Introduction
With 2025 being a gubernatorial election year in New Jersey, there is much at stake for Muslim New Jerseyans and the state as a whole. Therefore, it is essential that our communities are informed, engaged, and empowered at the ballot box. This nonpartisan voter education resource is designed to help you better understand the candidates running in this year’s gubernatorial primary and the positions they hold on key issues that matter to our communities.
This guide presents the Democratic and Republican candidates currently running for Governor and highlights their views on topics relevant to the Muslim community and broader New Jersey electorate.
The primary source of information for this guide is the Gubernatorial Candidate Forum hosted on April 8, 2025, organized by the New Jersey Muslim Civic Coalition in collaboration with the New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association, the Palestinian American Community Center, and CAIR Action New Jersey. Four candidates participated in the forum and were asked the same set of questions covering civil rights, free speech, and other critical issues. To ensure accuracy and fairness, we have included direct quotes from the forum for each candidate.
For a link to the full forum, please click here.
By presenting the candidates in their own words, our goal is to equip Muslim voters with a clear, unbiased understanding of where each candidate stands. We believe that informed voting is one of the most powerful tools we have to shape the future of our communities.
Disclaimer: As a 501(c)(3) organization, CAIR-NJ does not endorse or support any candidate for public office. This guide has been created solely for educational purposes.
By gathering and presenting each candidate’s positions on key issues that directly impact our community, we aim to equip community members with clear, relevant information so they can make well-informed voting decisions. We strongly encourage individuals to continue researching each candidate and their platforms before making a final decision at the ballot box.
Candidate Responses
Question: Last year, the reported incidents on anti-Muslim discrimination and attacks in the United States rose by about 70% compared to the same period the year before. CAIR New Jersey documented almost 5,000 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian acts up to up from 2,900 the year before. This surge has largely been attributed to the heightened rate of Islamophobia and ongoing conflict in the Middle East. In light of this, how will you ease tensions and protect the Muslim community?
Response: I think that ultimately we have to work with community-based organizations, work with the masjids, and other institutions here in the state to make sure that we are recording these incidents, that we are going after individuals who are committing these acts, that we’re using the AG’s office in the way that it should be, that we’re providing protection for the Muslim community the same way we provide protection for other communities across the state of New Jersey—using law enforcement and the judicial forms of government.
And we also have to be able to make sure that we have Muslim representation on our courts, in our judge system, in our law enforcement community. At the same time, I would also argue that we need to build a strong interfaith alliance across this state to begin to bring communities together, to talk and push back against this kind of Islamophobia—not just in our communities but also on college campuses, where I think it’s incredibly important for us to be, especially now, to protect people’s ideas and right to disagree.
Question: With the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil on campus, what concrete steps will you take to protect the safety and First Amendment rights of Muslim students and other pro-Palestinian views on campus? How will you ensure they are safeguarded from unjust actions both by federal authorities and university administrations?
Response: The university administration is something that we can get involved in immediately… We can have a heavier hand in what’s happening on these campuses and begin to use our interfaith alliances to come onto these campuses and create an atmosphere for legitimate discourse and debate… We need to uphold the university as a space where discourse is allowed, where conflict and discussion are allowed.
In terms of the federal government, we need to have like in New Orleans… legal services put aside for folks who may encounter ICE or encounter federal authorities because they spoke out against something those authorities didn’t want them to speak out against. We need to represent these people for free, to protect students and protect faculty members. Because it’s not just students—also faculty, especially adjunct faculty, on some of these campuses, are not being brought back because of the things they’re teaching, the ideas they have, or rallies they’ve attended.
Question: All Muslims believe that antisemitism should be fought just like Islamophobia is fought. However, there is a bill that defines antisemitism using the IHRA definition, which criminalizes any criticism of Israel. Would you be willing and able to veto this bill that would effectively silence the Muslims in New Jersey from advocating for Palestine and calling out all the issues with Israel?
Response: Absolutely. I love America, but I hate slavery. I hate Jim Crow. But I am here and vote in this country, and we cannot conflate the issue of criticizing the state of Israel with anti-Semitism.
Question: Our community has been dealing with a real tragedy recently. We just lost a 14-year-old American citizen by the name of Amir Rabea who was just shot and killed by the Israeli military. As Governor, what would your statement be on this today.
Response: I think we also have to speak out against the heinous acts that are happening across the world. You know, the death of a 14-year-old young boy who obviously was not a criminal, was not a terrorist, was not involved in all the things they try to paint and uphold. We have to speak against these acts and lift up humanity—just speaking from our humanity and the idea that children’s lives should be precious. It gives us the strength and the fortitude to fight back against what these people are doing.
I think people are afraid to be labeled, afraid to be called names, afraid to be isolated, and so they don’t speak out—they don’t say anything, particularly elected officials. And I think, particularly in this time period, it is incumbent upon us to make sure that we, in fact, speak against the things that we know are wrong and the things that we know are heinous. And we should do what we can legally, on the state side, to make sure we don’t support the kind of efforts that are going on now that are killing children.
Question: How have you brought forward representation of Muslims in your leadership roles and how would you commit to ensure that there’s Muslim representation in your cabinet? Would you commit to ensuring that there’s a Muslim cabinet member? In addition, we see the need for diversity on our bench. Would you commit to appointing the first Muslim on the NJ Supreme Court?
Response: Absolutely. I mean, in Newark, the Muslims on my direct cabinet—my deputy mayor is Muslim—we have Muslim lawyers and Muslims throughout the government in the city of Newark. And I would say the same about our boards and commissions. We have to have a diverse group of people on boards and commissions—not just by nationality and religion, but also by profession, where they work, and what their expertise is.
These boards and commissions guide and dictate policy across the state of New Jersey and deep into the bureaucracy. It’s important to create diversity not just in public-facing positions, but deep within the state bureaucracy. I absolutely think it’s necessary—particularly at this time—to have Muslims on the bench and Muslims directly in law enforcement.
Question: Last year, the reported incidents on anti-Muslim discrimination and attacks in the United States rose by about 70% compared to the same period the year before. CAIR New Jersey documented almost 5,000 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian acts up to up from 2,900 the year before. This surge has largely been attributed to the heightened rate of Islamophobia and ongoing conflict in the Middle East. In light of this, how will you ease tensions and protect the Muslim community?
Response: For those of you who don’t know me, I’m the mayor of Jersey City, which is the most diverse city in the country—and certainly in New Jersey. We have a very large Muslim community here.
When I ran for city council in 2005, the only community that stood by me—other than a few activists—was the Pakistani Muslim community in Jersey City. Since 2005, it has been my closest relationship, and I’ve been a fierce protector and defender of that community.
Over the last 10–12 years, we’ve not tolerated Islamophobia. When Donald Trump made a word about people dancing in the streets, it was CAIR and I who did a press conference here in Jersey City with Muslim leaders to clearly state what the Muslim community is about here in Jersey City. It was me who appointed Palestinian Councilman Yousef Saleh to the Jersey City Municipal Council when I had that flexibility, and I’ve mentored him since he was 16 and 17.
It’s been me who has been an advocate in pushing back against anything that speaks to hate around Muslims because I don’t tolerate it. And I would do the same as Governor.
I have a history of actions and it’s coming from a place that somebody wouldn’t necessarily expect to come from with my background. But I’ve been a fierce protector because I think it’s important. And I’d be the same as Governor.
Question: With the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil on campus, what concrete steps will you take to protect the safety and First Amendment rights of Muslim students and other pro-Palestinian views on campus? How will you ensure they are safeguarded from unjust actions both by federal authorities and university administrations?
Response: I’ve been very deliberate in my actions as a mayor and a councilperson, to opine on things I have control over. In the current situation that I am in today, I am hired to pave streets and make the city safe.
With regards to a particular person or incident, let’s put that aside for one second and talk more about what my actions would be as a Governor as it relates to New Jersey. I am a fierce protecter of First Amendment rights. I think that First Amendment and free speech are really important to higher education and organizing. I think as long as things are peaceful and civil, any sort of conversation is fair because I think that dialogue is important, and I’ve been vocal on that and I wouldn’t change. That’s where I stand.
Question: All Muslims believe that antisemitism should be fought just like Islamophobia is fought. However, there is a bill that defines antisemitism using the IHRA definition, which criminalizes any criticism of Israel. Would you be willing and able to veto this bill that would effectively silence the Muslims in New Jersey from advocating for Palestine and calling out all the issues with Israel?
Response: First, [there are] six candidates for Governor, [and] the one person who has spoken most frequently about this and gotten the most pushback is me. Because I’m very vocal on the fact that I don’t think the IHRA bill is productive. A bill that specifically speaks to one religion only is not a good thing, and something that speaks to what you can or can’t say about other countries is not a good thing.
I’ve been the mayor for 12 years and I have vetoed none of the city council’s actions. The reason I don’t do that is because I do respect the process on that. It would be hard for me to say that if a legislature passes something… with a super overwhelming majority, and that’s the clear direction that the legislature wants to go with, that I unilaterally veto it. I wouldn’t do that. Because I respect… everything the legislature does, and I have a track record of not vetoing things.
That said, I’ve been more vocal than the other five candidates with regards to my view on this legislation, and it’s to my detriment in the Jewish community, to be honest. I’m very clear that I don’t think it’s good, and I’ve taken a lot of pushback because of that. But I’m clear on where I stand, and I think the Muslim community would be clear. I don’t think it’s a good bill, and I’m not supportive of it. But to say I’d veto the legislature when I haven’t had a track record of vetoing, I don’t think that’s something I would commit to today.
Question: Our community has been dealing with a real tragedy recently. We just lost a 14-year-old American citizen by the name of Amir Rabea who was just shot and killed by the Israeli military. As Governor, what would your statement be on this today.
Response: First of all, I would be proactive with the community, recognizing the fact that people are in a dark place at this point and sad… I have a track record as an executive here in Jersey City with outreach to this community here and being sensitive in tough moments and being thoughtful around that. I don’t know what a Governor can specifically do with regards to international affairs. And that’s what’s in his purview or his responsibility.
I want to keep perspective that every single person of the 9 million people that live here have different views on what’s happening in the Middle East. I assure you. But the job that we’re applying for collectively here… is focused on education systems and law enforcement here and safety and comfort. Things that impact education, impact families here, and I would be a champion of that and make sure that people feel that there’s a safe place to live here. But I don’t know what more you think I can do as the Governor on that front.
I look at this stuff in a very state-centric way. How do I make the best environment for all different religions? I’ve had a track record of this for 20 years in Jersey City doing this and I think it’s served me very, very well. When people hire somebody to be the President of the United States and they hire somebody to be their Congressman or Congresswoman, it’s specific around issues that are related to federal government and Middle East and Europe and South America. That’s not the job I’m applying for.
Question: How have you brought forward representation of Muslims in your leadership roles and how would you commit to ensure that there’s Muslim representation in your cabinet? Would you commit to ensuring that there’s a Muslim cabinet member? In addition, we see the need for diversity on our bench. Would you commit to appointing the first Muslim on the NJ Supreme Court?
Response: Let me tell you about my track record and then commitments around that. My belief is that it is very important to have diversity and have leadership positions that reflect the community that it serves. The first qualification, though, is being somebody that fits from a qualification standpoint — meaning that they have the ability and the skill set to do those jobs in a perfect way for what the goal and agenda is. My track record in Jersey City speaks for itself. I never sought out any individual person based on race or ethnicity or religion. But what I’ve tried to do is create a big tent so that people can compete and… also recognize the fact that diversity is a good thing
I’m never going to say… I am going to define a Supreme Court judge based on religion or race or gender because I think that would be a disservice and dishonest… What I can tell you is that I have a track record of actually speaking to diversity better than anybody else. And I’ll go back to the fact that the most common religion of the judges that I’ve appointed is Muslim… And that’s coming again from somebody that you probably wouldn’t normally think if you were thinking of who’s the most likely person to appoint Muslim judges and Muslim council people… I’ve been appreciative of that relationship, how much I’ve learned, how inclusive they have been to me, and I return that favor by recognizing all that they do.
I’m a fierce protector of them… What I can tell you is that my administration will reflect the state, and I have a track record of doing that.
Question: Last year, the reported incidents on anti-Muslim discrimination and attacks in the United States rose by about 70% compared to the same period the year before. CAIR New Jersey documented almost 5,000 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian acts up to up from 2,900 the year before. This surge has largely been attributed to the heightened rate of Islamophobia and ongoing conflict in the Middle East. In light of this, how will you ease tensions and protect the Muslim community?
Response: I truly believe that if you look at a place like Paterson, New Jersey, where you have a high number of Muslim families and a high number of self-identified Palestinians, I want to draw a line between legal and illegal. Legal Muslims—people who came here for the right reasons, to build their businesses and families—you deserve every right to live in peace like everyone else, whether you’re Catholic, Jewish, or Muslim.
Every legal resident has the right to live their life and be protected by the law. What’s really rampant is violence on our streets and on our campuses. Whether it’s anti-Semitism or anti-Muslim hatred, the hatred is only going to stop when we get control of law enforcement and allow our officers to do their jobs. We should have zero tolerance for hateful language and interaction on our college campuses, and that will start day one when I’m Governor.
Question: With the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil on campus, what concrete steps will you take to protect the safety and First Amendment rights of Muslim students and other pro-Palestinian views on campus? How will you ensure they are safeguarded from unjust actions both by federal authorities and university administrations?
Response: There is a reasonable limitation to free speech. If you’re advocating for terrorism, there is a limit to that free speech. There has been an equal rise—if not a greater rise—on many campuses of antisemitism. And many believe the violence against Jewish students is exacerbated by folks who are out there protesting for Hamas.
It’s very easy to blur those lines because of the way college students are. I’m also a believer that we give out far too many student visas. I think our college campuses are a complete mess. I think we ought to be focusing on making sure that returning veterans and local students have a leg up instead of international students.
I don’t think the state of New Jersey should be involved at any level in subsidizing foreign students to come to our universities, because we have too many Americans—people who are here legally, who grew up here—losing seats.
Do I think your free speech should be protected? 100%. I’m a believer in the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, and all the amendments down the list. However, you can absolutely cross a line into what could be considered inciting violence, and I would have to look at individual statements.
There will always be a hotbed of ideas on college campuses. I encourage that. But when it leads to violence, I think the government is right to step in and say—we probably have to take a longer look at this.
Question: All Muslims believe that antisemitism should be fought just like Islamophobia is fought. However, there is a bill that defines antisemitism using the IHRA definition, which criminalizes any criticism of Israel. Would you be willing and able to veto this bill that would effectively silence the Muslims in New Jersey from advocating for Palestine and calling out all the issues with Israel?
Response: I would love to read it, but I can tell you what my general philosophy is without the specifics.
We have to retain the right to criticize not only foreign governments, but our own government. I was under fire when I criticized the regime in Kiev… And when I called him out, my job was threatened. As a host, the company came down very hard on me.
You will not find me signing a bill that would somehow criminalize criticism of the state of Israel. That is absurd, and I would absolutely not sign that.
Again, protecting free speech—I’ve always believed my rights end at the end of your nose. I can say what I want within reason. You can’t yell fire in a crowded restaurant. There are obviously limitations to speech, but I think we’ve gone down a very scary road of defining hate speech and criminalizing criticism.
I’m a believer that we should not be criminalizing criticism. I have plenty of conservative friends who are called anti-Semites because they question foreign aid to Israel. I’ve questioned foreign aid my entire career. It’s not a question of whether we support or oppose the folks receiving it—it’s not about the people.
Question: Our community has been dealing with a real tragedy recently. We just lost a 14-year-old American citizen by the name of Amir Rabea who was just shot and killed by the Israeli military. As Governor, what would your statement be on this today.
Response: WAS NOT ASKED THIS QUESTION, NO COMMENT
Question: How have you brought forward representation of Muslims in your leadership roles and how would you commit to ensure that there’s Muslim representation in your cabinet? Would you commit to ensuring that there’s a Muslim cabinet member? In addition, we see the need for diversity on our bench. Would you commit to appointing the first Muslim on the NJ Supreme Court?
Response: I do not believe we should have set-asides, nor do I support diversity, equity, and inclusion. I’m going to veto anything that deals with DEI. In fact, I’ve made my position very clear: I will use an executive order to end DEI on day one, and I will work against set-asides in procurement and hiring.
That’s number one. But number two—and more importantly—I hope my actions speak louder than any words other candidates might say to you. I’m here. I will come back here. You will all have a seat at the table when I’m governor. I would like to have this conversation again when I win the nomination, because I will work aggressively hard for common ground.
I don’t believe in diversity for diversity’s sake. I don’t think we should say yes to one group and then feel obligated to say yes to every group. That’s how we’ve ended up with 17 languages in some of our schools. The language we need in our schools is English, and everyone should learn English so we can better assimilate our diverse communities.
Everyone is entitled to an education. Everyone is entitled to family autonomy and medical freedom. Right now, we don’t practice that in New Jersey. I believe what is good for the Muslim community will be good for all communities.
So here is my promise: I will come back here. You will all have a seat at the table when we are appointing judges. Let me tell you something—we’re going to have thousands of appointments. I envision many Muslim leaders getting appointments in our government. No one will be stopped because one group objects to a stance you may or may not have taken regarding your ancestral heritage.
That is my promise to you. As a Catholic, I believe Catholics and Muslims share a lot in common—when it comes to the role of mothers and fathers, raising strong boys and girls, and ensuring that family, community, and faith have supremacy over arbitrary government action.
I will be a champion who protects the Islamic community against government intrusion, just as I will protect all communities. I hope my actions—being here and promising to return—speak volumes.
Question: Last year, the reported incidents on anti-Muslim discrimination and attacks in the United States rose by about 70% compared to the same period the year before. CAIR New Jersey documented almost 5,000 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian acts up to up from 2,900 the year before. This surge has largely been attributed to the heightened rate of Islamophobia and ongoing conflict in the Middle East. In light of this, how will you ease tensions and protect the Muslim community?
Response: For me, it starts, as Governor, saying that is not who we are. It’s what I’ve always done as a teacher. I can tell you the most important charge that we have is to make sure every student in our classroom feels safe and supported and loved. It’s about understanding that the most important charge I will have as governor is standing up for every single resident.
It means I will work with an Attorney General who is aggressively enforcing our state laws on non-discrimination. It means that we are pursuing, through legal challenges and law enforcement, any steps necessary to keep our communities safe and to make sure that people are not engaging in intimidation tactics… It’s making sure that we create opportunities to educate and to allow folks the rights to express… the frustration that exists without the fear of retribution and attack.
All of these things matter and as Governor I’ll lead the way. I understand what this means. It’s an experience that is not far removed from me. It may have been different words that I was called as a kid. It may have been slightly different experiences that I had but I understand the challenges and certainly want to make sure I protect every single resident.
Question: With the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil on campus, what concrete steps will you take to protect the safety and First Amendment rights of Muslim students and other pro-Palestinian views on campus? How will you ensure they are safeguarded from unjust actions both by federal authorities and university administrations?
Response: It starts again with understanding that… on our college campuses, with our students, with professors, and others who speak up and raise issues and voice their opinions, they’re coming after all of us. But certainly, they are targeting at the federal level and with ICE, they are targeting those whose views they don’t agree with. Those folks who they think maybe aren’t the right people to be in this country or whatever else their crazy and insane thinking is. We know that they’re taking these steps right now and it’s wrong on every level.
So let me say again, as Governor here’s what I will do.
Number one, making sure we use a strong Attorney General who’s going to fight to protect New Jersey laws. Just because they enact or sign some piece of paper at the federal level that does not trump our New Jersey laws and we want to make sure we’re enforcing them
Number two: not cooperating with ICE in any way… One of the big things we’ve got to do is safeguard data and information because right now we’re seeing, especially at the federal level. They’re using a lot of data from a lot of different agencies and entities to target folks. We’ve got to make sure that we are restricting and holding back any data that can be misused to again target our residents.
We’ve got to set clear guidelines expectations mutually agreed upon with broad input as to what the parameters are to allow folks to be able to express frustrations [and] voice dissent. To be able to organize, rally, [and] protest all the things that are protected in this country. But we want to make sure there’s clear guidelines in every single one of our universities and colleges so that they cannot, after the fact, come in and use either made-up reasons or very arbitrary indicators to… say they’re taking this action or that action, which of course we know is going to be punitive to silence folks who are not in the positions of power. And therefore, we are trying to work outside of systems of power.
When you have [those guidelines] in place, it’s much harder for a university after the fact to then step in and… arbitrarily say somebody was acting outside of bounds. So, I think that’s a huge way that we can protect our students and our faculty at our college and universities. Give that guidance that’s needed… use the law with Attorney General to protect folks and their freedom of speech and First Amendment rights.
Question: All Muslims believe that antisemitism should be fought just like Islamophobia is fought. However, there is a bill that defines antisemitism using the IHRA definition, which criminalizes any criticism of Israel. Would you be willing and able to veto this bill that would effectively silence the Muslims in New Jersey from advocating for Palestine and calling out all the issues with Israel?
Response: My stance is, I don’t support it. I don’t support codifying into law the protection of one group versus another. I think we want to make sure we’re standing up for every single resident in this state. I want to make sure that everyone is free from discrimination and certainly, the harm that comes with it. That is where I stand and that’s what we should be fighting for.
I’ll also say this: right now, I would hope that people around the world, when they look at Donald Trump, they separate Donald Trump from some of us here in this country. I would hope that when they think or criticize America, they realize that’s different than criticizing me or its people. There are distinctions here and you can offer criticisms of varying sections of people or anything else with valid reasons, but that doesn’t mean you paint that broad brush. To say if you’re criticizing one, you’re criticizing all or everything. That doesn’t work.
I think in the time we’re living through right now… we can see firsthand that there are separations. And valid criticism that should be leveled, especially against governments when they act inappropriately, and that does not mean that we’re criticizing folks beyond that government.
So, short answer, No I don’t support it. I don’t support it for all the reasons I just described.
Question: Our community has been dealing with a real tragedy recently. We just lost a 14-year-old American citizen by the name of Amir Rabea who was just shot and killed by the Israeli military. As Governor, what would your statement be on this today.
Response: As a parent of two young boys, my heart goes out. I know right now with the ongoing loss of life and the unnecessary loss of life that we see in the West Bank, Palestine, and just in terms of the impact that this is having on so many. It’s wrong. It’s unconscionable. And we need to speak out against it.
I say to anyone no matter what the conversation is that we’re having, and we can have these broader political discussions – we can criticize nations, we can criticize actions that are being taken. Never should we condone where our children are being killed. Never should we condone the massive loss of life that we’re seeing and just accept it. Even if you agree with one side like as an acceptable loss or accept it even in the context of just the harm that it’s doing – it is wrong on every level
And I think we all have a duty to say that, and we all have a duty to do something to try and stop it… so let’s recognize the moment that we’re in right now in history. Let’s recognize that we’ll be judged on our ability to speak up and say this is wrong and let’s right now say how do we move forward with ending this state of violence that is costing so many innocent folks their lives. It’s unacceptable.
Question: How have you brought forward representation of Muslims in your leadership roles and how would you commit to ensure that there’s Muslim representation in your cabinet? Would you commit to ensuring that there’s a Muslim cabinet member? In addition, we see the need for diversity on our bench. Would you commit to appointing the first Muslim on the NJ Supreme Court?
Response: I absolutely do agree think we should meet diversity in these positions of government. But I also want to just take that a step further.
Please note that the following Candidates did not participate in the forum and thus do not have any comments:
- Jon Bramnick (Republican): NJ State Senator, Representing the 21st Legislative District
- Jack Ciattarelli (Republican): Former New Jersey Assemblyman
- Josh Gottheimer (Democrat): Congressman representing NJ District 5
- Mario Kranjac (Republican): Former Mayor of Englewood Cliffs
- Mikie Sherrill (Democrat): Congresswoman representing NJ District 11
- Steve Sweeney (Democrat): Former New Jersey Senate President
Glossary:
Gubernatorial – relating to the State Governor’s office (e.g., gubernatorial race is the race for NJ governor)
IHRA – International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance – an international organization that drafted a definition of antisemitism equating criticism of Israel and Zionism to antisemitism
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