It was the first question as the six Democrats running to become New Jersey’s next governor gathered Sunday night for their first primary debate.
They were asked to give a letter grade to outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy. Or, in other words: What do they think of the fellow Democrat they’re aiming to succeed in office?
The report card was, well ... neither flunking nor honor roll-worthy.
Here’s the rundown:
Former state Senate President Steve Sweeney — C.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka — B+.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop — C-.
New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller — C+
U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill — B.
U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer — B.
It was a notable moment in the sometimes pointed, nearly two-hour debate at Rider University in Lawrenceville,. None of the Dems in the very crowded race positioned themselves too close or too far away from Murphy, who is term-limited and leaves office in January.
Sherrill, considered the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, praised Murphy for fully funding pensions but is “less happy with the state of NJ Transit.”
Sweeney, a frequent foe early in the governor’s tenure, quipped: “I worked with Gov. Murphy. A C for me is a good grade.”
Fulop said his average grade was because good leaders “push boundaries,” but Murphy was “late to the party” with some achievements.
Baraka chimed in: “I would say that while we beat up on Gov. Murphy here that most of the things he’s done have been very, very difficult to do in prior administrations.”
The battle for Murphy’s job is one of only two governor’s races in the country this year and a litmus test of sorts on the first year of Republican President Donald Trump’s new administration.
It’s also a litmus test of Murphy’s eight years in charge of Jersey, a blue-leaning state that often goes back and forth between parties when choosing a governor. A recent poll found about 44% of Jersey voters view Murphy favorably — surprisingly 2 percentage points lower than Trump.
Sunday was the first time all six Democrats squared off together in one place, four months before the June primary.
The first head-to-head poll in the race, released last month, showed Sherrill with a slight lead, but her opponents packed closely right behind her, while the majority of voters remain undecided.
There are four major candidates running at the same time for the Republican nod. They will debate Tuesday at 7 p.m., also at Rider.
All of the Dems on Sunday promised to bring a fresh perspective at a time when career politicians aren’t terribly popular and Jersey’s cutthroat politics are getting a re-evaluation. They each said the state should codify legal abortion; continue to fully fund its public-worker pension system, a hallmark of Murphy’s tenure; build more affordable housing; fix mass transportation; and find how to cut Jersey’s notoriously high property taxes. They were more split on immigration.
Notably, the mayors of the state’s two largest cities — Fulop and Baraka — moved the most to the left Sunday at a time when some Dems are inclined to hang in the middle after Trump’s return (and the fact he lost Jersey by a much-closer-than-expected 6 percentage points).
“We don’t have the time to meander in the middle, to be mealy-mouthed or this way or that way,” Baraka said. “We can’t fight extremism with moderation.”
Here are some other the debate’s other big moments:
Immigration front and center
One of the night’s thorniest topics was immigration, coming as Trump vows mass deportations and days after an attention-grabbing ICE raid in Newark. Though New Jersey is home to thousands of immigrants, a recent poll showed most residents here want tougher border security and a small majority favor mass deportation.
All the contenders said they’d protect immigrants here illegally and condemned raids done without warrants, though some said undocumented residents who commit crimes should go.
Fulop said ICE agents visited the building where his father lives in Newark. “It can happen to my family. It means it can happen to your family,” he said.
Baraka said Trump’s agenda has been “based on white supremacy and racism” and “we have to protect our neighbors.”
Sweeney, who has promised to repeal Jersey’s “sanctuary state” status, said it’s “horrible what Trump is doing” and he doesn’t want to “round up people who haven’t done anything wrong. But those who have broken the law, they need to leave.”
Gottheimer defended his status as the only Jersey Democrat in Congress to vote for the Laken Riley Act, the immigration bill Trump recently signed into law.
“If you are a murderer, criminal, a rapist, if you’re breaking into people’s homes in the middle of the night while the kids are sleeping and you’re undocumented, you shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be in the state, you shouldn’t be in this country,” Gottheimer said.
Transgender rights
The candidates were asked to weigh in on whether transgender students should be allowed to play a sport in the opposite gender in which they were born — an issue often brought up on the right.
In a fiery moment, Sherrill said Dems should avoid letting Republicans gain ground on this.
“It’s targeting vulnerable people, and quite frankly, it’s bullshit,” she said. “We have to do better at protecting vulnerable people, but we can’t fall into these traps because we’re losing on this issue.”
Other topics
- All the candidates gave NJ Transit an F-grade. Sweeney called the state’s bus and rail system a “train wreck.”
- Gottheimer repeatedly mentioned his hatred of New York’s congestion pricing program, saying it’s “killing people.” He also repeatedly touted his tax-cut proposal, saying voters keep telling him that Jersey is “too damn expensive.”
- Spiller, head of Jersey’s largest teachers union, stressed that the state’s controversial school funding formula must be revamped so districts don’t see sharp changes in aid each year. “That is not fair,” he said.
- Baraka had some of the night’s biggest jabs. Without mentioning his opponents by name, he said he doesn’t have a “$35 billion piggy bank” (a reference to the millions Spiller is slated to receive from the NJEA’s PAC) and he is “not funded by Elon Musk and SpaceX’s PAC” (a nod to money Sherrill and Gottheimer have received from the fundraising arm of Musk’s aerospace firm).
What the full debate here.
NJ Advance Media staff writer Spencer Kent contributed to this report.
Stories by Brent Johnson
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @johnsb01.