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New Jersey Now - NJ Gubernatorial Candidates Mayor Steven Fulop & Rep. Josh Gottheimer
Apr 17, 2025
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop discusses his campaign for New Jersey Governor as well as top issues such as affordable housing and immigration. Also, Congressman Josh Gottheimer talks about his Gubernatorial campaign while also addressing issues such as the Trump administration’s tariff policy and the impact on the economy, as well as affordability for residents. And the panel – including Republican Strategist Jeanette Hoffman, Democratic Strategist Daniel Bryan, Dan Cassino of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll, and Terrence McDonald of the New Jersey Monitor – weigh in on Senator Cory Booker’s record-breaking Senate floor speech criticizing the Trump administration’s policies amid talk of a lack of leadership within the Democratic party.
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0:00
Welcome to New Jersey Now. I'm Mark Bonamo
0:14
Today, we continue our look at the governor's race. The candidates are in full force
0:18
From campaign stops to on-air political ads, they are getting their messages out to voters with the primary elections now only two months away
0:25
We have reached out to all the candidates to appear on this program. And today we are joined by Democratic candidate, Jersey City Mayor Stephen Fulop
0:33
So Mayor Fulop, why did you pick Sheena Colum to be your lieutenant governor candidate
0:37
And why did you pick her before the primary, which is the first time that ever happened? Let me start by saying that our campaign is about change
0:43
And that's both political change, structural change, governmental change. Anybody who's followed all of these candidates running for governor
0:50
ours is the most substantive in talking about what we've got to change for New Jersey
0:54
If you take a step back and you think about the position of lieutenant governor, which is a relatively new position, you would come to the conclusion that it makes sense
1:02
that the public should know what an administration looks like. And so making that clear prior to the primaries is what a lot of other states do
1:10
and I thought it's the best way to approach this election. With regards to Sheena in particular, what I've said all along is housing is important to me
1:16
track record is important to me, independence is important to me, and she has been amongst the tops in New Jersey on all those character attributes
1:25
She's opinionated, she's sophisticated. She's decisive. She has a huge resume of accomplishments
1:31
And she compliments me because I'm coming from an urban perspective and she has a suburban perspective
1:36
But I believe at my core that mayors are the most important. And I'm demonstrating that with my actions
1:41
She has decided to call herself in many ways unapologetically progressive. Yeah
1:46
Are you concerned that in a primary, going with a very progressive candidate could be very helpful
1:52
but in a general election, that may be to your detriment? I think that what she is going to do as a partner is energize the base
2:00
I think if you listen to her speak about immigration, you ask her to speak about housing, transportation, policy, substance
2:07
how we're going to change New Jersey, consolidation of municipalities, regardless of what she calls herself
2:13
I think a reasonable person in the middle would come to the conclusion that what she's saying makes sense
2:18
So don't get too much into the world of titles, but I think that she's going to move a lot of voters in the independent category
2:26
Democratic category, and even some Republicans. A concern for all New Jerseyans is affordability
2:30
Yeah, sure. Many people have said as New Jersey has redeveloped, it has become unaffordable for many people in Jersey City
2:36
How are you going to increase affordability across New Jersey? Let me start by saying that we have the most concrete plan
2:41
and the most honest plan about what we're going to do to confront that
2:45
The first I would tell you is that you pay a corruption tax in New Jersey
2:50
And that's based on the structure of government. You have lobbyists that run government
2:55
This political system that we have here needs wholesale change. I'm the only one talking about that
2:59
Number two, we would talk about, you know, the experience as a mayor and unfunded mandates
3:03
and the relationship between Trenton and the 564 municipalities. Three, consolidation of municipalities and school districts and services
3:10
Really important. As a mayor, we have experience on that. Four, budget process
3:15
Reform to that, creating transparency. more sunshine creates opportunity to trim fat
3:21
So being a mayor and the type of campaign that I'm running, it's very clear on these are the steps we will do to change New Jersey
3:26
And I think a normal person could say, okay, I could see how he could achieve those things. How do you balance the mix between the need for affordable housing and worries about overdevelopment
3:36
I think that the experience that I have in Jersey City and growth
3:40
is an experience which lends itself to starting the conversation. My lieutenant governor compliments me well because she has experience with housing from a suburban perspective
3:51
And what I say in rooms, both big, small, Republican, Democrat, is that there's 30 to 40 years of case law that everybody's going to have some sort of obligation around housing
3:59
How we approach it is what's important. Not everybody wants to live in Jersey City and not everybody wants to live in Milburn
4:05
And the beautiful thing about New Jersey is you've got a lot of different types of communities and neighborhoods
4:09
So number one is I don't think it should be judges making decisions on obligations
4:13
I think that's problematic. I think we need more transparency with who's participating and who's costing their taxpayers real money
4:20
I think when mayors say that they need more resources in order to build the housing around schools funding, around infrastructure, flooding, roads, it's true
4:27
Trenton doesn't do that. So the carrot and the stick is an important part of the conversation. And understanding that from a mayor's perspective is what I would bring
4:34
Now, in terms of immigration, you've seen in Newark the ice raids. There are fears of more arrests and deportations
4:40
Jersey City is a sanctuary city. What is the role of the governor? What should it be about immigration
4:46
My role as mayor, let me start there. My role as mayor is police, is fire, is a local taxes, delivery of services
4:55
It's not federal conversation around what we're going to be doing to deport people
5:00
The state is the same, similar but different responsibilities. I believe that you need to be realistic and pragmatic
5:06
that you have over 500,000 undocumented people here in New Jersey. and often they're doing jobs that keep costs down that there aren't people that are documented that
5:16
want to fill some of those jobs. He's talking about all the farming in South Jersey. Think about the
5:20
back of a restaurant that you go to. So you know when people talk about mass deportation which isn't
5:25
a realistic part of the conversation. We will throw that around. Costs will go up. So it's how do you
5:30
manage the conversation today with the people that are here in a thoughtful way with many of these people that do pay taxes here Let not forget that part of the conversation Not everybody here is a criminal that has come here undocumented
5:42
That's a manufactured conversation. Of course, we all agree that the worst criminals
5:46
should not be here. We all agree on that. How do you handle the undocumented people
5:52
that are paying taxes here, that have been here for some period of time and are contributing to the economy
5:57
And that is the responsible conversation to have as governor. That's what I'm gonna do. You've positioned yourself as the anti-establishment candidate
6:03
empowered by the idea that there's now the dissolution of the county line. But after being elected mayor in 2013, in many ways, you inherited that machine in Jersey City
6:11
How are you the outsider that you claim to be? I've never ran with the political line. I've never ran with the political machine
6:17
I don't know what machine I inherited because we dismantled it. I've never been part of the political boss system
6:23
And you could see it by who embraces me or who doesn't embrace me. I mean, the entire Hudson County Democratic organization doesn't embrace me
6:30
They never did. When they said that they were going to be supportive, which was lukewarm at best
6:36
I said at the time I would dismantle the county line. That was before this lawsuit. So, you know, look, naysayers, there's always going to be critics
6:43
But my track record as a councilman, as a mayor, and as a governor would be advocating for residents first
6:50
and not this political machine. I actually intend to dismantle it statewide. Democratic candidate, Jersey City Mayor Stephen Fulpe, thank you very much for your time
6:57
Thank you, Mark. We'll be right back. Welcome back to New Jersey Now
7:08
We continue our gubernatorial candidates forum with Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who is also running for the Democratic nomination
7:15
Congressman, President Trump's tariffs have gone into effect. It's impacting the stock market
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What do you think of his policies in this regard? I mean, I think it's outrageous and a huge tax on American families, like hardworking middle class families
7:29
You're talking about at least two thousand dollars a year based on what he just unveiled
7:34
And it could be a lot more. And it's on everything from, you know, cheese to milk to cars to clothing
7:43
Pretty much lots of things you buy every single day. This is going to have a huge impact on. And as you're already seeing with the impact it's going to have on the economy, sending it into a downward recession and this is something that's being predicted by Moody's, being predicted by the Fed chairman who said this is a massive new tax
8:05
He called it a new inflation, a tariff inflation on families. So this is a giant hit to people. And, you know, President Trump is calling this, I think, a day of liberation
8:16
I think the better term is a day of cost increases and chaos, which is pretty much how his entire administration has been
8:25
It's just one giant day after day of chaos, sending seniors and families into a tizzy based on his policies that are literally all over the place
8:35
You've been one of the main critics of New York City's congestion pricing plan. Despite lawsuits, it's continued to go ahead
8:41
What can you do to fight against this plan? Mark, I'm sure you saw that this is an area where not only we've been working on this for years, I've been working closely with Governor Murphy to fight this congestion tax on hardworking families, which, listen, I hear nearly daily from someone who's got to go into New York, whether you're going for a doctor's appointment or you commute every day
9:01
And $9 a day is a huge hit for, you know, that nurse or cop or firefighter or teacher who's really struggling
9:09
And so we've been very successful so far in throwing tax in the road
9:13
This administration actually has made it clear that there's only days left until Governor Hochul has to pull the plug on the tax
9:20
So if you ask me, we're heading toward a victory for families, for lower costs for families
9:25
And yet again, you know, my focus on every day is to stop the nickel and diming of hardworking families, these taxes that people are dealing with, the higher costs, whether that's grocery costs or child care costs
9:37
You know, New Jersey, we've got the second highest child care in the country or trying to do everything we can
9:41
And as governor to get property taxes down and these costs down, because we've got to give some relief to families with all these higher costs
9:49
You said your administration will pursue a 15% property tax cut across the state
9:54
while it's tax rebates and tax credits. You say it's going to pay for itself
9:58
How? Sure. So my tax cut plan does three major things. One, across the board property tax of nearly 15%, a rental rebate for renters of $500 a year
10:09
For seniors, if you turn 70 and have lived in our great state for a decade
10:13
you'll get an annual senior bonus on your income taxes to help you pay for things
10:17
And we want you to stay in New Jersey because, you know, that's a huge issue that we're having trouble not only attracting the people to Jersey, but keeping people here, especially when they retire, when your kid graduates, keeping them here
10:29
And we're going to do everything we can with incentives to bring jobs here as well
10:33
I'm all focused on growing our great state and having more good paying jobs
10:37
The way we pay for this, four major ways. One, we got to do everything we can in a smart way to make our government more efficient in the state
10:46
We have 564 municipalities. We tend to run them all singly. We don't negotiate well as a state to buy things, whether you're talking about prescription drugs for our workers or the salt on our streets
10:59
We don't negotiate as a big block. And so we pay a lot more than we should
11:04
And every 20 states now and all of them have actually found five to eight percent savings on just running things smarter The second thing we gonna do is go after New York which totally hoses us Whether you talking about what we get back from the Port Authority or the income taxes we get back
11:21
because we have a lot of people who work in Jersey, but for a New York company, and New York takes all the income tax
11:26
they totally screw Jersey on a near daily basis. And we're talking about a billion for a year
11:33
that we could get back there and making sure that our income taxes, the people who work in New Jersey
11:36
for a New York company come back to Jersey. Third, we got to do a lot better at getting money back from the federal government
11:42
We way underperform in that category in terms of clawing our tax dollars back as a state for our cops, our roads, our Head Start programs for our kids
11:51
You name it, we underperform for our colleges. So we're going to do a lot more
11:55
Rhode Island gets 48 percent back more than we do. And they're much smaller than we are, as you know, so we can do a lot better
12:01
Finally, we got to go after those tax cheats. You're talking about $650 million a year, people who don't actually pay what they should to live in our great state and have the protection of our law enforcement and firefighters and our great schools
12:14
So those are just some of the things we're going to do to get more money back into the state
12:19
And I'm going to pass that along to families in the form of tax cuts so they can afford to pay for things like rising energy bills, which, in my opinion, are going up way too much
12:27
As I'm sure you know, 20 percent expected in June on those utility bills
12:31
It's outrageous. So we're going to have to do more to help people. You're the only Democrat from New Jersey's Democratic congressional delegation who voted for the Lake and Riley Act
12:41
a bill that permits the detention and deportation of immigrants, accused of low-level offenses and violent crimes
12:46
Why did you take this position? And what do you think the role the governor should be regarding immigration
12:51
Well, listen, I agree with the governor's current directive in place that the governor is following
12:55
And my position is totally in line with that. And I'll put it simply. If you are, and I've spoken out about this against President Trump, if you are just an innocent, undocumented family living here, and I'm totally opposed to their approach to just rounding innocent people up like they're doing at churches and schools and restaurants, totally unacceptable
13:15
But listen, if you are a violent criminal, you're broken into someone's house with a gun and you're undocumented, you shouldn't be here
13:24
You shouldn't be not just in New Jersey. You shouldn't be in our country. I don't have any patience for that. And I think I share the views of most people in Jersey there
13:32
And so there's a huge difference between the two. And that's why I took that position. There's been criticism about a lack of messaging and leadership in Washington as it relates to the responses to the Trump administration
13:41
What is your response to that? And what can the Democrats do? We saw this with Cory Booker this week, who spoke out, and I'm grateful that he did
13:49
And I went to watch him and cheer him on, because I think there's two things we've got to do
13:53
One, make it very clear that President Trump can't mess with Jersey families and go after
13:59
Medicare and Medicaid and our veterans like he's been doing and Social Security
14:03
The second thing I think we need to do, which I've been doing here running in my race for
14:07
governor, is make it very clear what we're for as Democrats. We're for helping hardworking people to make their lives more affordable
14:13
And that's where we have to be very clear to people that we are focused on getting their cost down and getting their taxes down
14:20
It's why I put out and the only one running this race with a tax cut plan to actually help find a way forward to make life more affordable for people
14:28
And I think that's what we do as Democrats. Right. We care about making their community safe and we care about making their lives more affordable
14:34
This for me is all about that so that people can go to sleep, not worrying about how they're going to feed their kids or put clothes on their back
14:41
And we just got to make sure every day we wake up, look for new ways that people can afford life so they can stay and raise their kids here
14:47
Congressman Josh Gottheimer, Democratic candidate for governor. Thank you very much for your time
14:51
Thanks for having me. We'll be right back. Welcome back to New Jersey Now
15:02
In recent weeks, Democrats have been receiving major pushback from constituents for a lack of leadership and fight in response to Trump administration policies
15:11
That's when New Jersey's two U.S. senators took a stand. First, it was newly elected Senator Andy Kim who held town hall meetings in some of the state's most conservative districts
15:20
while his Republican House colleagues would not. And this past week, Senator Cory Booker made history with the longest speech ever delivered from the Senate floor
15:28
clocking in at 25 hours and five minutes in an effort to speak against the Trump policies
15:33
I'm joined by the panel for more. Republican strategist Janet Hoffman, Democratic strategist Daniel Bryan
15:39
Dan Cassino, executive director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll, and Terrence McDonald, editor for the New Jersey Monitor
15:46
So Senator Cory Booker's speech went on for 25 hours and five minutes
15:50
and obviously he had a lot to say. He said that we've got to stand against Trump harming the foundations of decency and democracy
15:58
What do you say about his speech? There was a lot of pushback against the speech, people saying this is purely symbolic
16:01
it's not even technically a filibuster, because he wasn't actually delaying Senate action on a particular bill
16:06
That said, the energy of the Democratic Party is definitely with people who want resistance to Trump
16:10
They've been disappointed. People on the left have been disappointed that Democrats have not in the Senate and the Congress have not stood up
16:16
And I've got a guy who's staying up for 25 hours. As someone who teaches American government and politics to college students, I am just thrilled that I can now talk about this as being the longest speech in Senate history and never mention Strom Thurmond again
16:25
Listen, Cory Booker is good at two things, giving speeches and doing well on social media, trending
16:32
And he did both of those things on the Senate floor. Will this change the course of history
16:36
Absolutely not. But with the Democratic Party polling at 21%, there is nowhere to go but up
16:43
There is a complete vacuum in Democratic leadership right now, so good for Cory Booker stepping up It might get him some approval points within his party but in the end this change is absolutely nothing Listen there a lot and Jeanette can probably agree with this there a lot in politics now talking about the attention economy how to get people to actually
16:59
pay attention to what you're trying to tell them, what you're saying. One thing that Corey was able to do very smartly, I'm not sure people are paying a whole lot of attention to local or state news
17:05
right now, but everyone's keyed in on national news because of Trump. He was able to totally own
17:09
the national press cycle for a full 24 hours, if not more than that, really into the next morning
17:14
He got a lot of his voice out there. I think obviously the base loved what he did. So listen, for what he was trying to do, I think it was a total success
17:20
There's been a lot of criticism for the Democratic Party not taking a strong leadership role against Trump
17:24
Was this Booker's moment to try to be that leader? And has somebody finally stood up to Trump
17:29
Listen, I think to an extent, I think you're seeing a lot of people out there starting to put their voices out there
17:33
in terms of here's what I think the Democratic Party should stand for. Here's what we should run on in the coming cycles
17:37
But there's no question that Cory Booker put himself in that leadership position. Now, he does have a leadership position in the Senate officially
17:44
But I think as far as I'm sure he's going to be all over the Sunday news shows, as he usually is anyway
17:48
I'm sure he'll be covering all of those this Sunday. I think he put himself out there now as someone that people are going to start looking at for, you know, the next few cycles and beyond leaving the 28th
17:56
I think the problem with the Democratic Party is it's having an identity crisis right now
18:01
You have AOC and Bernie like on their woke pro Hamas tour filling stadiums
18:06
And then you have, like, the middle of the road party saying, no, no, no, we have to get back independents and regular people and working class people who completely left us to vote for Trump and, you know, get back to the economy
18:19
And it's like they're just tearing at each other because they're not really sure what the future of the party is
18:24
We should note, of course, that if you're the opposition party, you don't necessarily have to stand for anything
18:28
It's enough to say we are at least at least to lay out what you are against. And that's what Booker did
18:32
I did do a bunch of interviews yesterday. People asked me, wow, is Cory Booker going to run for president
18:35
The answer is everyone in the Senate thinks they can be president, thinks they should be president. And Cory Booker is absolutely no exception
18:40
But then we've got our other senator, Andy Kim. Now, he's been visiting Republican areas of our state, Brick Township, conservative districts such as Egg Harbor City
18:48
Is he somehow tapping into the resistance and daring to go where Republican congressmen are not going
18:54
Well, I think Andy Kim also thinks he can fill that leadership void. Let's face it, Chuck Schumer is a disaster
19:00
He's going on TV on The View and saying, oh, people think their taxes are too high
19:04
Woe is me. Yes, guess what? People do think their tax is too high. That's why the Democratic Party is so out of touch
19:08
So Andy Kim is also trying to fill that vacuum in Senate leadership
19:12
And, you know, good for him. He's filling town halls and he's getting crowds to come out
19:16
Yeah, I think the rule of thumb is as a senator, year one, you kind of keep your head down. You're seeing that in D.C
19:20
He's getting his voice out there, but he's not being too flashy. I think here in New Jersey, he's doing a great job of going into Tom Kane's district
19:26
going into Van Drew's district and actually engaging with the constituents in a way that those Congress people aren't doing it
19:31
I think it's a really smart way to get his voice out there and engage him with his constituents in a way where he's not trying to overshadow any other senator
19:37
Is he trying to tap into the sense of there's now a Trump resistance? I mean, I think so. Yeah, a little bit
19:42
But I think we also have to remember that in places like Brick, New Jersey, where he was a couple weeks ago, there are still thousands and thousands of Democrats, right
19:48
So he's going into the lion's den, but he's talking to Democrats in those districts. Now, moving on to the governor's race
19:53
Jersey City Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stephen Fulb has announced his running mate for LG, Sheena Collum, the South Orange mayor
20:01
She has said that I am an unapologetic progressive. Is this going to work
20:04
I mean, it might. I mean, the thing is, I don't know how many voters know who our current lieutenant governor is
20:10
So I don't know how much it's going to matter that Steve Fulop is running in a primary with his potential lieutenant governor pick
20:16
But he's going after a lot of progressive voters in places like Maplewood and South Orange and here in Montclair
20:21
So, yeah, it could help. Sure. Look, it gives him a surrogate. However, there are no voters out there saying, well, I wasn't going to vote for this guy, but I love the lieutenant governor pick
20:29
And therefore, I'm going to vote for him. Those voters do not exist. It's symbolic and it gives you an extra surrogate, but that's it
20:34
No one's lieutenant governor. It's like vice president. No one's voting on that basis. Now, Fulop has decided to lean progressive with his pick, OK, that might work in a primary
20:43
Is that going to give him victory in the primary and does that help him in the general election
20:47
Yeah, listen, let's look back at what Governor Murphy did when he was candidate. Murphy back in 2017, he picked Sheila Oliver, someone with incredible amount of Trenton credentials
20:54
a former assembly speaker and someone obviously that could speak to the African-American community
20:58
which was the path that Governor Murphy took not once but twice to win the governorship
21:03
I think Steve Fulpe's trying to do the same thing here. I'm not sure there's ever been a vice president or a lieutenant governor in history
21:08
that's really won the election for the person they're running with. So ultimately, it doesn't matter all that much
21:13
I think in the way that it can activate the base, maybe it does a little bit. But, you know, I think if it's a symbol of how this candidate thinks this is their path to victory
21:20
he's clearly banking on being a progressive. Well, I think if Steve Fulpe makes it to the general election
21:24
his lieutenant governor pick is a dream for Republican consultants. She says, I'm a self-evalued progressive
21:29
That'll be on everybody's mailers because this is not what the general election voters want in New Jersey
21:35
after eight years of Murphy raising your taxes, raising your energy bills
21:39
and the party going too far to the left and being too woke. So, you know, listen, this is definitely a far left pick for the primary
21:46
and not thinking about the general election at all. What do the voters want, Dan? What do they want
21:50
What do they want? They want their taxes to go down, their services to go up
21:54
They want property taxes to be lower, but also to keep all of their local services and expand those local services
22:00
The public in New Jersey, as everywhere else, is entirely schizophrenic. They want everything
22:04
They want it now. How are we going to get it? Nobody knows, but every candidate in the gubernatorial election here and everywhere else is going to promise them the moon, the sun
22:11
and then get into office and say, boy, the last guy really messed things up. There's no way to actually deliver this
22:16
Oh, well. Thank you, panel. That's all for today's show. Thank you so much for joining us
22:19
And we'll see you next time on New Jersey Now
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