Government

Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates Square Off in Primary Debate

New Jersey’s six Democratic gubernatorial candidates debated each other at Rider University last night touching upon how the state must tackle its affordability problems while coping with pension obligations, reining in escalating budgets, fixing NJ TRANSIT, and dealing with possible difficulties in obtaining federal dollars in the new Trump administration.

The primary debate, sponsored by New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey and the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, featured candidates Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller and former Senate President Steve Sweeney.

In the opening question, the candidates were asked by moderator Laura Jones to grade Gov. Phil Murphy’s performance.

While Murphy was praised for fully funding the state’s pension system, he was criticized for the slew of NJ TRANSIT train delays and breakdowns last year. None of the candidates gave the governor an “A,” with Gottheimer immediately jumping into the affordability issue.

“We have to focus on affordability,” he said. “We are the No.1 outmigration state in the country seven years running. We are losing people and jobs. Childcare costs, utility costs, property and income taxes are killing [our people]. We have to have a laser-beam focus in getting taxes down. My tax plan is all about making life more affordable … that has to be job No. 1.”

With the state budget growing more than 60% since Murphy took office, the candidates were asked how they would rein in this continuous escalation.

Fulop said that his experience as mayor of Jersey City, especially in understanding how a municipal government interacts with Trenton, is an asset.

“Governors Murphy, Christie, and Corzine didn’t have municipal experience,” Fulop said. “Being a mayor, I do understand that we have unfunded mandates from Trenton. They are well-intentioned, but [Trenton doesn’t] help us with the needed resources [to comply]. This is the starting point in how Trenton should interact with municipal government.”

Secondly, Fulop said the budget process needs to be reformed. He said Jersey City introduces a budget in February and the public gets to scrutinize it for several months. “What happens in Trenton is that the [final] budget gets introduced two days before it is passed. That is the core of the problem in getting spending reductions,” he said.

Spiller, who was mayor of Montclair from 2020 to 2024, said the unfunded mandates from the state are paid for by property taxpayers. “Time after time, this is why we see rising property taxes. We have to look at more equitable ways to raise taxes at the state level and use those taxes to support and bring down the costs for residents,” he said.

According to Baraka, the state needs to conduct three-year budget forecasting. Additionally, he said healthcare costs could be lowered by implementing reference-based pricing. “Immediately, we need to reduce it to 150% above Medicare. That would save the state more than a billion dollars over two or three years,” he said.

Sweeney said a governor should work with the Legislature, not against it, during the budget process. He added that all dedicated revenues should be used for the purposes they had been raised for … “because money raised for a certain purpose – after a year or two – [could go] into a black hole.”

While he credits Murphy for increasing the corporate business tax in order to aid NJ TRANSIT’s fiscal woes, one “big problem” he said is that the money is not constitutionally mandated. “Knowing how the budget process works, that money will be gone in three years if it is not dedicated,” he said.

Sherrill said the budget process should be “addressed and attacked” with more transparency. She also said more housing needs to be built. “We are not going to make New Jersey more affordable if we don’t make housing more affordable. That is why I have driven ideas for repurposing commercial properties; making sure we are utilizing places like Trenton and Atlantic City … areas that can build more,” Sherrill said.

With her experience in Congress, she added, “We can drive in federal money. … I’ve driven in more than $50 billion, including for the Gateway Tunnel and making sure we have funding for flood [control] and mental health issues.”

With the realization that the Trump administration is looking to reduce federal spending at all levels, Sweeney commented, “Expecting more federal money from this administration is a pipe dream. We have to fix our own problems because Washington is not going to help us.”

Turning to another Trump initiative, all candidates said they would protect immigrants, even those who are undocumented. Two candidates, Sweeney and Gottheimer said they have exceptions for undocumented criminals.

Gottheimer, who is the only congressional Democrat from New Jersey to support the Laken Riley Act, said, “If you are a murderer, rapist, a criminal breaking into peoples’ homes in the middle of the night and you are undocumented, you shouldn’t be here. However, what Donald Trump is doing – rounding people up, going into churches and schools – that is unacceptable and when I am governor, I will use the full force of the state to stop it.”

Sweeney added, “What Donald Trump is doing is breaking the law … going in [without] search warrants. It’s horrible. But I also believe that [an undocumented immigrant] who is a criminal in this country … shouldn’t be [here].”

He said he supports what Presidents Obama and Biden did: “They deported more people than Donald Trump ever did, but they did it with humanity and compassion.”

Meanwhile Baraka, who is mayor of the state’s largest city, said there is no immigrant crime wave in Newark. The only crime that is being committed, he said, is taking away someone’s access to the American dream because of “what they look like, what country they come from, the language they speak and the zip code that they live in.”

Commenting on the debate performance, Chris Emigholz, chief government affair officer of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, said, “Overall, the business community was pleased to see a focus on affordability and building things in our state during the debate. It also elevates our civic climate in New Jersey that there were six strong Democratic candidates on stage along with a strong Republican field debating tomorrow night.”

A report on the Republican primary gubernatorial debate from Rider University will appear in Wednesday’s edition of NJBT.

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