On Chat Box, David Cruz spoke with Jersey City Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop about his thoughts on the potential GOP gubernatorial candidates, such as Jack Ciattarelli or Bill Spadea, who he may face in the 2025 election.
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What do you think of the potential Republican field for governor? Is there anyone in that
party that stands out to you as a sharp mind, an astute politician, or a great orator?
You know, in the Democratic Party?
No, in the Republican Party. Your potential opponents.
Yeah, you know, yesterday, Jack Cittarelli was at Fairleigh Dickinson University for a
kind of town hall. And, you know, I read the notes from what he said and his suggestions,
and it was pretty unimpressive, to be honest with you. So like, it kind of changed my view
on him a little bit, because I think it's a lot of like, ridiculous rhetoric that isn't rooted in
any degree of fact or substantive. And a lot of the things you know, he was in the legislature for.
So I think there's questions around being a hypocrite there. You know, I think Bill Spadia,
you know, is speaking to a different part of the Republican Party that is more,
you know, amped up and motivated. And, you know, I think he's going to be a viable candidate if
he can put it together financially. So, you know, that's it. But for me,
I think I'll be competitive against either of those two. And I would look forward to a race
against either of those two. I could communicate what I've done here and what I would do for New
Jersey. And I think we'll win that argument.
Is there potential for if the Democrats have a free for all
in a primary for governor, does it hurt potentially whoever comes out of that?
No, because you know what? I'm in the minority in the sense that I don't think that, you know,
Cittarelli in the last election did so great. I mean, the reality is that it was Virginia,
New Jersey, the only elections in the country. And we usually do what Virginia does. And
in that situation, you had Yunkin, who's now the governor, close a 30 point gap with McAuliffe
and actually win. In this situation, you have Cittarelli that failed doing that.
So I would say that what you're seeing with that 47 or 48 percent that he got,
it's actually the ceiling. It's not the floor that he's building off. It's the ceiling.
And, you know, there's a lot more Democrats here. And people aren't interested in kind of
that Trump wing of the party as relates to some of the policy platforms that they're pushing.
And I think that as Jack Cittarelli leans and tries to straddle the fence between the two,
it's going to be very complicated for him. And it already is.
So I don't really view him as that strong of a candidate is the truth.
