Last Tuesday a debate was held for both gubernatorial candidates for New Jersey: Phil Murphy and Kim Guadagno.  Murphy is a former ambassador to Germany under President Obama and a retired Goldman Sachs executive and Guadagno is the current Lieutenant Governor for the State of New Jersey under Governor Chris Christie.  I’ve watched a lot of debates – not as many this year but I’ve been closer to those debates in terms of knowledge (both of candidates and issues) – and this one unlike any debate I’ve seen, especially as gubernatorial one.  There was something much more volatile about this debate than I have seen before, even in lesser debates for local city council or mayor’s races.  After watching that kind of debate I had one major question: what are these candidates really “selling” and what’s on the line if they lose?  I’ll give an overview about the candidate’s platform and then their performance during the debate to look at answering those two questions.

Guadagno has started her campaign later in the game compared to Murphy; then again, most candidates started their campaigns later in the game compared to Murphy who launched his chances for Drumthwacket almost a year in advance than most have done historically.  It became apparent that after she distanced herself from Governor Christie after the state gas tax enactment that Guadagno was gearing up for a run.  Since she announced publicly, Guadagno has run on a conservative Republican platform aiming to audit Trenton (in the hopes that over $1 billion in mismanaged funds can flow back into the State’s coffers), cut property taxes to promote stronger economic conditions, and take a strict stance against sanctuary cities in New Jersey.  During the debate Guadagno took some strong stances against parts of Murphy’s platform and agenda, even going so far as to call him a coward in not condemning movie star mogul Harvey Weinstein who had connection to Murphy’s campaign (which were quickly cut once rumors began to spread about his sexual misconduct).  What was most unnerving was her follow up attack ad focused specifically on immigration – I won’t dive too much into this as I’m sure it could take up an entirely new post but I’ll present this House of Cards quote to ponder: “After all, we are nothing more or less than what we choose to reveal.”

To dive into Guadagno’s performance during the debate, the first thing I’ll mention is that she took a very confident approach throughout focused mainly on property taxes to create fertile conditions for both families and businesses to thrive.  During questions that most would not necessarily or automatically connect to property taxes and economic conditions for the State, Guadagno easily pivoted; in fact, an article from NJ.com noted that she had used the term “property taxes” during the hour-long debate close to two dozen times.  Unfortunately, there are holes in Guadagno’s plan to fund this cut in property taxes as she hopes to audit the state to uncover over $1 billion in mismanaged funds to cover the relief in property taxes; still, as was jabbed at by her opponent, to find so much money being abused would be directly related to her administration’s poor execution of fiscal responsibility. 

This is what lies at the crux of the Guadagno campaign: as much as she hopes to distance herself from the current administration and create a stark contrast from Christie about her abilities to hold the office of top State Executive, Kim Guadagno is still just as much a part of the current administration as the current Governor.  In that sense, she has put herself politically on a very tight line to walk and risks reimagining herself as a pariah to the rest of the State Republican party if she cannot effectively take a stand on the work that she has done in the current administration while simultaneously distancing herself to rebrand and stand a chance come November.

Phil Murphy took an extremely interesting political move that I am sure folks will talk about for some time as they discuss the never-dull stories of New Jersey politics.  With the primary scheduled for June 2017, Murphy announced over a year earlier in May of 2016 stating that he and his family had discussed and were “not debating this at the kitchen table anymore.”  After that point there was much scrutiny and skepticism about Murphy’s “leg up” to start early in his wheeling and dealing with county executives across the State to secure the Democratic nomination the next year.  Throughout his campaign, Phil Murphy has run on a parallel generic Democratic agenda focusing on affordable education, a stronger economy on a foundation of financial equity, and a higher minimum wage. 

During the debate there were shots taken by Guadagno about Murphy’s previous career as a Wall Street executive and those concerns didn’t just lie with the Lieutenant Governor.  Throughout his campaign Murphy has been questioned about his ability to act on behalf of people without having his strong financial mind rearing its head and prioritizing fiscal security over citizen’s wellbeing.  Many times, it seemed that the audience was in the former ambassador’s corner as they audibly clapped and laughed at quite a few of his zingers to deflect Guadagno’s attacks about his Wall Street past and his loose connections with Harvey Weinstein.  I’ve personally been intrigued, and started some of my own research, around Murphy’s initiative to establish a public (or state) bank here in New Jersey.  Essentially, this bank would house some of the State’s tax revenue to allow Trenton to offer loans to students and small businesses with incredibly decreased interest rates and to fill up hole’s in the State budget; these would be only a few of the functions this initiative would take.

Unfortunately, for Murphy this is also just as much a tightrope walk when it comes to his firm economic platform due to his long-term career as a financial executive with a company that has left a disgusting taste in the mouths of many across the country, including some of whom Murphy is asking for their votes.  It’s no secret that New Jersey is a pretty “safe” blue state and it’s also no secret that most of those blue votes come from larger urban areas who deal with increased rates of unemployment, underfunding in education, and racial segregation stemming from years of discriminatory policies and practices.  So, the risk that Murphy takes is not in connecting with the wealthy and strong middle-class families that have thrived, even under tax pressure for years, but from those who have very little in common with a middle-aged white man who has a history of financial careers and politics extremely distant at times from such tumultuous conditions – the same who provide the votes that Murphy is relying on to keep this state blue, and on his side come November.

Whatever occurs here in New Jersey next month, it’s important for folks to stay informed and make sure that they are registered to vote.  Given the national political environment being staged, New Jersey has an obligation to stay civically engaged and make a difference. It might not be on the stage that some want but all politics is local and that’s where it starts.