Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s (D-NJ) gubernatorial campaign accepted an endorsement from Patricia Campos-Medina, a progressive organizer and former Senate candidate who has called to end U.S. aid to Israel and expressed support for anti-Israel campus protests.

Sherrill said in a post she was “absolutely thrilled” to receive the endorsement.

Campos-Medina is also joining Sherrill’s campaign as a volunteer senior advisor and campaign surrogate.

Campos-Medina, in a Democratic primary debate for the open Senate seat in New Jersey last year, said she opposes further U.S. aid to Israel, calling to hold Israel “accountable” for “the genocide in the killing of Palestinians.”

“We need to stop arming Israel and giving them money and military power and take away their ability to keep killing innocent children in Gaza and Palestine,” she said at a rally when she ran for Senate.

Campos-Medina accused her Senate opponents of standing for “war-mongering” and not being true progressives because they refused to endorse that position — one that Sherrill herself has not endorsed. Sherrill voted in favor of supplemental aid to Israel and some other pro-Israel legislation in the House. She has not supported conditioning or suspending aid.

The activist cited her own background as a survivor of the civil war in El Salvador as contributing to her concerns about the war in Gaza.

“As a member of the Armed Services Committee, Mikie’s support for Israel’s defense has never wavered. She has spoken out, time and again, against antisemitism and advocated for increased funding to protect places of worship, particularly following the firebombing at Temple Ner Tamid in NJ-11,” Sherrill campaign spokesperson Sean Higgins said in a statement.

Campos-Medina described anti-Israel campus protests, which have frequently featured antisemitic rhetoric, as following in “a rich American tradition of students protesting war and demanding peace.”

“In every generation, it is young people who remind us of our moral responsibility to fight for peace and to protect children, women, and the civilian population in times of war. I salute you and all the courageous students protesting on college campuses across the United States calling for peace in the Middle East,” she continued. “Your voices are demanding more accountability from the government of Israel, an end to violations of human rights and an end to the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing the people of Gaza.”

She also said, “Attacks on the academic freedom of faculty who support students in their exchange of ideas, as well as right-wing demands from the U.S. Congress that college administrators squash protests, are anathema to freedom of speech.”

Sherrill voted for some of the legislation, including the Antisemitism Awareness Act, passed by the House last year to combat antisemitism on college campuses and specifically called for New Jersey campus presidents to take more action to protect Jewish students.

Campos-Medina has also said she supports an immediate permanent cease-fire in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Hamas.

“I condemn 100% the terrorist crimes committed by Hamas against the people of Israel. The atrocities committed on October 7th against Israeli citizens, women and children are horrendous and a crime against humanity,” Sherrill told JI. “In defending itself, Israel must follow international law to protect all civilian populations. Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are real, disgusting and totally unacceptable.”

Campos-Medina is a progressive labor leader and university professor who ran on a left-wing platform for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ). She lost the Democratic Senate primary, winning only 16% of the vote.

She praised Sherrill as bringing “a different type of leadership in New Jersey,” while Sherrill praised Campos-Medina’s “bold leadership — from the labor movement advocating for better wages to expanding democracy here in New Jersey.”