In the latest of his gubernatorial campaign’s policy papers, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop has taken on government reform and corruption, including in his own Democratic party.
He claimed the timing has nothing to do with the recent spate of news on the issue, including the indictment of South Jersey power broker George Norcross and the ongoing corruption trial of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez.
“It’s more of a coincidence,” he said. “My background with both Bob Menendez and George Norcross [is] fairly clear. In 2015 and 2016 when George Norcross was at his most powerful, there was no lack of coverage of where and how we would disagree on issues ranging from Atlantic City and beyond.
“Bob Menendez is a more complicated situation, because he looms very large in Hudson County,” Fulop said. “I ran against him in 2004, and we had a very complicated relationship for some time.”
Calling out other power players as well, Fulop laid out his proposals to tighten reporting restrictions on donors, invest more into the Election Law Enforcement Commission, and restore elements of the state’s Open Public Records Act. He also said he would put mandatory dates and limits on the state’s budgeting process, like requiring the annual budget bills to be publicly available for 72 hours ahead of the vote. Rank choice voting, and same day registration are in his plans, too.
The policy paper is the latest from Fulop, following ones on education, transportation and other topics.
“This is a campaign that is putting together ideas, and you can let those ideas stand on their merits,” said political analyst Micah Rasmussen. “You can disagree with them, but he’s putting ideas forth, and that is something that campaigns increasingly don’t do… For better or worse, he’s putting them on paper, he’s putting them out there, letting people see what they think of them, kick the tires.”
The downside is Fulop may offend the very people that he needs for support, but he didn’t appear afraid of that. In Hudson, the new party chairman, county executive Craig Guy, has already rescinded his predecessor Anthony Vanieri’s endorsement of Fulop. Vanieri said that may bring a primary battle.
“I think a majority of the [Hudson] mayors will go with Steve Fulop,” Vanieri said. “That’s what we’re going to wait for. Craig Guy has to meet with all the mayors, and we’ll see where we all stand as an organization. If they decide to go with the congressman versus the mayor, we’ll have a primary fight in Hudson.”
Fulop will work around the party infrastructure, he said, peeling off big-name supporters like state Senator Angela McKnight (D-Hudson) who posted her support of the mayor on X last week.
