To the editor:, This November, New Jersey will be holding one of two gubernatorial elections in the country. While the race has not yet begun to attract the national attention that is surely on its way, the primaries are in full swing. On the Democratic side, however, the party establishment has already chosen its candidate and seems willing to protect him from having to face his challengers in any public debates., With outgoing Republican Governor Chris Christie’s dismal approval ratings, the safe money is on a Democrat to win the job in 2017. However, there is no certainty yet as to which Democrat that will be., Competitive Democratic primaries have become a rarity in the state. The last competitive gubernatorial primary for the party came in 1997 when Jim McGreevey won the nomination by a 2.69 percent margin., Every Democratic primary since that race has concluded with the eventual nominee securing at least a 68 percent margin of victory in elections that often resembled coronations more than contests., Former Goldman Sachs executive Phil Murphy is banking on a similar outcome this year., Despite a lack of any experience holding elected office, he has secured front-runner status by utilizing his massive wealth to donate to county officials in an effort to wrap up their endorsements., Murphy, however, is by no means the only Democrat running for the nomination. Two other candidates have already raised enough money from supporters to qualify for public funding, Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Jim Johnson., Reaching this fundraising threshold is important because it not only results in candidates having deeper coffers for their campaigns, but it means that they will be automatically qualified to participate in any Democratic debates., A fourth nominee, Senator Raymond Lesniak, has announced that he would self-fund in order to meet this threshold and get on the debate stage if he had to., In fact, there is only one candidate who does not appear willing and eager to participate in any debates: Phil Murphy., There’s good reason to think that Murphy might get his way. Thanks to his generous donations, Murphy has gotten practically every Democratic county party in the state to line up behind him., It would generally fall to these parties to organize and host public debates, but if they’ve already chosen their man, they would have little incentive to do so., On the contrary, there is good reason for them to not want to put Murphy out there any more than necessary., When all four candidates recently found themselves on the same stage to debate for the endorsement of the Princeton Community Democratic Organization, an endorsement that could not be bought but only earned, it was Wisniewski, not Murphy, who won the day with 62 percent of the group’s vote., Since then, Phil Murphy has declined to participate in any debates when given the opportunity., This past Wednesday, The Citizens Campaign hosted a Democratic debate at Rutgers University in Newark. All of the other major candidates were present, but Phil Murphy was conspicuously absent., While it may make sense for the Democratic establishment to want to shield their candidate from possible setbacks at the hands of his competition, the actual voters in the state should not stand for it., Think back to the outrage and uncertainty that was felt during the November Presidential Election when Donald Trump teased the idea of skipping the debates against Hillary Clinton. Phil Murphy should not be given any more benefit of the doubt than Trump just because he’s on the blue team., In fact, with his lack of experience and policy background, it is more important than ever that voters have the opportunity to hear what he has to say on the issues. Look no further than Washington, D.C. for what inexperience and incompetence in the executive office can look like., New Jersey is going to need a governor who is not afraid to stand up to the Trump Administration and private interests, but what we’re getting from the establishment so far is a candidate who is unwilling to stand up to opponents even within his own party., If Phil Murphy refuses to debate his primary opponents this spring, he must be made to pay a political price. New Jersey Democrats must show their party bosses that this nomination has to be earned, not simply bought., Mark Goldberg, Hillsborough
