2 days ago
Former NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney tapped to serve as Rowan University trustee
Former state Senate President Steve Sweeney will soon have a new addition to his resume — Rowan University trustee.
The longtime state senator and former gubernatorial hopeful was cleared by the state Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday morning for a post on the Rowan University Board of Trustees.
Sweeney, a Gloucester County Democrat, announced his run for the 2025 Democratic gubernatorial primary in December 2023. He lost earlier this month to Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-Montclair.
During his tenure as state senate president, some of the legislation that passed included bills that increased New Jersey's minimum wage and expanded family leave.
He lost his seat in the Legislature, a shocking upset in 2021 by an unknown truck driver, now former state Sen. Ed Durr.
From Trenton: NJ appears poised to hike sales tax on cigarettes, vapes in final state budget for 2026
Sweeney served as Senate president for 12 years. Since his loss in 2021, he has been the director of a bipartisan think tank at Rowan University. Before his time in Trenton, Sweeney was a member of the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
Professionally, Sweeney is an ironworker and serves as general vice president of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers, overseeing union locals in New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania.
Sweeney crossed party lines to work with former Gov. Chris Christie in 2011 to raise the retirement age and teamed up with him again to charge workers more for pensions, which brought tens of thousands of workers to protest in Trenton.
Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@
This article originally appeared on Steve Sweeney to become Rowan University trustee NJ
