A gubernatorial race is well underway in New Jersey — with Democrat and Republican candidates seeking their party’s support in a saturated field before the primaries.
The state’s current governor, Phil Murphy — an LGBTQ+ ally who was endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign and Garden State Equality, is term-limited and cannot seek re-election. During his tenure, he signed a law requiring school curriculum to highlight the contributions of LGBTQ+ and disabled people, improved sex education, launched an advisory committee to improve LGBTQ+ equity for youth, implemented an HIV-focused advisory committee and decriminalized HIV, developed a program that improves contract access for LGBTQ+ businesses, and took various other steps to protect and affirm LGBTQ+ people.
During this primary election season, nine Republicans and six Democrats seek the position. Garden State Equality — an advocacy organization that focuses on LGBTQ+ rights in New Jersey — gave those who have entered the race an opportunity to speak about what they’ll do to preserve progress and support the queer community if elected.
Recordings of the virtual roundtable discussions have been uploaded to Garden State Equality’s website. One Democrat, Steve Sweeney, was absent — citing scheduling issues. Just one of the Republicans chose to participate. Participants answered the same set of questions, which were developed from open-call responses submitted by LGBTQ+ people across New Jersey.
Each of the Democratic candidates said they would support trans athletes, LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum and sex-education, continued privacy for trans students (who face policies that threaten to out them to potentially unsupportive parents), and youth access to trans-affirming healthcare.
An abbreviated summary of topics discussed by individual candidates is featured below in alphabetical order.
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Ras Baraka
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka — who is known for being an outspoken progressive — said he wants to do something more “creative, different, bold” in response to the threats of the Trump administration, noting that the state needs “strong leadership and folks that stand on their values and not play around in the middle.”
He wants to make the executive orders implemented by Gov. Murphy by legislating those EOs and other protections for LGBTQ+ people, including trans students and athletes. He also noted that he wants to pass legislation related to the rights of doctors to educate LGBTQ+ patients and provide them with LGBTQ+ focused healthcare.
In response to questions about the Trump administration’s removal of trans and HIV-related information from federal websites, Baraka said state institutions must “clearly and deliberately” communicate with the queer community.
He underlined that if elected he could use his position as a “pulpit” to advance both state and national conversations around defending marginalized people in response to the “hateful and racist and homophobic policies that are coming out of the White House.”
Jon Bramnick
Sen. Jon Bramnick, who represents the 21st legislative district of a north-central part of the state, is the only Republican to participate in a roundtable conversation.
“We have to end this us vs. them rhetoric, where somehow our hearts aren’t open to people who have different issues or different paths than we have,” he said, explaining that he believes governors must treat all people with respect.
Bramnick noted that he previously abstained to vote on domestic partnership rather than align with his party — which voted against the measure. He also admitted that he was “convinced wrongly” that marriage equality should be decided by public vote rather than legislation.
Bramnick said that the state does not do enough to educate the public on matters that require expertise. He said, for instance, he would gather a panel of doctors who are experts in gender-affirming care to explain why trans-affirming health care is appropriate in some cases.
He said schools should notify parents if their child is trans unless a serious threat is present at home, which he said would require the administration to reach out to child protective services instead.
Bramnick said he supports age-appropriate sex-education.
He does not believe trans women should compete in competitive high school or college sports but believes intramural or lower school level sports should continue to be inclusive. He would not take action to eliminate current state policies regarding intramural sports but might act based on his beliefs regarding participation in high school sports.
Bramnick, who did not endorse Trump, admitted he hasn’t paid close enough attention to understand how his executive orders impact New Jerseyans. He doesn’t plan to introduce new legislation to protect LGBTQ+ people and believes strong protections already exist.
“I don’t have any plans to do anything new,” he said.
Steven Fulop
“In the Democratic primary, you’re probably going to have all six candidates say the same sort of thing… saying we’re going to be a fierce advocate for the trans community and the LGBTQ community overall,” said Steven Fulop, who is mayor of Jersey City, at the start of his roundtable discussion. “And I would say that when you start to peel back layers of that onion, you start to see some real differences where there’s rhetoric and talk versus real action.”
He said his advocacy began in the early 2000s in support of marriage equality. He later officiated a midnight wedding the night marriage equality was legalized. Jersey City, which has a large LGBTQ+ population, was the first city in the state to give comprehensive health care coverage to trans employees in 2018. Fulop has an LGBTQ+ mayor’s task force, took steps to bolster LGBTQ+ businesses, and recently appointed the city’s first LGBTQ+ police liaison.
While most of the candidates outlined the qualities and values they’d appreciate in a new attorney general they’d personally select, Fulop was the only person to say that New Jersey’s current AG, Matt Platkin, deserves to stay in the role — citing his pushback against the Trump administration and in response to public corruption.
He noted that both Platkin — who recently won a victory for trans students who faced a potential school policy which would have forcibly outed them to their parents — and Murphy have strong track records for taking actions that protect trans students.
He called the Trump administration’s erasure of information pertaining for HIV and to trans people as “a life and death issue,” underlining that state governments must remain aware and thoughtful in supporting diverse populations and expanding access to resources. For instance, he underlined that many trans people rely on federal programs and the state must fill in the gaps in response to defunding.
Josh Gottheimer
U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer represents the 5th congressional district, a densely populated area closest to New York. He recently introduced the Elder Pride Protection Act, which would require a task force to study higher rates of elder abuse in the LGBTQ+ community and develop responses to this problem. He also supported the Pride in Mental Health Act — which would improve care for LGBTQ+ kids — and supports bills that would increase access to PrEP and LGBTQ+ healthcare.
Gottheimer, who was one of two N.J. dems who backed a bill that will revoke access to trans-affirming health care for the children of military members and veterans, said he’s now introducing a bill to reverse the “anti-trans rider” in that piece of legislation.
Gottheimer noted that he believes it’s important for state leaders to use the courts to hold the Trump administration accountable. He said he will listen to the LGBTQ+ community to understand what’s important to them in his response to the administration.
“I think you get a sense of how I’d be as governor,” Gottheimer said, noting that he learns about the issues people deal with by intentionally meeting with people who are impacted and developing responses based on their needs and ideas. “I think that’s the way we should govern our state.”
Mikie Sherrill
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, who represents New Jersey’s 11th congressional district, is a veteran who served during Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — which she explained during her roundtable discussion was deeply harmful LGBTQ+ colleagues at the time. She has a strong track record of supporting mainstream LGBTQ+ legislative efforts.
Still, Sherrill voted alongside Gottheimer to pass the bill that now strips trans-affirming health care coverage from children of military members. Five N.J. representatives voted against it. She later defended her decision but said she was disgusted by anti-trans language in the bill.
During her conversation with Garden State Equality, she focused heavily on the mental health impact of the Trump administration and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. Sherrill, who is a mom, said she’s concerned about the attack on trans youth.
She said information about LGBTQ+ topics, PrEP and HIV must be accessible on state websites since this is being targeted at the federal level. She supports legislation that would protect young people’s access to gender-affirming care through insurance measures as well as data protection and privacy measures. In general, she believes there’s more that can be done via state legislation to protect LGBTQ+ people.
Sherrill believes governors will need to take quick actions by invoking state attorneys general and state-level executive orders to keep people safe during the Trump administration. She said she would rely on community groups to inform her about the steps that need to be taken.
“To see the progress that I thought we were making and to see how fragile it is — I don’t want it to be fragile here in New Jersey,” she said.
Sean Spiller
Sean Spiller, the former mayor of Montclair, is now running for governor citing his role as president of New Jersey Education Association as a top credential. Spiller, who immigrated to the U.S. as a child, characterized himself as a “fighter.”
He talked about the importance of educating others to help them become allies by knowing when to call people in and call people out.
He noted that the state has an obligation to protect at-risk students and said he’s working to codify guidelines that currently protect trans students but are not yet laws. He also wants to appoint a member of the LGBTQ+ community to the state’s board of education.
He spoke additionally about the need to formalize the programs and committees that Murphy launched through executive orders — strengthening them to ensure they’re working well across departments and with different stakeholders — and creating laws to ensure they stay.
Spiller spoke about the need for New Jersey’s next governor to avoid backing down when offered conditional support from the federal government — such as funding in exchange for the elimination of trans-inclusive policies and protections.
He underlined the need to work together with the powers that exist across the state to ensure everyone is “fighting collectively for what we know is true — that we are on the right side of history here.”