Candidates for NJ Governor: Who Will Be Best for Mercer County?

Our current approach to affordable housing is broken. Of course, we need affordable living options in New Jersey, but mandated housing construction in every municipality has resulted in residential overdevelopment in communities that have limited infrastructure, no mass transit, and very few, if any, low-to-moderate income job opportunities. The current model is also gobbling up open space, chasing wildlife from its habitat, increasing pollution from more idling cars on already congested roads, leading to more local flooding from stormwater management issues, and driving up property taxes due to endless legal fees and additional local services. That's why I support a regional approach that would allow for more local input, with an approach focused on driving population growth to transit hubs and urban centers, where self-sustaining local economies are desperately needed - including regional contribution agreements (i.e., RCAs) and quotas based on state Department of Labor statistics. The extent to which PILOTS fit into that approach would be a matter for local stakeholders to determine in the best interest of their community. I believe that approach must come via a real legislative solution - not a judge - and, if need be, a constitutional amendment. Local infrastructure issues, like Princeton faces, are why I support impact fees on new development to ensure that when infrastructure improvements are necessitated by the development, the developer pays for it, not already overburdened taxpayers.

I support affordable housing, but I do not support state mandates, such as the PILOT agreement to negotiate with developers to build affordable housing. I do not support using tax dollars to achieve affordable housing. I just want people to have access to affordable housing, without having the taxpayers foot the bill. I support the building of smaller houses with no impact fees (taxes on smaller houses). I support working with the local governments to change the zoning laws to allow tiny homes and RVs, so that people can have affordable housing. I do believe that the presence of affordable housing would reduce the number of people leaving New Jersey, as well as homelessness. Abandoned residential and commercial buildings could be used to house the homeless.

The SWP campaign is not centered on a better set of proposals for how to reform capitalism it is to change which class rules. No agreements including the PILOT agreement, other laws, or policies under the capitalist profit system can solve the housing crisis and homelessness. High rents and housing shortages are no accident. Landlords put a premium on building luxury apartments — which rake in more profits — rather than affordable decent housing that workers need. Only through the struggle to end the profit system can that be changed. Workers need to fight for higher wages and a massive government-funded public works program to build affordable housing and provide jobs for those who need them. Cost-of-living adjustments in all wage, pensions and benefit contracts so that workers are protected from rising prices.

I am committed to lowering housing costs and working with our towns to expand housing opportunities that families, seniors, veterans, and young people can actually afford. PILOTs are an important tool for towns to meet the specific needs of their communities and to help their residents afford a home there. As governor, I will work collaboratively with municipalities to help lower housing costs by crafting further incentives and tools for towns to employ and making resources available to support municipal housing programs and projects. As governor, I will expand existing first-generation and first-time homebuyer programs to cover a larger share of homebuyers’ down payments, which will expand access to homeownership and generational wealth to more families. Making housing more affordable in our state also includes working to expand access to starter homes and accessory dwelling units that are less expensive for families and address the “missing middle.” I will work collaboratively with local governments that seek to redevelop underused and neglected properties, and to create transit-oriented development, which will expand access to affordable housing options and generate local property tax revenues. State government also needs to improve coordination and consistency across all state departments to streamline the state permitting process for housing. This will reduce construction delays and homebuilding costs, which will lower the cost of homes for working families. I also will work with municipalities to identify ways that we can fairly and effectively address infrastructure impacts from new housing construction, such as sewer and water systems and roadways, which create additional local burdens. I’ll crack down on predatory investors, negligent landlords, and deceptive lenders who illegally jack up prices, collude to rig rents above market levels, don’t take care of their buildings, and discriminate in the home mortgage and rental markets. A critical way for the state to support more housing options that are affordable for families is by ending diversions from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. This fund helps municipalities expand housing options that are affordable for families and lower costs in a way that works for their community, but the state largely uses it for other purposes right now. I’m committed to ending these diversions as governor. I will also work with municipalities to make sure our families have access to a world-class education at the same time as they can afford to put a roof over their heads — families should not be forced to pick between the two. Central to this commitment is fully funding our schools at the state level. As governor, I will fully fund, stabilize, and modernize our school funding formula so our kids have access to programs that we know work, like high-impact tutoring and mental health services.

Our current school funding formula is antiquated, unfair and, I believe, unconstitutional - and it is crushing our taxpayers. At the same time, our school systems have fallen from second to twelfth on the national report card. It's a crisis. I'll fix it. I will reform the state school funding formula, set a statewide standard on per-pupil spending and then allow that money to follow the student, while instructing the State Department of Education to get off the backs of higher-performing districts while concentrating on under-performing districts. I will coordinate the expansion of pre-K utilizing existing private day care providers, making sure the money aligns with parent choice and student needs. I will expand charter schools and loosen restrictions on the inter-district public school choice program to allow parents real choices in the schools their children attend. And I will implement a true Parents' Bill of Rights that provides transparency to parents by requiring K-12 curriculum sources to be posted online at the beginning of each school year, and reform requirements for sexual and social education to make content age-appropriate for elementary, middle school-aged, and high school children.

I do believe in Parental Choice in education. I support parents being able to send their children to schools across the municipal lines. This would reduce de-facto segregation in our public schools. It would also stimulate innovating solutions to public schools, as they will seek to attract more students. Proven solutions would be adopted by more schools, as they will seek to attract more students.

The capitalist rulers have no need for workers to be educated. They need us to be obedient, work hard for them, consume all we make each week on the products they sell and lose any desire to broaden our scope and become citizens of the world. The purpose of “education” in class society is not to educate. It is to give the “educated” a stake in thinking they are going to be different and better than other people who work all their lives. Until society is reorganized so that education is a human activity from the time we are very young until the time we die, there will be no education worthy of working, creating humanity. The biggest battle we face is to cast off the self-image the rulers impose on us. Capitalist society promotes the myth that education is a youth question. But any society that sees education as a question just for young people can never have education that is meaningful for human beings, including youth. Social solidarity will never exist in such a society. A lifetime of education can prepare us so we recognize our capacities and put an end to capitalism’s dog-eat-dog relations.

New Jersey has one of the best public school systems in the country, but access to that world-class education is too often determined by ZIP code. This status quo is unacceptable. As a mom of four, I care deeply and have a plan to invest in our public schools to ensure that every child has access to a quality education that sets them up for a lifetime of success. The pandemic severely harmed students’ mental health and kids went hungry because of a lack of school meals. As governor — just as I did in Congress — I will work to provide free school meals and expand desperately needed mental health resources across our schools. We have a tough budget thanks to the $5 billion hole that Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” has created — which my opponent Jack Ciattarelli fully supported. But this is about who we are as a state and what we value, so we have to find a way. No student should go hungry or face mental health struggles alone. That is why I am committed to strengthening tax enforcement at the state level to crack down on tax cheats, which will add hundreds of millions of dollars to the state’s coffers. This revenue can then go towards evidence-based mental health programs in partnership with school districts and healthcare providers, as well as free school meals. Make no mistake, as governor, I will fight for our students, and I am committed to using state funds to provide the critical resources that our students need.

I was proud to represent Princeton when I served in the state legislature. I won that seat the same way I'm running this campaign, by going everywhere and talking to everyone with common sense solutions to the problems we all face. Everyone wants an affordable and safe community, with good schools, strong local businesses and recreational opportunities. That's why I am out all day every day earning votes in every corner of the state.

We have had Republican and Democratic governors for many generations. Unfortunately, the State of New Jersey has been rated as one of the least business-friendly in the nations under both the Republican and Democratic Administrations. We have seen an increase in the cost of living and homelessness. Because I am not a Democrat or a Republican, and an independent thinker, I am open to working with people in both the Republican and Democratic Parties, to deliver policies that would help the people of New Jersey.

The Socialist Workers Party campaign builds solidarity with working-class struggles, wherever working people are acting in our own interests, which are the interests of the vast majority of humanity. What’s decisive is recognizing that only the working class is capable of effectively fighting to end the source of the degrading economic and social conditions we face — the capitalist profit system. To do that the working class has to act independently of the capitalist politicians and parties that workers and our unions are currently tied to, and struggle to take political power into our own hands.

I’m committed to fighting for voters in every corner of the state. As we saw during the primary, Mercer County is winnable, and our coalition is strong. That’s why we’ve invested heavily in talking to voters in Mercer County and are on the ground, every day, sharing our message to drive down costs, take care of kids, and bring accountability to state government. I’m proud of what we’ve done so far. Since the late summer, our team has canvassed all 12 municipalities and contacted over tens of thousands of Mercer voters. While Jack continues to double down on Trump’s disastrous agenda and blindly supports his devastating tariffs that are raising costs on Mercer families, I’m ready to take on anyone to stand up for families in Mercer County and across our state.