Official statements from the Gubernatorial candidates were released today:

Official Statement from Kim Guadagno (R).

Before casting your ballot, ask yourself a few simple questions:

Are you or members of your family paying too much in property taxes, which are the highest in the country?

Is the government taking too much out of your paycheck without any noticeable difference in the services you receive, making living in New Jersey unaffordable?

Do you believe that state government should be audited to ensure that your tax dollars are being spent efficiently and wisely?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, I ask you to consider voting for me.

With the highest property taxes in the country, New Jersey has reached a breaking point. Too many of our friends, family and neighbors are struggling to put food on their table, losing their homes or even moving to other states. As a working mom who raised her three boys in New Jersey, I know we have to make our state more affordable for families, and I firmly believe the best way to do it is become more efficient and cut property taxes for the middle class.

My comprehensive property tax cut program will save middle class families and seniors up to $3,000 a year on their property tax bills by capping school taxes at 5 percent of household income. This will give families certainty and ensure that no family has to move out-of-state because of high property taxes. If similar programs can work in states like Illinois and Massachusetts, it can work in New Jersey.

If elected governor, I will also root out waste and make government run more efficiently by conducting a detailed performance audit of all aspects of state government. This includes cancelling the unnecessary $300 million renovation of the State House in Trenton. My priority will always be to put New Jersey families first.

As a former sheriff and prosecutor, I know we cannot make New Jersey a “Sanctuary State,” which would only protect violent criminals and make our state less safe. As governor, I will always support law enforcement and first responders. This includes negotiating a fair deal to our state’s pension crisis to secure the retirement of thousands of public workers.

Other candidates for governor like Phil Murphy, who spent his career on Wall Street, have proposed billions in additional state government spending and admitted he would increase taxes by at least $1.3 billion to pay for it. New Jersey tried that kind of Wall Street approach once before under Jon Corzine, and it would only make our state less affordable and send more of our families and businesses fleeing New Jersey for other states.

This campaign is bigger than ‘Republican’ or ‘Democrat.’ It is about the future – not the past – and making our state better for all New Jerseyans. Instead of yelling and shouting at each other, it is time to put the hardworking taxpayers of New Jersey first so that we can once again make New Jersey an affordable place to live, work and raise a family.

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Official statement from Phil Murphy (D).

If we get our economy right, we get New Jersey right. Yet for eight painful years Chris Christie and Kim Guadagno have gotten it wrong. I am running for governor because New Jersey needs a stronger, fairer economy and I have a plan to get us there.

Let’s start with the facts. Today, families in New Jersey are paying more and getting less. That is not by accident, nor is the rest of America in the same shape. While median household incomes across the country grew from 2010 to 2015 New Jersey families saw their incomes fall. People are working harder yet making less money; that is simply unacceptable.

Parkway and Turnpike tolls increased 50%. NJ Transit fares are up 36% while service, safety, and reliability declined. College tuition at state schools is approximately 20% higher than eight years ago. And property taxes have risen 17%.

We need to be very clear about something — it wasn’t a question of whether our state had the money, it was a choice about how that money was used, such as giving out $8 billion in corporate tax breaks, underfunding public schools by nearly $9 billion. It’s no coincidence that property taxes have gone up for middle and working class families while millionaires got tax cuts.

We’ve seen 11 straight credit rating downgrades, and our fiscal condition is the worst in the country. None of our problems have been solved. They’ve only gotten worse.

But I am an optimist, and we can put things right.

It starts by reclaiming our dominance in the innovation economy and investing in infrastructure to create new jobs at good wages. It’s making college more affordable, and standing up for the right things, like funding Planned Parenthood and women’s health programs.

It’s property tax relief that starts by fully funding our public schools. It’s asking the wealthiest New Jerseyans to pay their fair share, and revamping ineffective tax breaks that have only benefitted big corporations. It’s ending the practice of overpriced hedge funds managing state pensions.

It’s reforming our criminal justice system, including the legalization and taxation of marijuana to bring in hundreds of millions in new revenues.

It’s creating an innovative Public Bank to invest in New Jersey’s small businesses, not Wall Street’s profit centers. It’s equal pay and a stronger minimum wage. It’s building a Green Economy with good jobs.

New Jersey needs bolder and more visionary leadership. This state is blessed with an unmatched location, a talented work force, and great institutions of learning. We need to put those to work instead of neglecting them.

I don’t come from Trenton’s failed special interest politics. And I don’t owe the special interests anything. I spent my career learning how economies grow and create jobs.

We need to make New Jersey’s economy stronger and fairer, to make this a state that works for every family.

We need to move beyond small politics dominated by the special interests. We need a governor who will have your back. I will.