Good Government Coalition backs Fulop for governor

The Good Government Coalition of New Jersey, the umbrella organization of grassroots groups committed to eliminating the county organization line system in primary elections and promoting greater transparency in state and local government, has endorsed Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop for the Democratic nomination for governor.

But the list of endorsed candidates for governor could grow beyond Fulop, which makes it more of a stamp of approval rather than a recommendation to its membership.

“We hear a lot of confusion about what GGCNJ endorsements mean. Quick reminder: we endorse based on agreement with our priorities for good government, and can absolutely endorse more than one candidate for a given position. This is our first endorsement — stay tuned for more,” the group said in a subsequent social media post

The coalition members include Action Together New Jersey; Collingswood Progressive Democrats; Force the Issue NJ;  Indivisible Cranbury; Indivisible NJ5; Indivisible Princeton; NJ-08 for Progress; NJ11th for Change; Our Revolution Middlesex County; Our Revolution Monmouth County; Our Revolution New Jersey Volunteers; Our Revolution Trenton Mercer; People for Progress; Progressive Democrats of America — NJ; SJNOW Indivisible; South Jersey Women for Progressive Change; STAND Central New Jersey; Summit Marches On; and Westfield 20/20.    The endorsement is from GGCNJ and not of their member organizations.

“Of the gubernatorial candidates, I was the earliest opponent of this bill when it was first introduced. The fee-shifting restrictions are an important change made by the legislature to gut OPRA that needs to be reinstated,” Fulop said.  “Secondly, they restricted some of the types of documents that could be accessed and this is too is a place that OPRA needs to be changed.”

Fulop backs public financing for all campaigns, including local office, the posting of bills at least 72 hours before a committee vote, and the elimination of senatorial courtesy.  He supports a prohibition on ballot slogans to reflect party endorsements, the rotation of candidates on the ballot by precinct, and making county clerks a non-partisan elected office.

This story was updated at 11:41 AM and again at 8:33 PM on February 15.