The largest daily newspaper covering South Jersey, The Philadelphia Inquirer, just endorsed our campaign for Governor, and their message was clear: we are the candidate with the courage, the record, and the vision to actually change New Jersey.
It was a long write-up where they did lots of research, and this line in their endorsement speaks to our campaign:
“Fulop embraced the kind of innovative policy solutions that often spook other mayors, and he implemented them effectively — often in the face of strong opposition. That’s a refreshing quality.”
We are not running a campaign built on empty slogans. We are running to fix what’s broken, to stand up to the political insiders, and to deliver the kind of leadership New Jersey deserves.
New Jersey is a great state, but it can be so much more. This election is about that future. We believe in what this state is capable of, and we are working every single day to make it real.
Democrat Steve Fulop and Republican Jon Bramnick in the primaries for New Jersey governor | Endorsement
Primary voters in the Garden State who are looking for a governor to address the state's woes have a strong field of Democrats to choose from and a solid pick among the GOP contenders.
Property taxes are high, transit access is uneven, and buying or even renting a home becomes more out of reach for more people every year. In suburban towns, many young families and public workers can no longer afford to live in the neighborhoods they grew up in.
Thankfully, New Jersey primary voters looking for a governor to address the state’s woes have a strong field of Democrats to choose from and a solid pick among the GOP contenders.
In the Democratic primary, the Editorial Board recommends Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop as the candidate who is most prepared for the challenge.
After he became mayor in 2013, New Jersey Monthly called him “data driven and bent on efficiency.” He’s earned that praise since. Fulop, 48, embraced the kind of innovative policy solutions that often spook other mayors, and he implemented them effectively, often in the face of strong opposition. In the often go-along-to-get-along world of New Jersey politics, that’s a refreshing quality.
Under Fulop, Jersey City eliminated traffic fatalities on city roadways, becoming the largest city in America to accomplish this feat. Fulop also oversaw record-low homicide numbers, with the city of nearly 300,000 reporting just six homicides in 2024.
Rather than driving people away with an ever-increasing cost of living, Jersey City has added residents, fueling a period of strong economic growth. Fulop was so effective at unlocking housing production that Jersey City built nearly as many new units as Manhattan last year, adding thousands of new affordable units at projects like the Bayfront in addition to market-rate development.
Fulop has also been bold politically, choosing to switch his endorsement in last year’s U.S. Senate race from Tammy Murphy to Andy Kim. Fulop correctly identified Kim’s candidacy as an essential challenge to the county line system that had stifled competition in primaries for decades.
While it is certainly true that Fulop has, at times, worked with that establishment to win elections and achieve goals, it is just as true that Fulop is willing to challenge existing norms in state politics when needed, including in his initial 2005 city council bid and his run for mayor, when he defeated entrenched incumbents and their Democratic machine support.
Fulop also has the right policies to fix New Jersey’s biggest problems, having already worked on many of these issues in Jersey City.
He’s promised to cancel an $11 billion project to widen the turnpike in North Jersey, which many experts contend will not reduce congestion but will increase pollution. Fulop would put the money in NJ Transit instead.
On housing, Fulop would concentrate new construction along transit corridors, reward municipalities that achieve their affordable housing goals, and reform existing programs.
