutics that distinguish this sector from others, including the role that intellectual property plays in enabling the sector to develop novel therapeutics and the international realities of how the sector operates.

To read the article, Click here.

The Vital Health Podcast, hosted by Duane Schulthess, has Jocelyn Ulrich — the Vice President of Policy and Research at PhRMA. Their conversation spans the perverse incentives that characterize pharmacy benefits managers, problematic features of the Inflation Reduction Act’s drug provisions, tariff risks and other topics.

To listen to the podcast, click here.

Last week, Ian McLaughlin, Ph.D., Vice President, Government Affairs at BioNJ, represented the life sciences sector at the second meeting of the Task Force.

The Task Force, which is devoted to focusing on the intersections of the health of people, animals and ecosystems, discussed potential opportunities for collaboration across academia, agriculture, veterinary sciences and the biopharmaceutical sector. A variety of opportunities were identified — in particular the urgency of confronting the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). BioNJ is pleased that the Task Force considers this to be a top priority and looks forward to providing as much support as we can to ensure that New Jersey — and the world — are prepared for this emerging public health concern.

For more information on the New Jersey One Health Task Force and its 2025-2029 Strategic Plan, click here.

BioNJ is the voice of New Jersey’s life sciences sector in Trenton and Washington. BioNJ’s Public Policy Support Series sponsorship opportunities are now available for 2025. Help ensure BioNJ continues to deliver our message of improved Patient access and enhanced innovation through a Public Policy Support Series Sponsorship.  

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