Why Is NJ's Teachers' Union Sitting out The Senate Race?

Answer? Read my new column at WHYY's Newsworks:

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.

Read the rest here.