Barack Obama stumps for Murphy at Newark rally as early voting begins in N.J. governor race

Former President Barack Obama visited Newark on Saturday to call on New Jersey residents to re-elect Governor Phil Murphy.

Obama harshly criticized Murphy’s Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli when he spoke to more than 700 people during an outdoor rally in Weequahic Park in the state’s largest city.

“Phil and Democrats everywhere are focused on you and how we can help you,” said the Democratic ex-president. “What is Phil’s opponent concentrating on? He wants to go backwards. “

The performance took place on the same day that, for the first time in New Jersey history, early personal voting began, giving voters the opportunity to vote for nine days before election day on November 2nd.

It also came when the governor’s race seems to be tightening in its final phase. Murphy has led Ciattarelli in all public opinion polls in the blue-oriented Garden State, but a poll published Thursday by Emerson College / PIX found the governor only 6 percentage points on top. A Stockton University poll published late last month found he was around 9 years old.

Ciattarelli, a former member of the State Assembly, spent Saturday attending seven events across the state, meeting with voters and encouraging them to vote. He said it was the start of his “10 Days to Fix New Jersey Tour”.

In a speech to Obama, Murphy – who wants to be re-elected as the first Democratic governor of New Jersey since 1977 – “we have turned the page into a new era in New Jersey.”

“We’ve come this far, but our work isn’t done,” Murphy said. “The last thing we need is extreme leadership.”

“We’d go back so far it would make Chris Christie look reasonable,” Murphy joked of his Republican predecessor.

With the word “VOTE” in capital letters on a banner behind him, Obama told the audience that he had known Murphy for years. After being a top Democrat donor, Murphy served as U.S. Ambassador to Germany during Obama’s first term.

“He was an early supporter of mine when people couldn’t pronounce my name,” joked Obama.

The former president said Murphy had been “busy” passing laws that would have given New Jersey a higher minimum wage, a tax hike for millionaires, and restoration of funding for planned parenthood, and that he should now “keep up that momentum.”

Obama then hit supporters of former Republican President Donald Trump for making unsubstantiated claims that President Joe Biden stole the 2020 presidential election.

He noted himself losing a race for Congress once in 2000.

“I didn’t know that I could just stand up and say, ‘I wasn’t hit. The machines were broken, ‘”joked Obama. “I said, let me think about how I can get better so I can win next time.”

Obama warned that Ciattarelli’s plan to revise the school funding formula in New Jersey would “take money away from black and brown communities” and that it would relax gun control laws and lower taxes for wealthy residents and businesses. Ciattarelli has said his school schedule would be fairer and property taxes lower, while New Jersey residents have the right to carry guns and the Murphy state is over-taxed.

The former president also noted Ciattarelli performing at a “Stop the Steal” rally earlier this year. Ciattatelli said he was unaware of the subject of the rally.

Obama wouldn’t have it.

“When you stand in front of a ‘Stop the Steal’ sign and a guy in the crowd waves a Confederate flag, you know this isn’t a neighborhood barbeque. Come on, ”he said. “That’s not what New Jersey means.”

Obama’s appearance came hours after stumbling for Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the narrow gubernatorial race in Virginia, the only other state with a gubernatorial election that year.

Obama is the youngest in a line of high-profile Democrats to travel to New Jersey while Murphy seeks a second term. Biden will be making an official visit to the state on Monday to publicize his agenda and will perform alongside Murphy in a state he won by 16 percentage points last year.

Former US MP Gabby Giffords, US Senator Amy Klobuchar and First Lady Jill Biden have already stopped off in New Jersey to support Murphy. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, have also made official visits to the state.

Actor Kal Penn – a native of Jersey who starred in the famous Jersey film “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” – also appeared at the rally on Saturday. Penn, who grew up in Marlboro and Freehold and is best known for his role in the “Harold & Kumar” films, paused his acting career to work in the White House Office of Public Engagement during Obama’s tenure.

Penn told the Newark crowd that he was proud to be from a “solid blue state.”

“I roll my eyes when I see what’s going on in other parts of the country,” said the actor, who also appeared with Murphy at an event in Edison earlier in the day. “But then it occurs to me why we shouldn’t take things for granted.”

The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, had a message addressed directly to Ciattarelli.

“We can’t go back with Jack!” Baraka sang. “He wants to make our churches as lame as he is.”

Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who is running for another term with Murphy, said she and the governor wanted to play “that old Ray Charles” record on election night.

“Go ahead, Jack,” said Oliver, a native of Essex County. “And don’t come back. … We can only play this song on November 2nd if you help us play this song. “

The state’s Republican Party said Saturday that Obama’s visit showed how “excited” Murphy was about the race. The GOP compared it to when Obama, then newly elected president, came to New Jersey to campaign for the re-election of Democratic governor Jon Corzine in 2009 – a race Corzine eventually lost to Republican Chris Christie.

“I want to take you back to a time when another Goldman Sachs governor who was interested in sweater vests was in a similar situation and asked newly elected President Obama to come to his aid,” said GOP- Spokeswoman Alex Wilkes in a statement.

Both Murphy and Corzine were previously executives at Goldman Sachs investment banking firm on Wall Street.

Rachel Lee, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said Democrats were concerned whether Obama “decided to come to town.”

“With margins tightening and momentum growing, New Jersey is poised to fire Phil and elect Jack Ciattarelli on November 2nd,” added Lee.

Ciattarelli’s campaign declined to comment on Obama’s remarks.

But Ciattarelli wrote an open letter to Obama prior to the visit criticizing Murphy for not doing enough to help black residents and outlining his plan to revitalize Newark and other cities. This includes the expansion of charter schools, cooperation with religious organizations and the promotion of new developments.

“Unfortunately, there was a lack of hope and opportunity under Governor Murphy,” wrote Ciattarelli. “If I am fortunate enough to be elected by the people of our great state on November 2nd, I would appreciate the opportunity to sit down with you and discuss how we can work together to improve the lives of all our citizens and that Level of discourse also in our politics. “

Otherwise, the embassy was about an early vote for both candidates on Saturday. Murphy signed law in March making New Jersey the last of dozen states to hold an early personal vote. Citizens can vote in person on nine consecutive days, from Saturday to October 31, next Sunday, at central polling stations in their districts.

Mail-in voting had already started in the country. Voters can still vote in the traditional way on election day November 2nd.

Murphy personally voted in Long Branch on Saturday morning. It is unclear when or where Ciattarelli will vote.

A spokeswoman for Ciattarelli’s campaign said the Republican candidate supports early voting by machine. Ciattarelli’s electoral platform also demanded that all voters require photo ID, an idea that Democrats and mayors have criticized as a method of disenfranchisement.

According to a Monmouth University poll last month, only 6% of New Jersey voters said they would vote early. But it could have an impact on the governor’s race.

Murphy and the Democrats want an electoral advantage. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in New Jersey by more than 1 million, but that only helps if voters opt out.

Ciattarelli and Republicans will likely need to pick up independent and moderate voters to fill the void.

On Saturday, Obama came to New Jersey for the second time to support Murphy. He visited Newark in 2017 when Murphy first ran for governor.

This time, Obama spoke of the divided state of politics and said, “We are at a turning point, both here in America and around the world.” He said Americans have a choice of which route to take and “determine what happens to our children and grandchildren.”

“I’m here today because I think New Jersey you will make the right choice,” Obama said. “I believe America will ultimately make the right choice. … We will go ahead with people like Phil. “

The former president urged people to leave the “politically tired” behind.

“We cannot afford to be tired because of the young people here and those who are coming,” said Obama. “We don’t have time to be tired.”

Rebecca Panico, author of NJ Advance Media, contributed to this report.

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