NEW JERSEY — New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat known for his fight in return for Congestion pricing in New York Cityannounced he is running for governor in 2025.
Gottheimer joins a slew of other Democratic candidates, including former state senator Stephen Sweeney, Mayor of Jersey, Steven Fulop And Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a former military helicopter pilot, will enter the race next week, according to sources.
Gottheimer joins the crowded Democratic field
With the support of Bergen County’s powerful chairman, Gottheimer made his announcement Friday at a dinner in South Hackensack.
“As governor, I will cut your property and income taxes. Let me say it again because I’m not sure you’ve heard that from a Democrat in a long time. I’m going to cut your property taxes and income taxes,’” said Gottheimer, who is about to enter his fourth term in the House of Representatives.
“And we believe in helping people when they need it, and fighting against Donald Trump when we need to, or anyone else who is messing with Jersey,” Gottheimer said. “We need more police and more community policing.”
Gottheimer and Sherrill easily won re-election last week and do not have to resign to run for governor.
Republicans are gearing up for a political battle
New Jersey Republicans are gearing up for a political fight to overthrow the governor’s office, criticizing Democrats who control all branches of the state government.
‘That one-party rule has been going on for almost seven years now. Have you lowered property taxes? And let me ask you a question. Did he say anything, did he criticize Phil Murphy’s budgets?’ said state Sen. Jon Bramnick, who is on the GOP side.
Jack Ciatarelliwho narrowly lost to Governor Phil Murphy in 2021 electionssaid he blames Gottheimer and Democrats for burglaries and car thefts across the state.
‘Helpful for Josh to find talking points about affordability after last election day. Apparently he expects voters to forget that while he has been in Washington and accomplished nothing, he has continually supported the Trenton Democrats who have given us the highest property taxes and the worst business. climate, sanctuary cities, home burglaries and car thefts. He can make up any slogan he wants, but the facts are that he and his party have failed New Jersey,” Ciatarelli said in a statement to CBS News New York.
Bill Spadea is also running for governor as a Republican.
“Josh’s participation means Democrats now have their own version of Jack Ciatarelli in the race – a career politician who pretends to be more conservative than he really is. If I beat Jack Ciatarelli in the primaries, it will be a good exercise to beat Gottheimer in general: both are insider politicians who are weak on immigration and hate President Trump,” Spadea said in a statement .
Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller is also running in the primary as a Democrat. He said in a statement: “I applaud Rep. Gottheimer for recognizing what I’ve been talking about since day one: New Jersey is a great place to live, but a tough place to afford it. As an immigrant, an educator , mayor , and a proud leader of New Jersey’s teachers and support staff union, I understand the issues working people face on a deeply personal level – as well as the threat Donald Trump poses to all of our families, and I will never stop doing so with fighting to support and protect the people of this state, and I look forward to seeing Josh on the campaign trail.”
New Jersey is historically considered a blue state, but the 2024 presidential election was very close. President-elect Donald Trump lost to Vice President Kamala Harris by just 5 percentage points.
“With the right Republican, we can win. But that’s a Republican appealing to swing voters and moderate Democrats,” Bramnick said.
Murphy is term-limited and cannot run until 2025.
Christine Sloan
