In their first offensive attack of the gubernatorial campaign, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s (D-11) team declared that Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop’s “long history of corruption is catching up with him.”
“Poor Steven Fulop. For more than two years, he’s run a campaign desperately trying to rebrand himself as a reformer, spending millions and barely making headway. Now, it’s all starting to unravel and his long history of corruption is catching up with him,” Sherrill for governor campaign spokesman Sean Higgins said in an email blast.
“During these last two weeks, Jersey voters are getting a peek behind the curtain at the real Steven Fulop — a model of the very corruption and secrecy he insists he’s against. From his pay-to-play operation that is fueling his dark money super PAC and selling out Jersey City to the highest bidder, to stonewalling Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests to city hall, Steven’s on nobody’s side but his own — and his special interest donors.”
The email highlighted two stories from the Jersey City Times – one about real estate professional donating to his super PAC and another questioning the circumstances of his first electoral win to the city council in 2005.
The Sherrill campaign also cited a story from the New Jersey Monitor about an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request going to the state Supreme Court and one from the Jersey City Vindicator about banning pics and videos of the Israeli flag raising – among others.
The congresswoman, who has the endorsement of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO), has consistently been the frontrunner in the six-person June 10th Democratic primary.
With that in mind, a Rutgers-Eagleton poll from the end of April had her leading Fulop by just five, which was within the margin of error, with Sherrill posting a double digit lead over only former state Senate President Steve Sweeney (17 percent versus seven percent).
In response to the attack, Fulop said he would debate Sherrill “any day of the week” and the fact that she decided to go after him shows they are nervous.
“With 5 other people running for governor the fact that she is going negative on me just means Sherill [sic] and the NJ political machine are scared of our momentum. They know they can no longer hide behind the political line. The truth is that whether it is Sherrill insider trading, or her misrepresenting her military service, or her exaggerating her time as a prosecutor, there are major issues that Republicans will exploit,” Fulop wrote on X.
“My concern is that while she has had a free ride in her previous campaigns, Ciattarelli will exploit her as an extremely weak general election candidate during the Trump era. Everything Sherrill tried to suggest today about me is old news that Jersey City residents rejected 3 elections in a row, Sherrill has never been vetted and that is becoming more clear and it is dangerous that we can lose in November if she is the nominee[.]”
The other Democratic candidates for governor are Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller, and U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-5).