While a hotly-contested presidential election is expected next year, candidates for New Jersey governor are looking ahead to 2025.
Here’s why: South Jersey native and former state Senate President Steve Sweeney has announced he will enter the race for governor in 2025 by vying for the Democratic nomination against the mayor of Jersey City, Steve Fulop. It’s a race sure to renew the age-old rivalry between North and South Jersey powerbrokers in the state.
Republican Jack Ciattarelli will seek his party’s nomination for governor; he nearly defeated incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy in 2021. By state law Murphy – first elected governor in 2017 – can only serve two consecutive four-year terms.
Sweeney has already won endorsements from Democratic county chairs in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties, many of whom were shocked when Sweeney – the state’s longest-serving Senate president and the second-most powerful official in Trenton – lost his seat to a to a little-known trucker, Edward Durr, in 2021.
Sweeney, a union president who had held the third-district seat since 2002, lost by fewer than 2,500 votes, a stunning upset.
“I am humbled and grateful to receive such strong support from these elected county chairs, who are hardworking dedicated individuals,” said Sweeney of his entry into the governor’s race. “Your encouragement and backing will be critical in the campaign ahead.”
Meanwhile, Fulop has earned endorsements from many of North Jersey’s Democratic county chairpersons, which should make the anticipated battle for the party’s nomination in the June 2025 primary a very competitive one.
Sweeney served as freeholder-director for 12 of his 13 years on the Gloucester County Freeholder Board (now the board of Commissioners) and represented third-district voters in that county as well as Cumberland and Salem for 20 years in the Senate.
“Steve Sweeney was an unparalleled champion for New Jersey during his years in the Senate,” the county chairs – Micheal Suleiman, Joe Andi, Jim Beach, Kevin P. McCann, Chad Bruner and Steven Caltabiano – said in a joint statement.
“He created jobs and economic growth, increased school aid and property tax relief, built up our universities, and passed legislation that improved the lives of our working families, senior citizens and students,” they added. “We are proud to endorse Steve Sweeney as our next governor.”
“I’ll always put New Jersey’s kids, working families, and seniors first,” Sweeney pledged in a video announcement of his candidacy on Dec. 3. “You know that’s who I’ll fight for, because it’s who I’ve always fought for. It’s who I am, a fighter for people who can’t fight for themselves.
“I’m running for governor because New Jersey is worth fighting for.”
Born and raised in Camden and a former ironworker, Sweeney said he was called to serve after challenges he faced when his daughter was born with Down syndrome. He has championed expanding services for the developmentally disabled during his long political career.
Sweeney also emphasized the need to make New Jersey more affordable for all citizens, saying, “If you want to, you should be able to work with dignity, buy a home, raise a family, care for loved ones and retire confidently – all in New Jersey.”
He promised to fight for a “tax system that works for New Jersey families and retirees, not big corporations,” as well as a first-class preK-12 education system, expanded higher educational and job training opportunities, increased funding for local police and a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights.
