Protecting Our Democracy
As we make New Jersey work for people like you and me, we have to face the fact that the President and Elon Musk are doing everything and anything to make our lives harder. From threats of sending ICE into schools and houses of worship to threatening critical funding for education and healthcare, they are going to continue to create fear and cause chaos.
We have to stand up and fight back.
We have to reject the politics run by the rich and corporate interests.
We have to be ready to protect our values and our freedoms - our democracy.
That is our fight and I am ready to lead as Governor.
Together, we have the power to protect our residents from President Trump’s actions.
I know the power of collective power.
I know the value of protests and public pressure.
I know how to defend our rights against those who would take them away.
I know the importance of a team that shares a common vision
I know we must keep fighting even when we are scared or tired.
These are lessons I learned as a hockey player, a union leader, a teacher and a mayor.
Protecting our democracy requires we work together - here in New Jersey and across the country. We cannot do this alone.
As President Trump acts with reckless disregard for our constitution, separation of powers and established law, we have to build confidence and trust in government here in New Jersey. As Governor I am prepared to defend against Trump with a holistic approach - an all of government along with grassroots and grasstops organizations, faith leaders and communities of worship, fellow Democratic Governors across the nation.
We defeat his attacks together - strong community will defeat chaos.
As Governor, I will
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Appoint an Attorney General to use every legal means to defend our residents from Trump’s intimidation and fight attempts to take away funding critical to our state
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Re-establish the Office of Public Advocate to be a strong leader in coordinating our response to the federal threats and make sure that the people of New Jersey are centered in our decision making
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Establish an emergency response task force, led by the Public Advocate and inclusive of stakeholders to be sure we meet the moment
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Raise revenue through fair taxation on those benefiting the most from anticipated tax cuts from the Trump administration
I will protect those people and programs targeted by the Trump Administration. His hateful and fear mongering rhetoric is not who we are in New Jersey and we must boldly and explicitly defend the rights of those targeted. As Governor, I will:
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Protect our immigrant communities by enacting the Immigrant Trust Act to make sure our immigrants are not unfairly targeted through accessing data or locations where they should be in safe haven. If already passed, I will be focused on full and complete implementation and enforcement of the protections defined in the bill
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Protect our LGBTQIA+ communities, especially our trans youth, who are being targeted by the Trump administration - including their rights to privacy and legal changes, healthcare and protections under the New Jersey protections in our Constitution. I will stand with you so that you know you are seen, respected and not alone.
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Protect reproductive freedoms and expand access to reproductive and abortion care to all residents of New Jersey
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Protect collective bargaining and the rights of unions to organize without fear of retaliation. Now, more than ever, we need the collective power of labor organizations and our members need the community and solidarity that unions provide. Unions will be on the front line of defending all workers rights
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Protect our resident’s privacy and data. Given the unprecedented access that DOGE seems to be granted to personal data and records, here in New Jersey we must double down on protecting people’s privacy rights and their data from being taken
In addition to protecting groups of people targeted by the Trump administration, we must address the trust and confidence in our own government, especially as he attempts to undermine confidence in critical institutions.
As Governor, I will:
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Protect the integrity and trust in government by increasing transparency including strengthening access to records (OPRA) while protecting individuals from data miners.
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Revise the process for procurement and contracts to assure fairness and access to all interested in bidding, with a focus on addressing the findings of the Disparity Study.
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Establish ethics standards to make sure those working in government are serving the interests of the people rather than rich individuals and corporations that all too often have outsized influence behind closed doors.
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Protect trust in campaigns and elections by strengthening disclosure requirements of super PACs so there is no question about the money influencing politics
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Establish rules regarding the use of AI, including in elections so that voters know what is real and what is created content.
As Governor, I will push back against the Trump administration’s attempt to undermine core foundations of our democracy. This includes a commitment to:
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Protect free and open press. We see the President’s attempt to restrict access of members of the press he does not like. Here in New Jersey, we need to support the press, make sure they have the access and resources to perform their critical role in a free society - reporting without fear of censorship or retribution
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Protect access to the voting booth, including same day voter registration, protecting voters from harassment and intimidation and expanding programs to increase voter registration and engagement, especially in communities too often underrepresented at the voting booth
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Protect the freedom to read, now codified into law in New Jersey to assure that New Jersey students, families and all residents have access to the books they want to read, whether it’s from a library, a bookstore or online.
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Elevate the roles and responsibilities of the Secretary of Higher Education to include a task force to establish best practices to address freedom of speech and safety on college campuses. The task force will include representatives of public and private institutions of public education with robust student representation.
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Protect our schools from political interference by working with stakeholder organizations in education to set stronger codes of conduct for public meetings and board members to make sure that our behavior models what we want our students to learn.