Pro-Life Groups Endorse Bill Spadea to be New Jersey’s Next Governor
While it may feel like the 2024 elections just happened, the 2025 elections are already well underway. New Jersey and Virginia have gubernatorial races in 2025 which will have major implications for the right to life in each of those states.
In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy (D), a pro-abortion Democrat who was first elected in 2017, is ineligible to run for a third consecutive term.
National Right to Life and its state affiliate, New Jersey Right to Life, recently announced endorsements of Republican businessman and media personality Bill Spadea to be New Jersey’s next governor. Spadea has spent the last decade speaking with and listening to New Jersey residents every morning as the host of the Bill Spadea Show on NJ101.5 FM. Electing Bill Spadea will put a stop to the abortion extremism that Governor Murphy and pro-abortion lawmakers have imposed on the state.
“Our campaign’s momentum continues to pick up speed and the endorsement from National Right to Life is a big boost to our efforts,” said Spadea. “Coming on the heels of the endorsement from the New Jersey Right to Life PAC, this endorsement cements our position as the pro-life candidate for Governor in New Jersey.”
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Over the last seven years, Governor Murphy signed numerous pro-abortion bills, funneled millions of dollars to abortion providers, and wielded executive power to target pregnancy help centers. Governor Murphy actively sought to make New Jersey a destination state for abortions up to the moment of birth. “New Jersey will always be a safe haven for reproductive freedom,” he declared earlier this year.
Upon taking office in 2018, Murphy’s top priority was doling out taxpayer dollars to abortion providers whose public funding had repeatedly been vetoed by his predecessor, Republican Governor Chris Christie. In fact, the very first bill Murphy signed allocated $7.5 million in state funding to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider and an organization whose political arm (coincidentally, surely) endorsed his gubernatorial campaign. With the CEO of the abortion giant in attendance, Murphy remarked at the bill-signing ceremony, “I am so proud that this will be bill No. 1 signed by me as governor.”
Governor Murphy’s cozy relationship with the abortion industry has raised red flags for years. In 2020, while serving as the chair of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), Murphy was accused of trading Planned Parenthood subsidies for DGA donations. https://savejersey.com/2020/
New Jersey already allowed abortions throughout pregnancy for virtually any reason but in 2022, Governor Murphy signed the so-called “Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act,” further cementing the state’s position as one of the least protective in the nation for unborn babies and their mothers. Later that year, while lambasting the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision (2022) for giving greater latitude to states to determine their own laws on abortion, Murphy signed two additional pro-abortion bills. These included a bill to broadly shield abortionists from legal action.
Unlike abortion businesses, which have received gift after gift from the Murphy Administration, the state’s pregnancy help centers have faced open hostility and brazen attempts to undermine the critical work they do in providing alternatives to abortion. Attorney General Matthew Plakin, appointed by Governor Murphy, collaborated with Planned Parenthood officials to draft and issue a statewide “consumer alert” declaring without evidence that pregnancy help centers “provide false or misleading information.”
With the abortion industry enjoying unprecedented state funding and a concerted effort on the part of Governor Murphy to make the state a destination for out-of-state visitors seeking abortions, it should come as no surprise that the number of abortions in the state has increased dramatically during his tenure, according to reports. Researchers with the Rutgers School of Public Health in partnership with the New Jersey Family Planning League found that in 2020, the New Jersey rate of 29.2 abortions per 1,000 women was more than two times the national rate of 14.4. “Given its large population and high abortion rate, New Jersey has the sixth-largest number of abortions of any state,” their report concluded.
But in 2025, New Jersey will elect a new governor. This is an opportunity to change course and elect someone who will stand up for the rights and health of women AND their unborn babies. New Jersey can elect someone who will take the target off the backs of pregnancy help centers and instead bolster the vital services they provide for women and families.
You may be thinking, “Isn’t New Jersey a reliably pro-abortion state? Isn’t electing pro-life candidate a longshot at best?” Historically, New Jersey has favored pro-abortion Democratic candidates. The state awarded its electoral votes to Democrats in every presidential election since 1992. In 2020, Joe Biden won New Jersey by a 16-point margin. But then something unexpected started to happen. Cracks began to appear in the Democratic hold on the state.
In 2021, just one year later, Governor Murphy came within a shocking 3 points of losing his reelection bid. In 2024, Donald Trump came within 5 points of carrying the state. For perspective, the 2024 presidential election was closer in New Jersey than in several states that are typically classified as battlegrounds like Arizona (which Trump won by 6 points), Ohio (which he won by 11 points), and Florida (which he carried by 13 points).
The U.S. Senate race in November between Congressman Andy Kim (D) and hotel entrepreneur Curtis Bashaw (R) was hardly noticed by the national media but it turned out to be closer than competitive races in Florida, Maryland, Montana, and Texas.
Murphy’s predecessor, Governor Chris Christie, a pro-life Republican, won the New Jersey gubernatorial race in 2009 and was reelected by an impressive 22-point margin in 2013. So, it’s definitely possible. After two terms of a Democrat in office, the time may be ripe for a flip from blue to red in 2025.
Several prominent New Jersey Democrats have already thrown their hats in the ring. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) has received the endorsement of EMILY’s List, the Democratic mega-fundraiser that only endorses women who advocate for policies allowing abortion without limits. For her time in Congress, Sherrill received a 0% pro-life rating with National Right to Life.
Also running for the Democratic nomination are Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), who also holds a 0% pro-life rating from National Right to Life, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller, Jersey City Mayor Stephen Fulop, and former State Senator Stephen Sweeney. Sadly, every Democratic candidate currently in the field holds pro-abortion views.
Among the Republican field, State Senator Jon Bramnick holds pro-abortion views. “Are you in favor of a woman’s right to choose? Of course I am,” he told the New Jersey Globe in January 2022. “I have always been one of the few pro-choice Republicans in my caucus.” Bramnick also told the publication that “he supports guaranteeing access to abortion under state law.”
If you live in New Jersey and want to help flip the governorship from pro-abortion to pro-life in 2025, the most important thing you can do is to register to vote. (And make sure that your pro-life friends and family are also registered!) As we begin the new year, perhaps registering at least one new voter could be a new year’s resolution for you…