The union cited GOP Rep. Scott Garrett's vote against legislation that included aid for 9/11 first responders.
WASHINGTON -- The union representing 33,000 New Jersey police officers endorsed Democratic challenger Josh Gottheimer over Rep. Scott Garrett on Monday, blasting the GOP incumbent's vote against aiding 9/11 first responders.
Garrett (R-5th Dist.) voted against a $1.1 trillion spending bill for the current fiscal year that included the Zadroga Act, making permanent a program providing health care and compensation for first responders responding to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The bill was named for James Zadroga a New York City police officer from North Arlington who died of a respiratory disease attributed to him breathing in dust at the World Trade Center site.
"It was simply unconscionable that he voted against health care for law enforcement and first responders in the wake of the horrific Sept. 11 attack," said Patrick Colligan, president of the New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association, at a press conference in Paramus. "Quite simply, there is no excuse."
The New Jersey State Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association gave the same reason when the union announced its support of Gottheimer last month.
Gottheimer, a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, called Garrett's opposition to the Zadroga Act "un-American."
Garrett said last December that he supported the Zadroga provision but not the entire "bloated" spending bill.
"This bloated $1.1 trillion spending bill doesn't do enough to address our nation's crippling debt, protect civil liberties, nor strengthen our national security and, therefore, I could not support it," Garrett said at the time.
Garrett co-sponsored the Zadroga Act with the entire New Jersey congressional delegation and campaign manager Sarah Neibart said that protecting first responders has been one of his "top priorities."
"Any assertion that he has been less than a full-throated champion for first responders is absurd and offensive," Neibart said. "Distorting the congressman's record is a campaign tactic that is so typical of a political insider like Josh Gottheimer -- shocking, yet not surprising."
Gottheimer welcomed the police endorsement by calling for a ban on people on the terrorist watch list from buying weapons, for stronger efforts to shut down Internet sites used to entice those living in the U.S. to commit terrorist acts, and for additional training resources for local law enforcement authorities.
The focus on terrorism came after a gunman murdered 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State.
Garrett is considered the only vulnerable N.J. House incumbent so far and the race between he and Gottheimer could be one of the most expensive in the U.S.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.