Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Union) was the only Republican to participate in a forum for gubernatorial candidates organized by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and other progressive groups that took place Wednesday.
With questions on immigration, policing, race and reparations, social justice issues were to the fore at the forum, which was held at the NJ Performing Arts Center in Newark.
“We should not just be talking about the inequities that exist here, we should be talking about putting more people in homes, closing the home ownership gap, investing in families in this community, to make sure that communities like Newark and Livingston that are eight miles apart don’t have a 14-year life expectancy difference,” said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, the most progressive of the Democratic candidates.
Baraka’s oratorical flourishes were a feature of the conversation. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, the wonkiest of the candidates, was the cool to Baraka’s hot, emphasizing the importance of having detailed plans for reaching progressive goals.
“I would focus on housing, I would focus on education and I would focus on employment opportunities through diversity and inclusion, and I think those are at the forefront of solving this issue,” Fulop said.
Bramnick, breaking with other Republican gubernatorial candidates, called for “a path to citizenship” for undocumented immigrants, saying, “There’s so many options here where people who’ve been here for a long period of time, who’ve paid their taxes, who’ve raised a family. Why is there not a path? Why is it still so penal at this point?”
As well as Baraka and Fulop, other Democratic candidates participating in the forum were U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-7th), former Senate President Steve Sweeney and Sean Spiller, president of the New Jersey Education Association. Spiller is a member of the NJ PBS Community Advisory Board. Green Party candidate Stephen Zielinski also participated.
