Morris County Sheriff Jim Gannon spoke a lot about family when he took the stage in his first event since being named the candidate for Lt. Governor on the Republican ticket led by Jack Ciattarelli.
He introduced his daughter, son-in-law and girlfriend. He paid his respects to his late wife and parents. He called his late father, former New York City detective Eddie Gannon, his first hero.
“From the time I was about 9 years old, I followed him everywhere cops go,” he said. “Along the way, I learned the importance of taking care of people and helping them through some of the toughest times of their lives.
“Although I didn’t recognize it at the time, those days with my dad were the beginning of a career in public service.”
Gannon has spent four decades in almost every law enforcement role possible — from an officer in his hometown of Boonton, to the Morris County prosecutor’s office to the FBI National Academy and an elite joint terrorism task force.
This experience in law enforcement and dedication to public service are two of the main reasons Ciattarelli selected Gannon to be his running mate.
While introducing him, Ciattarelli said the state has crisis in public safety and law enforcement, and that the state has prevented “the men and women in blue” from doing their job.
Without citing statistics, Ciattarelli said nonviolent crime across the state is through the roof — noting break-ins, car thefts and flash mobs on the Jersey Shore.
Gannon can help restore order, Ciattarelli said.
“For the past 40 years, this man has walked the beat, he has served in every capacity there is in law enforcement, and he’s dedicated his life to protecting our community,” he said. “That’s exactly what our administration is going to do.”
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Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari was one of many members of law enforcement at the event, held at Johnnie’s Tavern, a local joint that anyone in Boonton — Gannon’s hometown throughout his life — knows well.
Like Gannon, Schillari has made public service his career, serving in the military, as a police officer in Secaucus and with the Sheriff’s office in Hudson County — where he has been sheriff the past 18 years.
“I’ve supported my country, my community and my county, and now I want to help the rest of the state,” he said.
Unlike Gannon, he always has done so as a Democrat.
That changed this week.
Schillari said he has been so impressed with Ciattarelli — and his attitude toward law enforcement — that he was planning to make a party switch. He said that was his plan, even though he had never met Ciattarelli.
When Ciattarelli selected Gannon, a longtime friend, to be his running mate, it sealed the deal.
“We need the best people to protect law enforcement,” he said. “And I think Jack Cinderella, along with Jim Gannon, will be the best for all law enforcement in this great state of New Jersey.”
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To be sure, the event was all about law enforcement.
Ciattarelli rattled off a number of goals.
- To flip 13 seats in the Legislature and create a Republican majority in the Legislature for the first time since the turn of the century;
- To attack the affordability crisis in this state by responsibly reducing the size and cost of state government to afford tax cuts for individuals and businesses;
- To improve public education by moving to a curriculum that focuses on critical life skills, vocational training with an age-appropriate teachings that respect the rights of parents.
Ciattarelli said Gannon can help him achieve all of this.
“We’re a campaign that’s about people, not power or politics,” he said. “Jim Gannon has always been a man of the people.
“This campaign is all about a vision for New Jersey, not division. Jim Gannon has always been about unity.
“You’ve seen it time and time again from someone who’s dedicated 40 years of his professional life to improving the community.”
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Gannon showed his stump-speech chops as well, railing against what he called Democratic party failures.
“To those of you here today and those who will watch, listen to read these comments, let me be clear: New Jersey under one-party Democratic rule in Trenton is broken,” he said.
Gannon said Trenton Democrats are spending and borrowing too much. Taxing and tooling too much. Overdeveloping the suburbs – and forcing failed energy policies that have resulted in higher utility bills.
Gannon saved his best lines for what he knows best: Law enforcement.
“Trenton Democrats are rewarding law breakers and coddling criminals while making things harder for all the good people who work hard and play by the rules,” he said. “It’s no wonder that most residents will tell you New Jersey is headed in the wrong direction.
“That we’ve lost our way as a state, that they’re making plans to leave because it simply can’t afford to stay.
“Folks, it’s time for a change.”
That includes a change in immigration policies.
“We’ll repeal the dangerous sanctuary state and restore cooperation between immigration authorities known as ice and law enforcement officers throughout our state,” he said. “We’ll take the handcuffs off our police and restore law and order.”
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Gannon closed by quoting a famous Republican. No, not that one.
“Many years ago, one of our heroes, President Ronald Reagan, posed a simple question to America,” he said. “He asked whether they were better off than they were four years ago. Today, I’m asking the same question to New Jerseyans:
“‘Are you better off after eight years of Phil Murphy as your governor?’
“‘Are you better off after 25 years of Democrats controlling the state legislature?’
“‘Are you better off after six years of Mikie Sherrill in Congress?’
“Of course you’re not,” he said.
Gannon then delivered a final promise.
“Phil Murphy, Mikie Sherrill and Trenton Democrats made this mess,” he said. “The last thing we should do is to trust them to clean it up.
“That is why, over these next 104 days, I plan to do everything in my power to spread Jack’s positive message of common-sense solutions and transformative change for our state.
“I know in my heart that Jack is the right man to fix our state and make it a better, more affordable, safer and more prosperous a place to live, work, pray, raise a family, start a business and retire.”
