MERCER COUNTY, N.J. — Buckle up: The impending nine-month melee to elect a new Garden State governor already evokes the mayhem of a rush-hour ride down the New Jersey Turnpike.
Ten leading contenders for the job smiled, sniped and sidestepped their way through 105 minutes of questions in successive Feb. 2 and 4 debates held at Rider University. The two livestreamed showcases, cohosted by The New Jersey Globe and On New Jersey, were organized by party affiliation.
Neither side has a clear frontrunner for its nomination, with most operatives prepared for a roller-coaster of polling leads before the June 10 primaries. The race begins in the Lean Democrat column given New Jersey’s historic edge toward the party, though recent Republican inroads threaten to upend Democrats’ longtime dominance in Trenton.
Early Democratic divisions formThe race’s six Democratic candidates — Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Mikie Sherrill, state Education Association President Sean Spiller and former state Senate President Stephen Sweeney — got the first shot at the spotlight on Feb. 2. Gottheimer
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The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the US House of Representatives, US Senate, Governors and President as well as American political trends.
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