To: Interested Parties
From: Eli Cousin, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: June 12, 2026
Subject: The Case Against Rosemary Pino
New Jersey families know they have a fighter in Nellie Pou. Born and raised in a working class family in Paterson, Nellie learned from a young age what it means to work hard and serve others. Those values led Nellie to dedicate her career to improving the lives of all New Jerseyans through public service. In the New Jersey State Assembly and State Senate, Nellie worked to invest in her community by fighting for better schools and safer streets. In 2024, New Jersey voters elected Nellie as the first Latina to represent the Garden State in Congress, knowing she would always fight for them. In Washington, Nellie has been laser-focused on driving down costs, protecting and advocating for the Latino community, and standing up to the chaos and cruel cuts that D.C. Republicans are pushing in Washington.
While Nellie has earned the trust of New Jersey voters, Rosemary Pino is a complete and utter fraud who has proven she is willing to do and say anything just to try and get elected. Months before announcing her flailing campaign for Congress, Pino was running an organization that endorsed Nellie in 2024. The Pino-led group called Nellie “the best candidate to represent us in Washington, D.C.” and said that “Nellie Pou has always fought for us, and now it’s time for us to stand with her.” We agree, Rosemary.
Now, Pino has undergone an extreme transformation to try and curry favor with Donald Trump and her D.C. party bosses. Pino is so shameless that she met with members of Trump’s team in Washington D.C., and pledged to enact the MAGA agenda. Her desperate flip-flop proves she would be just another rubber-stamp in Congress for Trump and D.C. Republicans’ extreme cost-spiking agenda that is hurting New Jersey families. D.C. Republicans’ hand-picked nominee is weak, has no money, and brings drama and shady antics wherever she goes. Add it all up, and it’s clear that Nellie will be resoundingly reelected come November.
Pino is a Complete and Total Fraud Who Can’t Be Trusted
It’s clear that Rosemary Pino is willing to lie to New Jersey voters and shapeshift to try and obtain power for herself. New Jersey voters see through that cynical ploy and know she cannot be trusted to represent them in Congress.
Before deciding she wanted a political promotion, Pino led a local organization that offered an unequivocal endorsement of the very representative Pino now claims to oppose. In late 2024, Pino’s organization praised Nellie for her “unwavering commitment to fighting corporate greed, ensuring affordable housing, and defending a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions.” Pino wasn’t a passive member of the organization – she was the founder and executive director. Just months after offering glowing praise, Pino turned around and launched her campaign against Nellie. If Pino is willing to say one thing one day and then flip-flop weeks later and say the exact opposite, how can New Jersey voters trust her in Congress?
Questions about Pino’s untrustworthy behavior don’t stop there. Pino founded a non-profit organization called ECHO which hosted fundraising events with local Clifton schools, where she was on the PTO. While Pino initially claimed the fundraiser profits were being split 50/50 between her non-profit and the schools, she later walked that claim back, and held two more fundraisers at other schools without clearly stating how much of the proceeds would go to the schools and how much she would skim off the top for her nonprofit. Pino declined to answer questions from local media about where the money went, and even suggested it was somehow bigoted or misogynistic to ask whether schools were actually getting their fair share of the donations. Parents and teachers alike argued all the proceeds should go to the children, not be split with Pino’s unaccountable non-profit.
While Pino misleads New Jerseyans, Nellie is focused on improving the finances of hardworking families. As a mother, Nellie knows New Jersey families are struggling with a high cost of living and is committed to bringing down prices. That’s why Nellie is fighting to bring down the costs of housing, groceries, child care, and more for working families. Nellie demanded that leaders in Congress take action to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits in order to lower health care costs for New Jersey families.
Pino Would Rubberstamp Trump and D.C. Republicans’ Extreme, Cost-Spiking Agenda
Pino is the handpicked candidate of D.C. Republicans for a reason: they know she will do whatever they ask her to do in Washington, including rubber-stamping their extreme agenda that is spiking costs and hurting New Jersey families.
You don’t have to look hard to find out that Pino has become a puppet for Trump and her GOP party bosses. Pino went to the White House to try and beg for Trump’s support and has touted herself as the MAGA candidate in the race. Local press reported that Pino admitted “she plans to work with Republicans to further President Donald Trump’s agenda” – the very agenda that is spiking costs and ripping away health care and food assistance from New Jersey families. In another pathetic attempt to cement her MAGA-bonafides, Pino endorsed and campaigned for Jack Ciattarelli who infamously said there was not a single issue that he disagreed with Trump on.
Pino has proudly expressed support for Trump’s agenda and pledged to do his bidding in Washington, saying: “I am running for Congress to work with President Trump.” Pino has even run paid advertising saying she is the MAGA candidate in the race. The Pino-Trump agenda includes the One Big Beautiful Bill, which made historic cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act that threaten to strip nearly 35,000 NJ-09 residents of their health care coverage. It also made the largest SNAP cuts in history, threatening food assistance for more than 1 in 10 households in NJ-09.
Another way that Pino fits in with her MAGA bosses: she is an anti-abortion extremist. Pino is running on a far-right MAGA agenda that includes being “unapologetically pro-life” and working to restrict a New Jersey woman’s right to an abortion. That’s why she was endorsed by New Jersey Right to Life PAC, “a prominent anti-abortion group.” Unlike Pino, Nellie will always fight to protect and expand access to affordable health care. Nellie led an amendment to protect Medicaid coverage for mothers and working families – but MAGA Republicans in Congress blocked her effort.
And Pino has campaigned on proudly supporting the unlawful actions we’ve seen from ICE, even as they engage in cruel and unjust raids that are targeting Latino communities – positioning her as out-of-step with the New Jerseyans. That’s a clear contrast from Nellie, who has been a leading voice in Washington holding ICE accountable. Nellie has introduced legislation to keep ICE from executing cruel mass deportation raids at World Cup games in New Jersey, and she successfully pushed for the firing of Kristi Noem due to her corrupt and failed leadership at DHS. While Pino cozies up with extremists, Nellie will always prioritize the safety of her community.
Pino is Unfit to Serve
New Jersey families deserve a congressmember who will fight for them, not one who is erratic and tied up in personal drama. Pino has proven she would be the latter and would contribute to the chaos we already see in D.C. from extreme and corrupt MAGA politicians. New Jersey families deserve better than that.
Pino’s time as a Clifton council member demonstrates just how unfit she is to serve in Congress. Pino caused an 18-minute delay during a city council meeting because she did not want to sit next to one of her colleagues. After the drama unfolded, residents criticized Pino’s immaturity. Local press reported: “After the vote and during the public comment section, residents in the audience expressed their dismay and disgust, telling council members that the preschool is across the street.” One local resident likened the disagreement to a “schoolyard squabble” and said that “this time could have been better spent addressing the issues that affect all Clifton citizens.”
Pino’s family was even involved in a physical altercation after one of Pino’s constituents questioned her leadership. Pino’s husband and son were removed by police after they “got into a tussle” with a city resident who asked Pino to resign from city council. Pino has also come under scrutiny for campaigning on public property without a license and for her “failure to file required documents as part of her campaigns.”
While Pino engages in questionable and unethical behavior, Nellie is focused on actually getting things done for her community, including investing in public safety. Nellie knows that keeping our communities safe means supporting first responders and police. As a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Nellie has been fighting to increase funding for police departments and programs that bolster community safety and trust, while also holding Trump’s ICE accountable. And she is a key leader on the task force working to ensure the FIFA World Cup, happening right in her community, is safe and secure.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New Jersey Globe: Group led by Republican CD-9 candidate endorsed Nellie Pou in 2024 [New Jersey Globe, 7/18/25]
Latino Leaders for Clifton, a civic organization that lists Pino as its founder and executive director, endorsed Pou for Congress, calling the then-state senator “the best candidate to represent us in Washington, D.C.”
New Jersey Globe: Republicans are in dire shape in NJ-9 fundraising [New Jersey Globe, 4/16/26]
Those are fundraising numbers that would make it difficult for… Pino to compete with Pou in November.
POLITICO: 1 party has a New Jersey recruitment bonanza. The other … not so much. [POLITICO, 8/24/25]
[Pino’s] already demonstrated vulnerability. Shortly after she declared her candidacy, Prempeh pointed out that a group she led last year endorsed Pou against him.
New Jersey Globe: N.J. Right to Life PAC announces 2026 endorsements, including Pino in NJ-9 [New Jersey Globe, 5/21/26]
Bergen Record: Residents compare Clifton council members fighting over seats to preschoolers [Bergen Record, 8/8/24]
Bergen Record: As chaos rages in Washington, Rep. Nellie Pou keeps her eye on Paterson and North Jersey [Bergen Record, 4/25/26]
InsiderNJ: Congresswoman Pou Votes to Reinstate the ACA Tax Subsidies and Lower the Price of Health Care [Insider NJ, 1/8/26]
NJ Spotlight News: At least $250 million coming from Congress for NJ local projects [NJ Spotlight News, 2/10/26]
New Jersey Globe: Pou raises another $460k, now has $1.5 million on-hand [New Jersey Globe, 4/8/26]
PATH TO VICTORY
New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District is one of the most racially diverse districts in the congressional battleground, with over a third of its residents being Latino. Voters recognize Congresswoman Nellie Pou as one of their own, a proud Paterson native and product of public schools. Nellie knows this district, and this district knows Nellie.
While the district swung towards Trump at the top of ticket in 2024, Congresswoman Pou overperformed Harris in 2024 by a 6-point margin – despite running an abbreviated campaign of only six weeks. The 9th District is historically a Democratic district that is primed to support Democratic candidates who will advocate for their community.
As the Latino community and other core Democratic constituencies sour on Trump and D.C. Republicans, it is clear that wind is at Nellie’s back. The first signs of NJ-09 voters coming back home to the Democratic Party became clear last year when Governor Sherrill carried the district by over 18 points. Sherrill notably overperformed Vice President Harris by nearly 20 points districtwide, and overperformed particularly in majority-Latino precincts. Her win represented a 12-point increase from Governor Murphy’s 2021 margin. Senator Cory Booker is also at the top of the ticket going into 2026, and he carried NJ-09 with roughly two-thirds of the vote in his last reelection victory in 2020.
With Nellie’s experience as a legislator, high name recognition, and history of fighting for her community, this district is primed to overwhelmingly re-elect her in November. This is why nonpartisan race rater Cook Political have shifted the race from Lean D to Likely D. Another major factor working in Nellie’s favor: D.C. Republicans suffered a colossal recruitment failure and are left with a weak and cash-poor nominee who will lose decisively in November. |
