Gottheimer Stands Alone With Plans, Not Platitudes

Prepared With Blueprint to Take on Trump 

The “Lower Taxes, Lower Costs” Governor Jersey Needs

NEWARK, NJ—Tonight’s debate made it clear: Josh Gottheimer is the only candidate serious about solving Jersey’s affordability crisis. Everyone else on the stage parroted the same old status quo talking points; they want to keep the high costs and high taxes Jersey families are struggling with—some even bragged about raising taxes on Jersey families. 

Gottheimer stood out from his opponents by laying out the only detailed, expert-backed plans to cut property and income taxes, lower the five biggest costs crushing Jersey families, and protect our state’s vulnerable communities from Trump’s chaos. With the primary just weeks away, the contrast couldn’t be sharper. Josh has the plans, the record, and the fight to win in November—and make Jersey affordable so families can build their futures here. 

See below for key moments from tonight’s debate: 

• WATCH: Gottheimer on protecting Jersey Values: “What Jersey Values mean is that you fight someone who messes with Jersey, with our families. This guy, Trump, is gonna come in, as we know, Steve just said, on everything and try to go after our dollars, try to go after reproductive freedom. He’s gonna do it on every front and the job of the Governor, which I’ll do, is to fight him so that whether he’s messing with our dollars or messing with our values. We’re fighting them every step of the way, and I think that’s critically important.”
• WATCH: Gottheimer on the Congestion Tax: “As the person who’s been leading the fight against the Congestion Tax now for more than five years. People are getting crushed in Jersey, Steve. It’s 18 bucks to go over the bridge or through the tunnels. Then you’re gonna hit them with another nine bucks a day. That’s $4,000 a year. People who are nurses, teachers, cops, firefighters. We can’t afford this. We’re killing people, and New York sticks it us like they always do, and we should be fighting back against them every single day when they do that.”
• WATCH: Gottheimer on education: “We got the best schools in America in New Jersey. I’m very proud of that, and that’s how we get a lot of people to want to come to Jersey and stay in Jersey, but we got to pay our teachers well, and that means we got to bring COLAs back. We actually should pay them and make sure they can afford to stay here. We can’t change deals on them midstream, because listen, our kids are our future, and they rely on the best educators. So that means whether you’re talking about universal pre K, which I believe in, or all day kindergarten, we’ve got to have the best physical structure for them. But most importantly, every kid in Jersey should get a great education no matter where they live or where they’re from.”
• WATCH: Gottheimer on affordability: “I have a 10 year old daughter and a 13 year old boy. And I think about this all the time. Can they afford to stay in Jersey? And I talk to people everywhere I go, and they say, my kids, when they graduate, are leaving because rents are so expensive, up 33% in the last few years. One of the major papers in Jersey wrote recently that to get a middle class house costs, you need to make at least $161,000 a year. How can people coming right out of school afford that, whether they’re going to a trade or going to community college, which I think we should help kids who can’t afford pay for it. How are they going to be able to do that if we don’t figure out a way to get costs down, to get taxes down and to get rents down, which is why I’m giving young people a rental rebate, so that you can afford to actually pay your rent and stay in Jersey. We invest so much in you. I got such a great gift to be able to grow up here and go to public school here and stay here. I want to make sure everybody gets that shot.” 

New Jersey’s Affordability Crisis

• New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation.
• Child care costs are the second most expensive in the country. 
• Utility bills are set to rise 20% in June. 
• Rent is up 33% in the last five years across the state.
• Housing prices went up by 11% just last year.
• For the seventh year in a row, New Jersey was the top state for outmigration.

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