Former Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, twice elected on a ticket with Republican Gov. Chris Christie, supports Democrat Steve Fulop’s bid to become the Democratic nominee for governor in 2025.
Guadagno contributed $300 to Fulop’s campaign last year, indicating that she wants the three-term mayor of Jersey City to replace the state’s term-limited governor, Phil Murphy, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.
She quit the Republican Party in 2021 and is now an unaffiliated voter.
Guadagno did not return a call to her cell phone seeking comment, but on social media she maintains that writing a personal check didn’t constitute an endorsement.
Under New Jersey’s gubernatorial public financing program, Guadagno’s $300 check will net Fulop $900.
Last year, Guadagno contributed $300 to Christie’s presidential campaign. In 2022, she had donated $300 to The Great Task, a super PAC opposed to former President Donald Trump.
After her two terms as lieutenant governor, Guadagno sought to succeed Christie. She won the Republican primary, but lost the general election to Murphy by fourteen points.
That means Fulop now has the backing of two of the last four unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey: former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler, a conservative Republican who ran for governor in 2001 and lost to Democrat James E. McGreevey, endorsed Fulop this week.
The 2005 GOP gubernatorial nominee, former West Windsor Mayor Douglas Forrester, has also contributed to Democrats, including State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch) and the Somerset County Democrats.
Guadagno’s fights with Monmouth County Republican leaders after leaving office led to her firing as the CEO of a Jersey Shore food bank she ran for two years. She faced heavy criticism for failing to apply for COVID-19 relief funding administered by Monmouth County under the CARES Act. That followed Guadagno’s own letter chastising the Republican-controlled Board of Commissioners for not sending stimulus funding to her non-profit. She now runs a food bank for another charity, Sisters of Mercy.
This story was updated at 4:23 PM with comment from Guadagno.