New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidates debate housing, healthcare, and immigration at Princeton forum

Four of the six Democrats aiming to become New Jersey’s next governor spoke at a forum Sunday night that was hosted at the Suzanne Patterson Center by the Princeton Community Democratic Organization.

The Democratic candidate selected to represent the party in the June primary will face a Republican nominee in November to succeed Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat serving his eighth and final year in office.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller, and former Senate President Steve Sweeney all participated in the Princeton event. Candidate Mikie Sherrill sent a surrogate, State Sen. John McKeon. Candidate Josh Gottheimer did not attend and did not send a surrogate.

Throughout the nearly two-hour forum, the candidates discussed housing, health care, immigration, education and more.

Fulop and Spiller said New Jersey needs change in what Fulop and Baraka described as these “dangerous times.” Baraka and McKeon stressed that something needs to be done about President Donald Trump.

“Now is the time we draw the line in the sand,” Baraka said. “We can’t play games with these people. They’re dangerous and mean-spirited. We have to fight for all working people in this state.”

The best way to fight Trump, Baraka said, is to build a working democracy by leaning in on diversity, equity and inclusion, investing in small businesses, taking care of the environment, protecting immigrants, standing up for the LGBTQ community and making sure the economy is robust.

Housing

Sweeney said the average cost of a New Jersey home is about $550,000. He called for a modification of what is known as home rule, which he argued has caused New Jersey’s housing crisis. Home rule allows local governments to control their own zoning and development.

“It’s time the community stops spending millions and millions of dollars fighting and start finding ways to build housing,” Sweeney said.

Baraka said New Jersey has a shortage of more than 230,000 homes. He criticized current housing policies, saying they have been ineffective for decades. He vowed to take action to provide affordable housing to New Jersey residents straight from the governor’s office, rather than passing the issue onto municipalities.

“We have to begin to be thinking about what affordability is in specific communities,” Baraka said. “We have to begin talking about accessory dwelling units. We have to begin talking about building on irregular lots, starting homes and making opportunities for young people to start their families.”

Fulop and Spiller agreed with Baraka that affordable housing is an urgent issue and requires a new plan to tackle it. Fulop said he would use executive orders to approach the issue, while Spiller proposed the state partner with municipalities to build housing that aligns with each community’s needs.

Health Care

All the candidates agreed that health care is expensive and cited efforts they have made in the past to lower costs.

Sweeney mentioned his reverse auction bill, which aims to lower pharmaceutical costs by working to remove pharmacy benefit managers, who he believes unnecessarily serve as middlemen.

McKeon said Sherrill voted in Congress to cap the cost of insulin at $35 per month and place a $2,000 out-of-pocket limit on prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries.

“I would suspect that you’ll see some of that similar kind of policy from a state level as it relates to disparities,” McKeon said.

Spiller said he designed state money-saving health care plans while he served as mayor of Montclair Township. He said as governor he would examine what the big healthcare cost drivers are — especially insurance companies — and try to address them.

To change health care in New Jersey, issues with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey needs to be addressed because the company has a monopoly in the state, Fulop said.

“You have this hospital monopoly in New Jersey, that consolidation has been allowed by Trenton, which is counter to your interests,” Fulop said. “Doctors no longer make your decisions. Hospitals make your decisions in New Jersey.”

Fulop also said some vulnerable communities could be negatively impacted if Medicare and Medicaid lose federal funding. He said the transgender community is particularly vulnerable, and that cuts could lead to increased depression, suicide and drug use.

Baraka said Black, brown and poorer communities have less access to health care than others. He promised to strengthen efforts to address such inequalities and to support bills that focus on equity in health care and a woman’s right to choose.

Immigration

When asked if he supports the New Jersey Immigrant Trust Act currently pending in the legislature, Baraka said, “Absolutely.”

“First we need to change the context of this discussion,” Baraka said. “We keep having discussions around the parameters that were created, which are actually lies. This whole idea of immigrants being criminals, this is not real…Some people I know are criminals, they happen to be the president of the United States.”

McKeon was asked the same question but answered with a story he found compelling that Sherrill recently told him. Sherrill met a young woman in Dover, Colorado, who is a DREAMer who grew up in the U.S. and only speaks English. The woman said she wouldn’t know what to do if she were sent to a Spanish-speaking country.

“I know what their struggles were and seeing this breaks our heart, and knowing that those who are here are hardworking individuals who can be an important part of our economy,” McKeon said. “Like the mayor said, not criminals is what we want you to know.”

Fulop discussed his past work related to immigration. In 2014, he founded the country’s first nationally accredited immigration office in Jersey City. He said the issue hits close to home.

“We’ve been at the forefront of (helping) the Afghanistan refugees,” Fulop said. “We’ve been in the forefront of (helping) Ukrainian refugees because my family is immigrants.”

Education

Spiller, a former teacher and the head of the largest teachers’ union in the state, said having an educator serve as governor would provide an informed perspective that ensures policies support students, teachers and parents.

Baraka said New Jersey’s funding formula for education is outdated and is in need of change. He argued the process should involve educational practitioners and community advocates instead of bankers and politicians. He said changes should include adjusting funding for English language learners and special needs students by providing incentives to diverse districts that work toward desegregation.

“We should pay schools and give schools bonuses that create opportunities for other kids to come,” Baraka said.

Fulop agreed with Baraka — that New Jersey’s decades-old education funding formula needs to be improved, and this could be done with a “carrot on a stick” approach by rewarding schools that make progress. Fulop said his goal for reforming the formula is to improve education for all demographics of students while limiting tax burdens.