- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of State of Affairs with Steve Adubato has been provided by The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

A New Jersey health foundation program.

Kean University.

Where Cougars climb higher.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

Keep getting better.

Johnson & Johnson.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

United Airlines.

And by The Fund for New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by Meadowlands Media.

A print and digital business news network.

And by NJ.Com.

Keeping communities informed and connected.

[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program with our good friend, and media colleague, Tom Hughes, Chief Executive Officer of ROI-NJ.

Their website is up.

ROI-NJ, one of our longtime media partners.

Good to see you, Tom.

- Hey, awesome, thanks, Steve, good to see you too.

And thanks to your team.

- You got it.

Hey, listen, let's talk about this.

The capacity to care, putting yourself first without guilt, this is a six part series with women, about women, about a whole range of issues women face.

Talk about it, Tom.

- That's right, yeah.

So ROI-NJ serves as the nexus for these kind of conversations, the platform for women.

You know, if we look at the EWNJ study from 2025.

- The Executive Women of New Jersey.

- The Executive Women of New Jersey study, the gender diversity study, having diversity on the board, having diversity on boards, or within organizations, or women in top leadership positions makes a difference on so many levels in an organization.

And with that in mind, but even prior to that, the importance of women in business, and leadership roles, is something that we have, sort of, dwindled down on.

And one of those opportunities that we looked at to form this series for women.

- By the way, check out the ROI-NJ website to see, is it on video, Tom?

- It's on video, yes.

We have coverage, both print and digital coverage, of the event on ROI-NJ.

- And as ROI engages more in video content, let me also share that we're gonna be expanding our partnership with ROI, to provide more of our content there.

We don't have the luxury, I'll get into our series Media Matters in just a moment.

Nobody has the luxury to say, "This is all we're gonna do, print or video."

This... You gotta be there for everyone.

Is that an exaggeration, Tom?

- No, I think you're right on the money, Steve.

You have to be on all platforms, right?

So you have to have the right content.

When you have the right content, it needs to be disseminated over all platforms.

It's the only way to do it.

Your viewers, your readers, are coming from all over, you know, from New Jersey, we're New Jersey centric, but our readership is statewide, even in other countries.

And in the United States.

So all states, countries, and, of course, the state of New Jersey, which is our focus.

But you've gotta be on all sorts of platforms.

- And you have a video team.

A video journalist?

- Yeah, so what we started was a video journalist, about three or four months ago, covering the events, interviewing, both with video and having the written word.

And you say, "Why are you doing that," right?

It's a big job.

Well, it is, but it also attracts a new generation of readers for us.

Right, so we have our core group of readers who typically like the print or digital product.

And then we have those, yeah, same, same.

And then we have those that want snippets of information.

And that could be through our video, and it could be right on the ROI site, or through social media platforms, which we are aggressively growing as well.

- And the reason we're focused on media matters, and saying media matters, because this is at a time where there's a lot of flux, a lot of uncertainty in the media landscape in the state of New Jersey.

But as I said, many times, we will, our program in "State of Affairs," "Think Tank," "One-on-One," and Remember Them, will be a part of whatever that platform is, or those platforms are, moving forward.

So, let's shift gears if we could here.

ROI deals in a whole range of topics and issues.

Would you say business, the business community, is your primary audience, Tom?

- That's right.

Yes, the business community is our primary audience.

And our news has some business relevance to it.

- Okay, there's a whole bunch of other topics, whole bunch of other listings, and go on the site to find out more.

But I'm gonna ask you this, new governor, Mikie Sherrill, top two or three business-centric, which also are related issues, transportation, childcare, et cetera, et cetera.

Top two or three business issues the Governor needs to tackle would be, should be?

- Affordability in the state.

Affordability running a business in the state, living in the state.

We need some assistance in education, as well.

And energy.

What are we doing in the state, right?

You look at New Jersey as a consumer of energy.

And we have, you know, other storage, data storage, that is going to be pulling as well.

We've gotta get that under control.

That grid, what that looks like, needs our attention.

And, I think, she'll be able to help us there as well.

- To what extent do you believe it's the role of an organization like yours, a media entity like yours, to help business owners, entrepreneurs, others who care about what's going on in the state, Return on Information, which is the name of the publication.

How do you see your role helping people better understand AI, and how you're not gonna be able to avoid it, so you better figure out how to use it and make it work for you?

- Well, look, it's everywhere.

You know, during, what was it, 2019, during the pandemic, a little pre-pandemic, AI was being tested and charted among many organizations, right?

And now, fast forward five years, look, we are using it to help us organize our editorial inbox, for example, right?

We get hundreds, hundreds, hundreds of information.

The mundane information, the mundane job of taking that information, and putting into organized copy for our editorial teams to look at, or organized content for editorial teams to look at, is something that, you know, we are already doing right now.

You know, so all almost acting as an agent for us to help organize data, so.

- Hold on, one second.

How?

At what point, from your perspective, you're an employer, I'm an employer, we want all of our people to work, do well, take care of their families, et cetera.

At what point, maybe there's not an exact point, does AI no longer become an assist, or a tool, and start to replace people, employees?

- Look.

Look, if you're not at the table, understanding how to use it, then you're not gonna be a part of the discussion.

I think that that will be down the line for sure.

You know, it's a terrific tool.

And I think we, as employees, employers, actually, have to make our teams comfortable with it, expose them to it, and help them understand that this is part of the play right now.

And if we don't, it's shortsighted.

- You can't avoid it.

- You can't avoid it.

Absolutely not.

- You can't even say it's coming, it's here.

- It's here.

- And by the way, our colleague, Mary Gamba, who runs our operation day-to-day, and works with our series Lessons and Leadership, Mary's been using it for years, and then said to me, "Steve, you should need to start using it."

I thought I understood what it was and what it could be.

Not even close.

Can't avoid it.

Lean in.

And Tom, last word, confident about the media landscape in the state of New Jersey moving forward?

Confident?

- Steve, confident there's not enough of it.

There's a lot of news out there.

We have platforms, there's plenty of content for all of us, absolutely.

- Tom Hughes, Chief Executive Officer at our media partner at ROI-NJ.

Wish you and your team all the best, Tom, thank you.

- You too, Steve, thank you.

Thanks to your team for having me.

- You got it, stay with us, we'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To see more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato programs, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We're joined once again by our good friend, Linda Schwimmer, who is President and CEO of the New Jersey Healthcare Quality Institute.

Their website is up.

Linda, good to have you with us again.

- Thank you so much, Steve.

Good to be back.

- You wrote an op-ed piece I wanna jump on, follow up on, together with Heather Howard, the former head of the department of edu- Excuse me, Department of Health in the state who's down at Princeton right now, and Eddy Bresnitz.

Interesting piece on a lot of levels, but the thing I took away from it is that there's tremendous confusion right now in the minds of the public about vaccine policy, things coming out of Washington, RFK Jr., Trump administration, and things being said in the state of New Jersey, and also with the new governor, Mikie Sherrill.

Who the heck are people supposed to go to get the right information, please, Linda?

- Steve, that is a great question, and I think that is one of the main reasons why Heather and Eddy and I wrote that op-ed.

Right now, the way it works in New Jersey is the state is tied to the CDC.

So if the state wants to make any kind of- - Centers for Disease Control.

- That's right, so if the state wants to make any kind of requirements, let's say, for kids to be able to go to daycare, school camp, or requirements on health insurance companies to require payment, it's all tied to CDC recommendations.

And the problem with that is exactly what you just said.

There's a lot of confusion coming out of DC.

Unfortunately, a lot of the things coming out of DC are not based on decades of evidence and science.

And so what we were calling for was really, we have to untie our state to the CDC and to be able to have that flexibility to look towards other science-based, trusted, reliable organizations to guide that healthcare or to guide that vaccination advice and requirements here in New Jersey.

- Linda, if Florida is doing what it is doing through Governor Ron DeSantis and saying, "Not required, vaccines not required for kids anymore," right?

And New Jersey has a very different policy, but people are moving back and forth and flying Florida to New Jersey, New Jersey to Florida, and all the places around the country.

What the heck happens then?

- It is a mess.

So what the heck happens and what can we do as parents, as community members, and as people in public health to really just protect as many people as possible?

It's to follow the science and to make sure that we're giving access to vaccines and that people know the evidence that we've got trusted messengers and people are getting vaccinated.

That's what New Jersey is trying to do.

We joined a coalition of a bunch of other northeast states to continue to look at the science, to put together recommendations, and then public health communications for folks, because if people are vaccinated, even if they're exposed to measles or COVID or the flu, they have a much better chance of preventing getting any of those diseases, and they have a much better chance of avoiding hospitalizations or life-threatening illness.

And that's really what the vaccines are trying to do, to avoid hospitalizations, life-threatening illness, and death.

That's really why we get vaccinated.

- Linda, what's the danger of losing our trust?

And the graphic will come up, trust in public health.

- Yeah.

- What's the danger in your mind of people losing trust in our public health system A and B. You use the word science a lot.

There are a significant number of folks out there who believe that science is a matter of opinion.

And where you can find your own science based on the algorithm on your phone.

A, what's the problem when and if we lose, well, we are losing trust.

Many are losing trust in public health.

Public health system.

- Yeah.

- And B, thinking that science is a matter of politics and opinion.

- Yeah, all right, so we'll start with A.

- Sure.

- You know, one of the ways that we can build trust is by divorcing this from politics and to just be clear about what we know and what we don't know and what the purpose is for whatever the public health recommendation is, whether it's vaccines, whether it's a mask, whether it's cohorting, whatever it is.

Just to level with people.

People know when you're a straight shooter.

And so that's really important.

I think another thing that's really important is having a connection to somebody within the healthcare system that you trust.

It could be a doctor, a nurse, a clinic, a regular place to go to get care where you know that the folks there have your best interests at heart.

You and I have talked a lot in the past about primary care, and I think that is one of the real critical issues here.

We need to continue to support primary care, to invest more and to make sure that people have access to a place to go for ongoing care, so that then they can have that relationship with their doctor or nurse.

And if they've got really valid concerns or questions or a neighbor or something they saw on TikTok, whatever it is, that they're not gonna be belittled, but somebody will walk through and explain it to them.

And maybe there's a couple options for how you time or pace the vaccinations.

Those are all important questions to have and to explain things.

So it's that trust.

That's really what I'm getting at with your first question.

- Okay, let me just real quick, got a minute left.

Disabuse folks of this.

RFK Jr.

heads up public health in this nation has talked a lot about vaccines and autism.

He says it's unclear.

More research needs to be done.

Help folks understand what the science says about vaccines, MMR vaccine and autism.

- Sure.

- What does it tell us?

- So I'll be very clear that I am not an epidemiologist or a medical professional.

I'm a health policy professional.

But that's why I wrote that op-ed with Heather and with Eddy who was the state epidemiologist and is a physician as well.

- What does Eddy say?

- All of the evidence out there says that these vaccines, these childhood vaccines are safe.

There's no evidence that they're causing autism.

And the risks of children avoiding getting vaccines are great.

Childhood vaccines have saved untold millions of lives over the past 50 years.

And it is critical that New Jersey's children continue to get vaccinated, and if parents have concerns, they should talk to their pediatricians about this.

Pediatricians are there to have these conversations with parents, - Linda Schwimmer, President and CEO of New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute.

Linda, thank you once again for helping us better understand.

We appreciate it.

- Sure, thank you.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To see more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato programs, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We're now joined by Dr.

Patricia Campos-Medina, who is President of Latina Civic Action.

Good to see you, Doctor.

- Thank you so much for having me back.

- Now, put me on the spot right now.

You said I could call you Patricia, but the real appropriate way to pronounce your first name is- - Patricia.

- I like how you said it better.

- (laughing) You can do it, Steve.

- I know, and listen, you were the Vice Chair of the Mikie Sherrill for Governor campaign.

Did you, do you admit under oath, that you helped the new governor to learn to speak Spanish as effectively as she did?

- We gave her some tips of things that she should do and say that will make her seem, you know, interested and part of the Latino community, and she took it all and then expanded on it because she's a quick learner and she really enjoyed speaking Spanish.

- Yeah, and she has a whole challenging agenda to deal with.

Let do this, we'll talk about government, Doctor, and policy in a second that the new governor faces.

Why do you think, give us a short version, Donald Trump in 2024 won the Latino vote with 56% of the vote, and in 2025, Mikie Sherrill, the Democrat, had over well over 50%, am I correct?

- Yes, over 56% of the vote with a margin of, you know, 68% of those Latinos voting for her is amazing.

- What happened?

Oh, wait, hold on, I got that wrong.

68% of Latinos?

- 68% of Latinos voted for my Mikie Sherrill for Governor.

And the highest number or percentage of Latinos voting for a gubernatorial candidate.

That number had only been achieved by another former senator that we won't name, but he was the only one who would get those numbers that high, and Mikie Sherrill was able to get them that high.

- So Donald Trump does well in 2024 with the Hispanic community.

Mikie Sherrill, the Democrat, largely, she runs against him and Jack Ciattarelli.

What are some of the main reasons why Governor Sherrill, did so well, then Candidate Sherrill, with the Hispanic community?

- First of all, from the beginning of this campaigning, I was proud to endorse her back in January.

So I spent 10 months with Mikie Sherrill traveling up and down the state, and we were very focused that what we needed to do was to understand what were the concerns of Latinos on the ground, what they wanted to hear, and then build relationships on the ground so that they could get to know her.

And we knew from the beginning that New Jersey Latinos were as concerned about the economy as all of New Jerseyan.

And we needed to focus on giving them solutions to their economic concerns.

And I think that that's how Mikie Sherrill was disciplined all along in this campaign, because she understood that you do not talk to Latinos in any other different manner that you talk to suburban voters, or urban voters.

People want solutions, and she was focused on doing that.

But then we did something that we needed to do better than 2024.

And that was to build relationships on the ground, to create a network of leaders that believed in Mikie and wanted to help her succeed.

And that's what we spent the time during the primary doing.

So when we got to the general, we already had a network to build upon so we can build the infrastructure for getting out the vote.

- Okay, now, where does immigration, the role of ICE and mass deportation fit into this equation regarding the Latino vote?

- Latinos, first and foremost, were concerned about their economic realities.

They are being crushed by economic concerns about their businesses not having enough access to loans, their kids not being able to get jobs, their communities feeling unsafe.

So when Donald Trump in 2024 promised them solutions to those issues, they took a chance and they said, oh, he's not gonna do what he's saying he is gonna do, he's gonna get rid of the criminal elements in our communities, which all of us are concerned about the criminal elements in our community.

So they listened to that because in 2024 and prior to that, Democrats were not really talking about how the Democrats were gonna solve their economic concerns.

We failed in the communication, but we also failed in actually creating an infrastructure to get out the vote.

I always say, and I'm a broken record on this in New Jersey politics, that what the Democratic Party have failed to do in the last 10 years was to keep the local leaders engaged and to create the the GOTV infrastructure to get the vote out.

- To get out the vote, right.

- To get out the vote.

Democrats voted by staying home.

It's not that they voted in great numbers for Donald Trump, it's that a lot of Latinos stayed home in 2024.

So what we needed to do, and I understood it very clearly, and this is what the approach that we took on the Mikie Sherrill campaign, is that we needed to give Latinos a reason to come out and vote.

And that's how we took back the gains of the Republican Party in places like Passaic.

We actually, with the support of the Democratic Party, with the support of the DNC, and with the support of national organizations like UnidosUS Action, we actually built an infrastructure through communication, through Get Out the Vote, through a field program in which we were talking directly to Latinos and telling them this is what Mikie Sherrill will do for your economic concerns.

And she will protect the constitutional rights and the civil rights of everyone in New Jersey, including your immigrant neighbors.

Because what Trump did was to lie to Latinos that he was going to fix their economic problems, and he was only gonna get rid of the criminal immigrants, but he actually began to terrorize everybody.

- Doctor, lemme push back on this.

When the President was pressed on this, I believe by Nora O'Donnell at "60 Minutes," he said, when she said, "Look, you said you were gonna go after the criminal element of those who are here undocumented."

He said, "Yeah, we are, they're undocumented.

That's against the law.

De facto, they're criminals."

You're shaking their head, why?

- What Donald Trump has done is actually... Working has become a crime.

He has actually criminalized the idea of good, hardworking people going to work.

He is sweeping people out of warehouses.

He's sweeping people out of Newark in a shrimp, in a retail place.

People who are working, they're hardworking.

- But he says they're here illegally.

- Well, but the problem of illegality is a failure of the United States Congress to actually create a path to citizenship for hardworking immigrants.

That is the problem that we have in this country, that we have not resolved the problem of undocumented migration for work.

That doesn't mean that the immigrants who are working are criminals.

Those are hardworking people trying to make it and figuring out how they can access a process to permanent residency and a process to citizenship.

We don't have that, and for 30 years, the United States Congress has failed to create a path to legalization for hardworking immigrants.

And so New Jersey as a state doesn't act on immigration matters- - It's federal policy.

- But the governor of the state has a role to play in creating safety and security for all these citizens.

And that's what Mikie Sherrill said.

"I do not support masked agents terrorizing immigrants in our neighborhoods.

I do not support mass agents illegally shutting down businesses and impacting our local economy.

And I will use my power as a governor to stand up to Trump in how they terrorize our immigrant community."

That's the message that was able to penetrate, and that's why we're able to say we care about your safety.

We care about community and community policing, and creating good relationships.

Because ultimately, what New Jersey wants is a steady economy, opportunity for all, and protecting everyone from the abuses of Donald Trump, - Dr.

Campos-Medina, I wish we had more time.

We do not.

I promise we'll continue the conversation after this.

Thank you so much, Doctor, we appreciate it.

- Thank you so much, and there's so much more to dissect about the Latino vote.

I hope that you have me again soon.

- We will, I'm Steve Adubato.

That's a very smart political observer.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

A New Jersey health foundation program.

Kean University.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

Johnson & Johnson.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

United Airlines.

And by The Fund for New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by Meadowlands Media.

And by NJ.Com.

- (Narrator) This holiday season, the Community Food Bank of New Jersey the state's largest anti-hunger, anti-poverty organization, together with the hundreds of food pantries, soup kitchens and nutrition programs it serves is calling on all of us to unite.

Unite to end hunger.

Together we can make the holidays brighter for our New Jersey neighbors in need and help build a food secure future for our state.

New Jersey, now is the time.

Unite to end hunger.