Credit: (NJ Spotlight News)With New Jersey’s primary election on Tuesday, and voting already underway, women’s rights, foreign affairs and infrastructure are top of mind potential voters, according to candidate questions NJ Spotlight News has received from its audience.
NJ Spotlight News readers have submitted questions via our America Amplified Election 2024 partnership. All election-related content through the general election in November will be accompanied by a box through which readers can ask candidates about the issues that matter to them.
The initiative is hosted by WFYI in Indianapolis and is funded by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to support community engagement journalism in traditionally underserved areas. The initiative builds on a similar project in 2022 to help public media outlets provide critical voter information during the midterm elections.
America Amplified prioritizes meaningful in-person and online engagement in order to build trust, expand audiences and deepen the impact of public-media journalism. NJ Spotlight News will use community-engagement journalism practices to combat the spread of misinformation and mistrust in media while also sharing audience-focused resources on voting information.
Readers’ main issues
Readers have already asked a wide range of questions that reflect the top issues facing America today. They want to know what candidates will do to protect a pregnant person’s right to choose, how they will fix the state’s aging infrastructure, how they will bolster the child care system and if they support the Israeli government’s actions or Palestinian self-determination
Over the last six months, NJ Spotlight News asked candidates why they’re running for Senate, held a conversation among Democratic Senate candidates, asked their stances on foreign aid to Israel and Ukraine, and looked at former President Trump’s impact on the Republican Senate primary race.
For much more on the races on Tuesday’s ballot, look to the NJ Spotlight News election page for details on the candidates, districts and much more, including where to vote and other key details.
NJ Spotlight News created a voter’s guide with the Center for Cooperative Media to collect responses on how candidates will tackle important issues.
Community engagement is critical to the success of public media: Studies show that civically engaged residents have “strong ties” to local news.
“In local communities, the civically engaged — the people who vote, volunteer and connect with those around them — play a key role in community life. Thus, how and to what degree they stay informed about their communities carries added weight,” according to a Pew Research study.
Here’s a sample of questions readers have already asked candidates for U.S. Senate and a link to where to ask more. (See form below.)
- What legislative action will you sponsor to protect, without government interference, a woman’s right to choose her medical care in consultation with her health care providers?
- We spend large sums on new infrastructure projects and don’t take care of what we have. The result is potholed highways, demolished public buildings replaced by brutalist boxes and bridges that fail. How will you make America Beautiful Again?
- What will you do to address the dire situation for West Bank & Gaza Palestinians? Do you agree that Gaza residents should determine their own future? Will you support efforts to stop providing offensive weapons to Israel?
- New Jersey’s child care system is crumbling. It is simultaneously too expensive and pays too little to retain competent child care staff. If elected to the Senate, what will you do to fix this?
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