Democratic New Jersey Gubernatorial Candidates Hold First Debate

The six Democratic candidates seeking to replace the term limited Governor Phil Murphy later this year, met on the debate stage for the time on Sunday.

The field, consists of two sitting mayors, Steve Fulop of Jersey City and Ras Baraka of Newark two members of Congress, Josh Gottheimer and Mikie Sherrill, former Senate President Steve Sweeney and the head of the New Jersey teacher’s union, Sean Spiller.

During the nearly two hour debate, which was hosted by the New Jersey Globe and On New Jersey at Rider University, was largely free of personal attacks, as some of the lesser known candidates used the time to introduce themselves to voters, while the two frontrunners, Gottheimer and Sherrill, had the least amount of speaking time.

Baraka and Fulop leaned into their experience as executives of the state’s two largest cities, while touting their progressive credentials, while Sweeney showcased his Trenton experience, arguing that New Jersey needs someone like him who knows how to get legislation passed, noting that he is the only one with such experience.

Gottheimer, who focuses heavily on affordability and released a comprehensive plan on how he would lower property tax in the state, used some his time to note that this is an issue that concerns most voters in the state.

One area where the candidates all agreed, was that Governor Murphy should receive an “A” grade for his tenure.

Asked to grade the Democrat’s job performance, Sweeney gave Murphy a C, Spiller said he was a C+, Fulop gave him a B-, Gottheimer and Sherrill awarded him a B, and Baraka, who is running to the left of Murphy, gave him the best grade of all six candidates, a B+.

The Republican candidates will debate on Tuesday.

The New Jersey governor’s race will be one of the most high-profile contests this year, along with the Virginia governor’s race. The two states are the only ones in the country that hold their gubernatorial elections in the year following the presidential election.

Although New Jersey is a reliably Democratic state on a federal level, the state has seen Republican governors, most recently Chris Christie, who served two terms after first being elected in 2009.

The primary is scheduled for June 10th.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Radical leftist David Hogg (treif is doubled down in his name) was just elected as Vice-chairman of the DNC. His platform includes:

    ~ total gun control
    ~ NRA is a “terrorist” organization
    ~ abolish ICE
    ~ defund the police
    ~ legalize all drugs
    ~ DEI in all things
    ~ climate change fanatic

    You get the picture…the lunatic left is now the mainstream of the Democrat party.

    Rising to the top of the heap is Chuck Schumer. Here’s a little bit of interesting info: he graduated from law school in 1975 (same year as me) and immediately went into electoral politics; he’s never held a legitimate “job” in 50 years, but is today worth $81 million and earns $10 million/year from lobbyists and “business” ventures. Gee whiz… how’d he manage that on a Congressman’s salary?

    The Dems are as corrupt and power hungry as they come. If NJ doesn’t turn “red” we’ll remain stuck in the Dems cycle of government by grift. Anyone who politically identifies with the Democrat party should be ashamed of themselves. ‘Nuff said.

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