New Jersey’s GOP gubernatorial debate was not a ‘quiet night’

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Two days after the six Democratic candidates for New Jersey’s gubernatorial race sparred against one another, the four Republicans vying for the party’s nomination verbally squared off on the debate stage at Rider University Tuesday night.

The participants included state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, former state Sen. Ed Durr and radio host Bill Spadea.

The candidates frequently interrupted each other throughout the two-hour debate, challenging the moderators to maintain decorum. One of the panelists asking questions, New Jersey Globe editor David Wildstein, referred to the Democratic debate as “the quiet night” compared to the GOP debate.

That was evident after opening statements when Bramnick attempted to respond to Ciattarelli, who was the party’s nominee in 2021, calling out Bramnick for hosting Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in his backyard in May 2021.

“Hey, I’m the moderator, and everybody’s going to get a chance to be able to talk,” interjected moderator Laura Jones. “That was just opening statements”

Almost all the candidates, except for Bramnick, declared their support for President Donald Trump.

Between trading rhetorical jabs, the candidates also answered questions on abortion rights, NJ Transit, overdevelopment of the state, education and how they would have managed the early days of the COVID pandemic differently from Murphy.

But as Wildstein noted during the debate, it was not going to be “the kumbaya night” panelists had with the Democrats.

Ciattarelli, who was second in a recent poll behind “undecided,” called Spadea a “professional liar” and referred to him as such several times. Spadea returned the remark while noting that Ciattarelli was not a strong Trump supporter.

On the opposite end of the stage, Bramnick, the moderate in the Republican race, defended his entreaties to the other side of the aisle while attacking Durr for being a one-term senator.

“How many votes did you lose by? 6000?” Bramnick asked his partymate, ”And now you’re lecturing New Jersey on how to win the election?”

Durr also went after Bramnick for being bi-partisan while positioning himself as the outsider. When challenged by Bramnick on whether “you [are] supposed to hate the governor because he’s of another party?”

“Absolutely, I hate the governor for what he’s done with the state,” Durr responded.

The debate was presented by the New Jersey Globe, streaming channel On New Jersey and the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.