Democratic NJ Governor Candidates' Trans Sports Bill Vote Could Be 'Costly'
Newsweek their vote may come back to haunt the candidates when they need to win over independent voters this fall in the increasingly purplish Garden State.New Jersey's gubernatorial race will be one of the first tests for Democrats' messaging after the 2024 election.
It was one of the states that had the starkest rightward shifts in the country, with Republicans making inroads with key groups like Hispanic, Asian-American and young voters who traditionally voted for Democrats in the past.In the presidential race, New Jersey backed Vice President Kamala Harris by less than six points, Democrats' worst showing in the state this century, leading to questions about whether Jersey — with its bedroom communities and sprawling New York and Philadelphia suburbs — is emerging as a new swing state.Gottheimer and Sherrill are two of the high-profile Democrats in the crowded race to replace outgoing Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat who is term limited.
Republicans there are hoping to tie Democrats to unpopular positions to flip the governorship, while Democrats are hoping to win back those disaffected moderates who shifted toward Trump in November.Dan Cassino, professor of government and politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University, told Newsweek the issue of high-school sports is key "for the suburban voters that have formed the base of the Democratic Party coalition in the post-2016 era" in New Jersey.Their vote against the trans sports bill may win over progressive voters, crucial to victory in a Democratic primary, Cassino said, but may alienate more moderate voters."A vote against the bill would help them with progressive voters in the state - and that's 40 percent of Democrats.
You can't afford to upset them and hope to win a Democratic primary," he said. "However, it is potentially costly for them in the general, as any of the Republican candidates are likely to make a big deal out of protecting girl's sports."Alyssa Maurice, director of research at the William J.
