New Jersey voters are voting for what direction they want to see the US go towards, William F. Moen, Jr. said about the results of the recent state elections.

New Jersey is one of two states that have governor races following a presidential election in the previous year. Moen, Jr. discusses the effects that the presidential election has had on New Jersey’s elections in 2025.

“It is an opportunity for New Jersey to show the trend of where the 2026 midterms may go,” Moen, Jr. said about the importance of New Jersey’s governor race on a national level.

Moen, Jr. visited Stockton University for the Pizza and Politics event last Wednesday, which was hosted by the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy. He previously worked as a legislative aid for senator Cory Booker, and he has been the Deputy Majority Leader of District 5 in the New Jersey Assembly since 2022.

The students who attended were able to ask Moen Jr. about how the General Assembly for New Jersey plans to work with election winner Mikie Sherill regarding legislation set to go into effect in 2026.

When asked about the circumstances of the governor’s race on a local and national level influencing NJ resident’s decision to vote, Moen, Jr. spoke about the effects the Trump administration is having on NJ residents.

“What we saw yesterday […] there are a number of factors that people in their own lives were talking about that we saw are being affected by the actions by the Trump administration,” Moen, Jr. said.

Moen, Jr. spoke about the focus on cost of living that Sherrill had in her election campaign, which is a focus that he said provided her with a distinct advantage in the race.

The General Assembly of NJ is also focused on helping NJ residents with programs regarding property taxes. Among other projects, the General Assembly is focused on improving the infrastructure of New Jersey’s highways and exits, with Moen, Jr. saying that Sherrill has an opportunity to improve the transportation system in New Jersey.

He spoke about the collapse of a retaining wall along the southbound lanes of I-295 in March 2021, which was caused due to construction plans being modeled after groundwater studies and geotechnical data collected in 2007. The estimated $90 million in damages pushed the General Assembly to create new legislation calling for data collected for construction plans to have a fifteen year time limit to prevent another disaster like the wall collapsing from happening.

Tina Zappile, Director and Associate Professor of Political Science and one of the organizers of the event, spoke about the purpose of hosting events like Pizza and Politics that bring in lawmakers to speak with Stockton students.

“It is important for students to meet with lawmakers and have conversations with them and learn about role of public servants in creating local legislation,” Zappile said.

The William J. Hughes Center will continue to host Pizza and Politics in L-115 for the duration of the Fall semester.