By Paul Mulholland This Tuesday, New Jersey is holding its primary elections to select the candidates for this year’s gubernatorial election this November. New Jersey is a closed primary state, which means only those affiliated with a party may vote, and they only may vote in the primary for the party they are registered in. Independents cannot vote in the primary, although they may vote in the general election on November 7. Four of the top primary candidates are profiled below. The two front-runners on the Democratic side are Phil Murphy and Jim Johnson. Murphy holds a large polling lead over Johnson, according to a poll taken by Stockton University on May 25. Phil Murphy is the favorite to win both the Democratic Primary and the General Election. He has received the endorsements from both of New Jersey’s Senators, Booker and Menendez, as well as all of its Democratic House members. He is a former Ambassador to Germany under former President Obama, and is a former Goldman Sachs executive. Murphy supports protecting illegal immigrants who arrived as minors, as well as the creation of a public bank to help small businesses. He wants to make gun safety training mandatory for new gun buyers. Murphy pledges to eliminate PARCC testing, increase funding to state colleges and help graduates with refinancing their debt. The main Democratic competitor, Jim Johnson is a former Prosecutor at the Treasury Department under former President Clinton. Johnson emphasizes criminal justice reform. He wants to end private prisons and solitary confinement for juveniles, and introduce special prosecutors for shootings involving police officers. Both Democratic candidates support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes. The two Republican favorites are Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno and State Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli from Somerset County. The Republican race is expected to be more competitive as Guadagno has received endorsements from 14 of New Jersey’s 21 counties, and Ciattarelli has been endorsed by the other seven (in the Democratic race, Murphy swept all 21). Kim Guadagno is a former Federal Prosecutor and has been Governor Christie’s Lieutenant Governor since 2010, but has been trying to distance herself from the former Governor. Guadagno supports expanding vocational training and apprenticeships, advancing merit pay for teachers, expanding school choice with charters and vouchers, and making higher education more affordable. She also promises to cap property taxes used for education at 5% of household income. Guadagno supports the decriminalization of marijuana but not the legalization, and opposes sanctuary cities. Jack Ciattarrelli has been a member of the State Assembly since 2011, and is a certified public accountant. Ciattarrelli wants to make student loan interest tax deductible, remove taxes on the sale of homes and businesses, and reduce other taxes to make New Jersey more affordable, especially for seniors. He also wants to shift funding from overfunded districts to underfunded ones.
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