By Joseph Pergola
CCC Journalism Program
Chris Christie’s time as the governor of New Jersey will finish on Jan. 16, 2018. With his term coming to an end, the 2017 New Jersey gubernatorial election will take place on Nov. 7, 2017 and the primary elections will take place on June 6, 2017.
To be on the ballet for the party primaries, candidates must have registered before April 4, 2017 and have received at least 1,000 signatures on a nominating petition.
Candidates who have declared for the Republican party are:
Jack Ciattarelli – He was born in Somerville in 1961 and is a member of the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 16th legislative district.
Kim Guadagno – She became the first lieutenant governor of New Jersey on Jan. 19, 2010, working under Christie, and previously served as the 75th sheriff of Monmouth County.
Steven Rogers – He is the commissioner of public affairs for Nutley.
Joseph Rudy Rullo – He designed the curriculum at Ocean County College for acting, renewable energy and landscape design. As governor he promises to repeal the gas tax and eliminate pensions to New York City politically connected brokerage houses.
Hirsh Singh – The son of immigrant parents from India, he was born in Atlantic City. His grandfather serves in the Parliament of India. He promises to innovate by lowering taxes, overhauling the education system and redesigning the state’s infrastructure.
Candidates who have declared for the Democratic party are:
Bill Brennan – A retired firefighter with a law degree, as governor he vows to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, legalize marijuana and implement a millionaire tax by increasing the state tax on income over $750,000 by 2 percent to bring in an additional $600 million to $700 million in revenue.
Jim Johnson – He plans to revitalize neighborhoods.
Raymond Lesniak – Born in 1946, the Elizabeth native supports LGBT rights, co-authored a book titled “The Case for Same Sex Marriage” and plans to end the use of fossil fuels by 2050.
Philip D. Murphy – He plans to address gun violence issues and lower the cost of college for students across the state.
John Wisniewski – He has served in the state government since 1996, supports the Black Lives Matter movement, plans to implement polices that will make housing affordable and revolutionize education from kindergarten to grade 12.
Mark Zinna – He looks to make abortion safe, legal and accepted statewide and wants to fix the state pension crisis.
Candidates who have declared as independents and third party candidates are:
Gina Genovese – She is a former mayor of Long Hill.
Seth Kaper-Dale – Running in the Green Party, he is a pastor who wants to bring Medicare to the entire state.
Jonathan Lancelot – He formerly worked in the Pentagon under a Lockheed Martin contract, wants to bring clean water to 100 percent of New Jersey and supports prison reform and single payer health care.
Mike Price – He is running in the Independent Party.
Peter Rohrman – A retired U.S. Marine who is running in the Libertarian Party after losing a campaign for Bergen County freeholder in 2015, he seeks to end corporate welfare and legalize marijuana.
Karlos Basak – He is running in the Localist Party.
Vincent Ross – He is running in the Independent Party.
