It’s the economy, stupid, that might as well be the campaign slogan of each of the seven gubernatorial candidates who participated in a forum Friday morning as part of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s “Walk to Washington.”
From cutting red tape to investing more in small business, each candidate offered his or her plans to make New Jersey more business-friendly, with the messaging similar among Democrats and Republicans alike.
But one distinction came on the issue of the state’s corporate business tax and whether that should be reduced or even eliminated.
“We absolutely have to cut the corporate business tax,” said Bill Spadea, the former radio host and now Republican candidate.
Added Jack Ciattarelli, a former Assemblyman and repeat GOP candidate for governor: “We have to eliminate, on day one, the corporate transfer fee.”
The corporate transit fee was tacked onto the state’s corporate business tax in 2024 to help fund the cash-strapped NJ Transit system. Democrats on the panel supported the move to support mass transit.
“The climate we would need to create would be to fund our transit system,” said U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11th), a Democratic candidate.
Added Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, candidate for the Democratic nomination: “If revenue in the state has grown to a point where we can take care of ourselves, then yeah, maybe we can begin to talk about what the corporate business tax looks like.”
“No corporations, no businesses want to pay for it. It’s important that we have reliable transportation,” said former state Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democratic candidate.
“Taxing people out of the state is now a way to raise more money for things like transit,” said Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Union), a Republican candidate.
Spadea drew particular attention — and criticism — when he laid out his economic vision for New Jersey.
“If we’re going to have any new departments in government, there’s only one, it’s going to be NJ DOGE,” he said, alluding to the new federal Department of Government Efficiency. “We ought to be on the phone with Elon Musk and say whatever you’re doing there, we’ve gotta bring that to Jersey.”
The comment brought roaring disapproval from the crowd, which had to be quieted by the moderator. And Spadea’s Republican challengers pounced on the moment.
“Well, Elon Musk is not going to be in my cabinet, I can tell you that much,” said Bramnick. “And let me tell you why. I am not going to bring national politics into Jersey. Jersey is its own environment.”
Speaking of the environment, Sweeney on Friday broke from his party’s traditional views on energy production.
“I’m going to say something maybe the others won’t: We need gas, we need pipelines, we need all the above,” he said.
“We need nuclear. A few years ago they tried to shut the nuclear industry down,” Sweeney continued. “Can you imagine where we would be? It’s 43% of our energy.”
