Eschewing tradition, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop plans to announce his running mate for lieutenant governor by the end of this year so that Democratic primary voters will know his choice before the June 2025 Democratic primary.
“My plan is to roll out a lieutenant governor ideally by the end of this year,” Fulop said. “We’re not going to do what campaigns have done over the last eight years that they wait till after the primary and then make some sort of negotiation.”
The Democratic gubernatorial candidate said he isn’t considering a gender, racial, or geographical balance in his search for a running mate – and that no short list exists yet.
“I’m looking for the best candidate. I’ve governed like that for the last ten years,” Fulop said. “When people tokenize a position, whether it’s lieutenant governor or senior staff positions, I think it diminishes communities and diminishes the positions.”
Fulop cited a governmental and political benefit to an early decision on a running mate.
“I think the public deserves to know who those are, and that person should be out there and that person should be out there communicating also about why our campaign and our candidacy make the most sense, “ he said.
Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said Fulop’s decision might pressure other candidates to pick their running mates early, especially if “he winds up choosing a running mate who they might have wanted to consider.”
Still, an early choice could limit Fulop’s options.
“This strategy does carry the risk of missing out on other gubernatorial candidates who wind up getting out of the race, but only to the extent that he is looking to pair up with another candidate, and for that matter, one who would consider accepting the lieutenant governor position,” said Rasmussen.
Under state law, gubernatorial candidates have thirty days from the date the primary election results are certified to pick a running mate. Since the post was first established in advance of the 2009 election, no candidate has picked their lieutenant governor candidate much before the late July deadline.
“Our plan is to run a different type of campaign and be clear about how we’re going to change New Jersey, and part of that is this is the theme that we’re going to have moving forward,” Fulop said.
Fulop acknowledged that the end of 2024 target date could slip a month or two, but plans to reveal his running mate before the late March 2025 filing deadline.
“The way it’s worked over the twelve years since the lieutenant governor position has been rolled out is really one where they get in a room subsequent to the primary and decide. It makes very little sense to do it that way. If you think about it objectively, and we’re not going to do it that way,” Fulop explained. “We’re not going to do it that way.”
He said that no one has been put in charge of the selection and vetting process and that he wasn’t certain of the structure.
Rasmussen views Fulop’s decision to name his running mate this year “is consistent with his strategy of front-loading all the major elements of his campaign, both to avoid letting any other candidate to get any possible jump on him and to give voters thoughtful decisions for their consideration.”
“This strategy has so far been universally regarded as smart politics, even in other camps, as he has built early leads in fundraising, endorsements, and policy ideas that he can say he proposed first,” he stated.