(NewsNation) — Edward Durr, the former Republican New Jersey state senator known as “Ed the Trucker,” launched his gubernatorial campaign Monday.
In 2021, Durr unseated longtime state Senate President Stephen Sweeney. He lost his state senate seat after just one term.
Durr, a furniture company truck driver, told NewsNation he decided to run for governor because he felt his political career was unfinished.
“I lost my reelection bid, but I still feel I have something to offer the people and I’m going to take that shot,” he said. “It comes down to the people’s vote, and I think I have a possibility of pulling this off.”
As a self-described working-class guy, Durr promises to speak up for the regular people he claims are too often ignored.
“I think that I can relate to everyone living in the state of New Jersey because I live the same life they live,” Durr told “Morning in America.” “I have to make ends meet. I have to go to work every day and figure out how to deal with the affordability in New Jersey; deal with all the laws in the changes.”
Durr said his platform will focus on family and affordability in New Jersey.
“I think that parental rights is an issue, and we have to work to make New Jersey more affordable and help the people survive here,” he said. “Too many people are leaving because of the taxes. And because parents don’t have a say in the schools. So, I think we’re gonna have to change things and the laws just don’t work.”
Durr faces 2021 Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli, state Sen. John Bramnick, and real estate broker Robert Canfield in the 2025 gubernatorial election.