Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop launched his fourth ad in his campaign to win the Democratic nomination for governor of New Jersey.
The ad focuses on the immigration of his own family to the United States, including his grandmother, an Auschwitz survivor. He uses old family photos – including relatives who were killed in the Holocaust – and his wife and three children are shown visiting Ellis Island to see Fulop’s parents.
“Jaclyn and I think it’s so important for our kids to know why we’re Americans,” he says.
Script: “I’m Steve Fulop, and every few weeks we do a field trip to see the grandparents. We’re lucky they live nearby. This week we’re going to Ellis Island. My parents came from Romania after World War two. My grandmother survived Auschwitz. Most of the family didn’t make it. Jaclyn and I think it’s so important for our kids to know why we’re Americans. And as governor, I’ll make sure state government doesn’t forget either. Everyone in New Jersey just wants a fair shot.”
The ad allows Fulop to identify with New Jersey’s immigrant population.
“I would sign the Immigrant Trust Act, and there is no mayor or elected official that has as more of a strong track record on this issue than we do in Jersey City,” Fulop said on social media. “I don’t hide from it.”
If Fulop wins, he would become the first New Jersey governor with an immigrant parent since Donald DiFrancesco, whose father was born in Italy, over two decades ago.