The mayor of New Jersey’s fourth-largest city reaffirmed his support of Joe Biden’s re-election campaign and sharply criticized Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) for publicly stating that the president should not seek a second term.
Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage said on social media late Tuesday evening that he participated in a conference call with Biden.
“Either Trump or Biden? I am with the President,” Bollwage said. “Never want to rely on Mikie Sherrill for backup.”
Bollwage said, “Mikie may have served our nation, and I and others are thankful, yet her statement serves no purpose.”
“The choice is Biden or Trump,” Bollwage said. “Who will Mikie choose?”
Sherrill, who is widely expected to seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2025, became the ninth House member to urge Biden to drop out of the race.
The three-term congresswoman and former Navy helicopter pilot said worries about a second presidency for Republican Donald Trump prompted her call for Biden to end his presidential campaign and “help lead us through a process toward a new nominee.”
“When I think of my four children and all of the rights that another Trump presidency endangers, and in light of the recent Supreme Court decision that gave inordinate power to the President of the United States, the stakes are too high – and the threat is too real – to stay silent,” she said. “I realize this is hard, but we have done hard things in pursuit of democracy since the founding of this nation. It is time to do so again.”
Soon after Bollwage’s call ended, the board of the National Democratic Mayors Association announced its support of Biden.
He said he was sending a check to the Biden campaign and “will help any way possible.”
Bollwage is on the ballot this year as a candidate for re-election to an eighth term as mayor of Elizabeth. He was elected in 1992 after ousting seven-term mayor Thomas Dunn in the Democratic primary. He is the longest-serving mayor of a city of more than 100,000 people in the U.S.