At least nobody threw an actual punch.
The four leading Republicans running to become New Jersey’s next governor took the stage Tuesday for their first primary debate and, well ... it wasn’t exactly polite.
Yes, they argued over who loves Republican President Donald Trump more. They also talked over each other (sometimes three at a time). They got personal. At one point, moderator Laura Jones lamented: “This is no longer productive.”
And the crowd booed when one candidate criticized Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons.
In between, the candidates — state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, former state Sen. Ed Durr, and former radio host Bill Spadea — promised to crack down on immigration, reduce taxes, and differed on abortion and transgender policies during the nearly two-hour debate at Rider University in Lawrenceville. There were several vows to reverse course from Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy‘s outgoing administration.
But mostly, it was wild, boisterous, rowdy. (Siri, what’s another word for “chaotic”?)
It all made Sunday’s first Democratic debate seem like a shuffleboard match. And it was the kind of debate you might now expect in the age of Donald Trump, though not one we’ve seen in a Jersey gubernatorial election.
“I’m sorry I didn’t bring any popcorn,” Durr said at the end.
It shows just how bitter the race to succeed term-limited Murphy already is, especially on the GOP side. While New Jersey traditionally goes blue in federal elections, the governor’s office often goes back and forth between the two parties. And Republicans have even more hope after Trump performed much better than expected in the Garden State last year.
So let’s recap with the night’s most biting quotes:
“I have been an ardent, strong, and effective supporter of Donald Trump since he came down the escalator.” — Spadea
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the Trumpiest of all? Not surprisingly, bickering over who backs the president the most made up chunks of the evening. An endorsement by Trump could be a big boost among the GOP base in the June primary, even if that could be a burden in November’s general election.
“The next governor as a Republican has to capitalize on the momentum Donald Trump has given us in New Jersey,” Spadea said. “Donald Trump showed us the pathway to victory, and the right way to handle this is to run that style campaign.”
“You said it. Admit to what you did.” — Ciattarelli
That was Ciattarelli referencing an old video clip of Spadea urging the party to move on from Trump after he lost the 2020 election. Ciattarelli and Spadea, the race’s top two contenders, have knocked each other for their past criticisms of Trump. Ciattarelli himself called Trump a “charlatan” in 2015.
Spadea, who recently left his decade-old morning radio show on New Jersey 101.5, chastised Ciattarelli for having his “lobbyist buddies” comb through his previous statements. He said he criticized Trump for about “17 seconds” on the air in recent years and has since interviewed Trump on his show — an interview in which Trump praised Spadea and criticized Ciattarelli.
Spadea, who appeared to say he would serve only one term, also took aim at “woke Democrats who wreck this state and weak Republicans who let it happen.” And he dismissed Ciattarelli, running his third straight campaign for governor, as a “weak candidate” four years ago even though he came close to defeating Murphy last time.
Ciattarelli, who was leading Spadea by about 13 points in a recent primary poll, argued he helped “unite the party” in 2021 and Republicans need someone to do the same now.
“Donald Trump did it on Election Day,” he added.
“The only way to fix New Jersey is to do something different.” — Durr
“Well, I’m different. And that scares them,” said the ex-lawmaker, also a Trump supporter who tried to separate himself Tuesday as a political outsider.
Durr, truck driver, famously ousted former state Senate President Steve Sweeney in a shocking upset in 2021 before being ousted himself after only one term.
“Do you think the people of New Jersey want the debate to be who loves Donald Trump the most or who loves New Jersey the most?” — Bramnick
“You are not going to win this state unless you get to the issues that cause our problems in this state,” said the lawmaker, an old-school Republican moderate who has been critical of Trump and was the odd man out of the Trump lovefest Tuesday.
Ciattarelli clapped back at Bramnick: “How can you say you love this state when you called 2 million people who voted for Trump crazy and a cult?”
“Boo.” — people in the audience
Toward the end of the night, the candidates were asked if they’d welcome Trump on the campaign trail here. All four indicated they would — even Bramnick.
“I respect the office of the presidency,” he said. “As the president of the United States, he hasn’t done just bad stuff.”
“I am also the only one here tonight who will stand up when the president does bad stuff for New Jersey. For example, Jan. 6.”
That — a reference to Trump’s blanket pardons for those involved in the Capitol riot — drew boos from some members of the crowd. Others clapped in support of Trump’s pardons.
“He even pardoned people who violently attacked police officers,” Bramnick noted. “Either we’re the party of law and order, or we’re not. You can clap, you can boo if you want, but I will stand with police officers every time.”
“Jack’s talking about two-time losers?” — Bramnick
Ciattarelli chided Spadea for having lost his two previous campaigns, for Congress and state Assembly, labelling him a “two-time loser.”
Bramnick, a lawyer who moonlights as a standup comic, interjected: “Jack’s talking about two-time losers?” Ciattarelli lost in both of the previous two governor’s races.
The quips kept coming.
Durr at one point declared: “I’m here for the voters.”
Bramnick shot back: “The voters didn’t want you” — a reference to Durr’s one-term-and-done time in the state Senate.
Then there’s how Durr and Ciattarelli knocked Bramnick for the time he hosted Murphy at a backyard party at his house.
“Are you supposed to hate the governor because he’s in another party?” Bramnick asked.
“With that he’s done to the children, absolutely I’m going to hate him,” Durr said in reference to Murphy’s COVID restrictions.
“You know what we call that? A professional politician.” — Spadea to Ciattarelli
That was Spadea’s comeback when Ciattarelli boasted of his time in elected office.
Ciattarelli’s retort: “You’re a professional liar.”
The two were at each other all night. Ciattarelli repeatedly directed viewers to visit a website attacking Spadea.
Spadea, unfazed, responded by taunting Ciattarelli to keep bringing it up: “Plug the website, Jack.”
Ciattarelli also accused Spadea of paying himself a $65,000 salary from his Elect Common Sense nonprofit.
“The guy’s a grifter,” Ciattarelli said.
Spadea said he disclosed that salary and noted the group was profitable.
”It’s a nonprofit,” Ciattarelli retorted.
Spadea also compared the night’s bickering to the kind you might hear at an “old Italian dinner.”
“Unfortunately in a debate as to who’s going to be the next best governor, the loudest, most disruptive, annoying person does not win,” he said.
“You just disrespected millions of Americans who got the vaccine.” — Ciattarelli to Spadea
That was Ciattarelli’s reaction during a question of how the candidates would handle another public health crisis like the coronavirus.
Spadea had noted he would give retroactive pay to workers who were “fired because they did not submit to the tyranny” of masks and vaccines during COVID. He called the vaccines “poison jabs.”
Oh yes, the issues ...
- On immigration, they all indicated they would do away with Murphy’s “sanctuary city” policies. Durr went after Murphy for comments he made this weekend in which he suggested he was harboring an undocumented immigrant at his home and dared the Trump administration to come “get her.” Murphy’s office later clarified that the governor was simply discussing an offer he would have made for a friend to stay and that she never actually lived at the house. “I’m calling on any sheriff who has the nerve to go to Murphy’s house right now and find out if there’s an illegal alien there,” Durr said.
- On abortion access, Bramnick said he is pro-choice but doesn’t support “late-term” abortions. Durr said he’s pro-life and does “not agree with abortion being used as a form of birth control.” Spadea said “we already have the most access to abortions.” Ciattarelli “always supported a woman’s right to choose” but not abortions after five months.
- On Murphy’s policies protecting transgender residents, Ciattarelli said he is “here to protect any and all groups, particularly marginalized groups.” Bramnick said the Republican Party “should always have a heart” and “respect everyone,” but he opposes allowing “biological males to play in sports as women.” Durr called that “child abuse” for minors. Spadea said “there is a huge difference between sexual orientation, sexual preferences, and mental illness” and “spaces in public places should be assigned by your biology.”
- On education, all candidates showed support for following the Trump administration’s plans to break up the U.S. Department of Education and weaken the state’s education department. “I don’t think we need more than a couple dozen people to set the standards for what aptitude is for our children here in New Jersey,” Ciattarelli said.
- On NJ Transit, Ciattarelli said he’d consolidate the state’s transportation agencies into the Garden State Transit Authority.
- On term limits, Spadea said he’s “going to commit to you tonight to serve one term as your governor, because we have to separate the politics of reelection from the job of governing.”
- On public-worker pensions, Spadea said he’d “reconsider” making full payments to the state’s public-worker pension system — something Murphy reinstated. All said they would reinstate cost-of-living pension adjustments for police officers and firefighters.
- Shocker: All said the state needs to lower taxes.
Watch 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.