Joining me here, my colleague from philadelphia, jessica dean. Part of the new jersey usa today work, and leave on putney we would like to welcome our Live Audience tonight. We ask those in attendance to remain respectful and not interfere with the debate. This is streaming on facebook. Com and on facebook. Com. Spanish inch it in north jersey. Candidates will have one minute to answer each of the questions and 30 seconds for a rebuttal as warranted. Lets welcome to the candidates onstage here, running for new jersey governor, former ambassador to germany, phil murphy, and Lieutenant Governor you kimmel donnell served alongside Chris Christie for eight years. What do you say to voters who just cannot consider the vote to vote for you for governor considering your affiliation . Thank you for having us tonight. I want to say to start, anybody who knows me knows im not Chris Christie. On my values. Im running on my principles. My record has been the Lieutenant Governor. He was the maid who made the final calls. He was the one who made the final calls. Vice president s and president s, Vice President s dont get ahead of governors. I dont think Lieutenant Governor should get ahead of governors. The governorwhen decided he was going to start the individuals, increase the gas tax, i had to stand up and disagree. Murphy stood with the governor and voted in favor and support of the gas tax. Kristine you mentioned you voice your concern when you did disagree. Can you give us an example of where you may have swayed his decision . Lt. Gov. Guadagno i dont think we should tell you that. People need to understand how Lieutenant Governors offices work. If i become the governor i wouldnt expect my Lieutenant Governor to disclose our private conversations. Did have to disagree with the governor when he started to tax the middle class in new jersey. I said no and phil murphy stood with Chris Christie and said yes to the gas tax. Kristine mr. Murphy, your Campaign Commercials document you were raised in a workingclass family. That is not how you live today and not how you live for the past few years. You made millions at Goldman Sachs. How can you relate to the working class Family Living in new jersey . Mr. Murphy im honored to be here with the Lieutenant Governor, and each of you here. I see that last question little differently. With all due respect to the Lieutenant Governor has been standing beside the governor 2228 days. Her record is hit his record is her record. I grew up in a home which was working poor. We didnt have money. I worked under the table when i was 13 years old. I slept in my parents bedroom until i was nine years old. Is what burnse most deeply inside of me. With all of the chapters of my life as an adult, i worked in business, i served the United States under barack obama as the u. S. Ambassador to germany. I served on the board of the i am proud of all of that. The experience that burns most deeply is how i grew up. Can you see the concern here . You made 7 million last year. You do not know what it takes to struggle to put food on the table. Mr. Murphy with all due respect, i do. I grew up that way. My dad took any job he could. He did not have a high school education. My mom did. She made sure we went to college. We cared about the community and service. I know what that is like. Mr. Murphy do not kristine you are willing to go sanctuaryignating cities which protect undocumented immigrants and make new jersey a sanctuary state. Would you do that knowing new jersey has been at risk of losing millions of dollars in federal aid . Im glad you brought this up. We had an incomplete discussion about this. One of the Biggest Police union came out and made this point better than i could. The reality is when residents in a steady or a state feel comfortable about engaging with Law Enforcement and they are not worried about immigration status , without question you have a safer environment. Again, the Lieutenant Governor has a Law Enforcement background. She knows that. We cant put politics ahead of public safety. If folks feel free to engage you have a safer community. Cancelve, im relying on as it relates to this threat, that the federal government and President Trump could use against this, i think that is an empty threat and we would fight that to the fullest extent of the law. Our dreamers, we need to make sure they realized they are welcome in that state they are welcome in the state. Kristine if you are talking millions of dollars to a state like new jersey, what would you do to fill that gap . Mr. Murphy it is one of many examples where we would steal backbones are one to stand up to this president and what is coming at us. Whether threats to withhold federal funding, whether it is the environment, or criminal justice. We are going to be in court for every single day of our time with an attorney general who is going to fight for every dollar. Kristine do you have a response . Lt. Gov. Guadagno when i became the sheriff i was shocked to find out we could release a violent criminal from our jail without running and immigration background check. I got a computer and got someone trained to do one thing, a criminal background check. I dont believe the people of new jersey want to see a violent criminal released from arial jail if there is an in our jail. They believe those are being run anyway. If we had done just that jose would not have been in the school yard in 2008 shooting for children in the back of the head. At government does it would not have been climbing up the back of a house and raping a sixyearold just a month ago. In order one of the things the governor has to do, one of the primary things they are required to do, is to protect the public. A sanctuary state will harbor criminals and challenge Law Enforcement officers. Put at risk millions of dollars of funding for those who want to help the most. Kristine i would like to bring in alfred for the next question. We are when you talk about something near and dear to everybodys heart. Property taxes. Have the circuit blanker Circuit Breaker plan. A certain point, the breaker kicks in and the state of depending on income could give that homeowner up to 3000. That is a lot of 3000. Where is the money coming from . Lt. Gov. Guadagno to be more specific, the homeowner would earn 800 per household. On average we believe it will cost 1,000,005. I think we have laid out specifically a plan for how we pay for 3 of our budget. I believe the people of new jersey need property tax relief. I have a plan to fix property taxes. Phil murphy does not. Plan if i your understand it, it you want to do an audit of government and state functions. 1. 5 billion is a lot of money. Thehere 1. 5 billion in state house we dont know about . Lt. Gov. Guadagno that is a fair question. First of all of the last time an audit was done in 1983. Two other audits have been done recently. They have saved 2 billion a piece. At least i have a plan. What i hear from phil murphys team is he is not going to address property taxes at all. I have not heard him addressing anything to help the people in new jersey who need the most help now. That has to do with property taxes. Then what is your plan . Mr. Murphy i would say with all days,spect, i think 2829 we could have had an audit accomplished by now. Fancy gimmick, the circuit buster, that is not a plan. You have to back it up with real money. Property taxes are up. Us,ou are a wealthy among you have the time of your life. Theyve had lots of breaks. The middle class has paid through the nose. Funding schools fully is property tax relief. Undoingommitted to this. In driving that money into fully funding public education. Kristine thank you. One question to our audience. Every time you clap or scream it does take moments away from our candidates. We would like to get to the issues tonight. One more time. We are going to go to the next question. That is on the issue of property taxes. We can talk about that. As you know, new jersey homeowners pay the highest property taxes in the nation. There is a salary cap that limits raises for police and firefighters to 2 which keeps property taxes down. That is due to expire at the end of this year. Will you keep the cap and with homeowners, or will you side with police and firefighters, and let that expire . Mr. Murphy that is a false choice. I will make a decision based on the facts. Half of the committee put the report out, which is a political stunt. Election a day is in november. Our voters would like to know where you stand on that . I want to make decisions based on facts. That is what i believe then. Only half of the group has come out so far. You mentioned 2 , which is important. This is an us versus them administration. Having fiscal responsibility, who wouldnt want fiscal perhapsbility, against the bravest people in the state, police, fire and first responders. Leadership gets both of those interests around a table and makes a decision with all interest. That is what i would do. I would remind folks, 2 is important. We have to get this right. 53 of a property tax bill is public education. That has been underfunded. Kristine one last time, you will not go on the record tonight to say whether or not you will keep that. Mr. Murphy i will not. I want to see the facts. I want to make the right decision. Leadership is tough sometimes. Kristine which side are you on . Lt. Gov. Guadagno lets talk about leadership. You just want to dodge the answer. I will tell you what he wants to dodge the answer. By everyen endorsed Public Sector union in the state and promised them he will not endorse arbitration because they dont want it. He runs commercials every day about how hes not in the pocket of special interest. Hes made promises to those special interests that has responded resulted in his refusal to answer that question. His Lieutenant Governor would have signed the property taxes. She voted it the first time because she went to provide property tax relief. She voted it on the second time. For you,e question whered you getting the money . Look around the room. 9 billion is coming from your back pocket. Mr. Murphy may i answer that . Say 9 million is coming from your wealthy friends, the biggest corporations in the hedge funds. And every dime of it is going back into the middle class. This question is for both. Tens of thousands of jobs were lost in the downturn of Atlantic City. Now, what is your vision for success . Mr. Murphy thank you. Atlantic city has on through hell and back. The good news is it is off the map. Indoor miss job losses. Is as a unique a community as we have to this day. It is a great community. It needs help. Im not a fan of these takeovers. Every time it is over the top, and communities of color, School Districts or entire communities. Communities like Atlantic City need a governor who is a partner working on the ground hand in glove to continue to develop momentum that has started. The casinos have stabilized. Employment has stabilized. The economy must be diversified. Stockton university is opening a campus. That is a good step. Nongaming investment will matter a lot. I want to work with them to do that. Lt. Gov. Guadagno i find the incredible when it comes to your position on tax credits. Theonly thing attracting things that are those tax credits. Plus some very hard decisions had to be made. What i want to know, while you were in Atlantic City last night did you visit the food bank i talked about last week so you could talk to some people working two jobs every day to put food on their table, did you visit and talk to the woman who needed to go to the food bank twice a week . You would have heard they cant afford more property taxes, higher property taxes. Im going to lower property taxes. You were going to raise them and move these people out of new jersey. Mr. Murphy you have left the middle class behind and there you have left the truth behind. I wasnt in that food bank last night but that is how i grew up. I know that too well. You said you were no fan of state takeovers. Would you end it . Mr. Murphy i would say we would be there on the ground. The governor, the executive branch working with the local elected officials to keep the progress we have seen and hopefully more. Would you support gaming in north jersey . Mr. Murphy gaming, i have supported strongly. It is a huge job creator. We are desperate for jobs. If it is not in north jersey it is going to be on the west side of manhattan. The projects had elements where they would send a significant amount of income to Atlantic City. That is a big basis that i was supportive of it. One red cent to Atlantic City. Id rather those jobs created in that in new jersey. Once atlanticgno citys stabilized we should put on the ballot the question of whether or not, it has to be on the ballot, whether gaming should be north. If somebody is going to get the jobs, we should. I think we are the best position to get those jobs. On one condition. That we can afford to do business here in new jersey. Phil murphy would eliminate tax credits. He would raise taxes on businesses businesses and make it unaffordable. Want to talk about pensions. I will start with you. You advocate fully funding the Public Employee pension system. We are obligated to pay what has been committed but Going Forward would you consider the state switching new employees to a 401 k type program like private businesses have . If we had taken the steps we had outlined we would not be in the position were in today, but we are. Pension plans have been underfunded by 23 billion. It is a principal reason why we have been downgraded 11 times. The state must own up to its obligations. It must get as fast as possible to fully funding pension obligations. We are a state that folks no longer trust. Getanswer is we have got to active fully funding the pension plan. Only then can you talk about what else youre going to do. Left at thebeen altar 20 years in a row and the only answer if you concede more we might find a way to find more money, that is unacceptable. The state must meet its allegation obligations. Kristine what is your specific plan . Mr. Murphy here we go. You have an administration with governor christie that is taking care of the hedge funds, big companies, and the wealthiest among us. We want to unwind those tax breaks and fund getting back to funding the middle class in this state. Meetingducation, fully pension obligations, and Building Infrastructure this administration has kicked down the road. Kristine i would like to know your plan. Lt. Gov. Guadagno its going to cost 5 billion in pension. Ayments i what everybody in this room to close their eyes and tell me what you see. You see nothing because we have no plan whatsoever. Take the Law Enforcement pension and spin them off. They are almost fully funded as it is. They should manage their pension in a way that doesnt impact or put taxpayers at risk. Then we have to admit what we cannot deny. Pensions for teachers and other unions is broke. What we are doing now is hiring 21yearold teachers, telling them they will have a pension. I would sit down, look at the tom byrne Pension Commission report and start negotiating their openly. To murphy should they have tell the truth in these discussions . That is for the audience to decide. Lt. Gov. Guadagno if uruguay to start to interrupt me skewed to the subject. Im going to try to literally get us back on the right track. This is a transit question. Said you will advocate for new Jersey Transit. You have been a new Jersey Transit user. But under the Christie Administration we have seen dedicated funding has been cut, fares have gone up, Service Quality has gone down. Tens of thousands waited hours to leave the stadium. Portion left in the rain during superstorm sandy. If you are the advocate you have been there. Where were you . In the next four years the first thing im going to do is go back and audit everything going on at the department of transportation. Singleng to ask every person to resign and reapply for their job. Peopleng to make those hand out their cell phone numbers and sit down, actually take the train every day. I know what it is like to be to court on time. I know what it is like to have to be home on time to meet a babysitter so she doesnt walk away from me. It is important we get this right. Second to property taxes, it is the number one problem that will be facing the governor Going Forward. As the Lieutenant Governor you said it is not your function to criticize the governor. During these changes him and not for the better, you have been silent. Have you taken a trained in the last five or six years . Lt. Gov. Guadagno absolutely. That is the only way to get backandforth from new york. Unlike my opponent, a Goldman Sachs billionaire, im a working mom who has a w2 income. I have to take public transportation. Not just now but the last 25 years. Im going to have to move on here to mr. Murphy. I want to take a different track here on transit. We have positive train control. Slows down the train. The accident in hoboken, that would have stopped it. It has to be done by the end of 2018. A small portion of the Transit System is operating under that system. How would you ensure if you were elected it can meet this deadline . I take it all the time, number one. Where have you been, some of these ideas, we agree on some things, but you have been there for almost eight years. You are dealt a hand if you are a state. Fourth smallest state in the country. The largest market in the pub in new york and one of the largest markets in philadelphia. If you would get one thing right it would be commuter rail. Instead it has been gutted by the state support. Folks, in capital budget, people are in there who dont know what they are talking about. Positive train control is one of the consequences. We have to fund it. It is a federal mandate. We have to get back to doing what we used to do well, prioritizing the economies that drove us. Infrastructure is one of them. You didnt answer the question. Mr. Murphy to fund it. Where would the funding come from . We have to grow the economy again. That is something we havent done yet. Thousandsft tens of of dollars on the table. That is two or 3 billion of state revenue. That will be enough to deal with positive train control. Infrastructure has to be prioritized. It has not been. I would like to pose a question regarding congestion pricing. Two words people do not want to hear. It really is looking more and more likely. It looks like a reality. New jerseyans could be paying double wants to cross the river, then again to move below 60. Support a rebate to offset the extra burden levied on commuters . The shortuadagno answer is absolutely. We need to use tax credits wisely. Over the last eight years, the way we use our tax credits was to encourage people to grow here and expand here. The number show they were. We have more people working today than ever in the history of the state. We have 4 more in our back pocket than before. The problem is, it is hard to get backandforth to new york. Work in the city. I would advocate for a transportation credit and a review of all credits to make sure the and working people of new jersey have more money in their pocket. That is what this campaign is about. Whether or not new jersey is affordable. One of the ways to make new jersey affordable is a tax credit. My opponent is going to increase taxes on just about everyone to do the things we have outlined. Kristine had we pay for it . We have cut unemployment 50 , by aggressively pursuing the only tool we have in new jersey to create jobs here. In the companies down in camden. Today it is going to be a shining city on the hill because of tax credits. Would you support a state tax . You have to. The first line of defense is to convince new york to not do it. Kristine how would you do that . Mr. Murphy it has been influenced before. We need leadership to push this back. Weve had a breakdown in terms of our ability to punch in our weight. Whether it is port authority, canceling the tunnel, a discussion like this, we dont punch at our way. Certainly, our commuters. I would say the tax credits to get jobs in new jersey, we send them out at 162,000 per job. Massachusetts, we have some friends, 22,000 a job. They have made investments we ignored. The labor market is at a 10 year low. , you have to find the money. I will start with mr. Murphy. You said legalizing marijuana is a social justice issue. You have also said that to fund many of your problems programs, the state needs to increase taxes and legalize marijuana. His legalizing all about justice or about tax revenue . Mr. Murphy if it doesnt pass the social justice test you cant talk about revenue implications. Nonwhite gapidest of persons incarcerated in america in new jersey. It is not the only reason but the biggest contributing factor is our lowend drug crimes. A member ofhis is the naacp sim as a candidate. My opponent, we had another incomplete discussion talked about decriminalizing it. Stays underground run by the same people. My nurse particular are exposed to that. But aside the fact that you dont learn the tax revenue, it remains the wild west. I want to legalize it, regulated. A lot of other states have done it. At the end of the day, it has to be social justice. Lt. Gov. Guadagno i want to pick up on what he said in the primary. 300 million of that was coming from legalizing marijuana. He has sensed change his story. Since changed his story. Raised, het can be will. All of these promises, all of these entitlements, it is going to come from your pocket. There are not enough millionaires to pay for the increases he is promising you. As a followup, youre talking about bringing a revenue , lt. Gov. Guadagno i just read a report that shows there has been a 48 increase in the number of traffic thats, which they attribute to marijuana use in colorado. Children, i our dont want our people to walk down the street and buy a pack of cigarettes and be drug dealers. I think it sends a large message for a state funding the opioid problem. Whatmurphy should call it policies. Tax raising this next question is from our debate participants. New work and jersey city has grown tax bases and the number of businesses. They are now trending upward displacing low income residents. What will you do to prevent them from being displaced by gentrification . Lt. Gov. Guadagno guadagno, weh you. Is something we have to be alert to. One of the problems with tax credits is they are supposed to higher people in the Community Hire people in the community that they get the tax credits. For example in jersey city, they got billions of dollars with the tax credits. In canton they are. There is a company that got 2 million worth of tax credits, and they are hiring citizens in ohio and training them and bringing them back. We need to make sure those are happening. It is a condition of the credit itself. And the other thing we have to do is six the Affordable Care fix the Affordable Housing act. What we have to do in my opinion is come up with a state plan that would jobs in transportation or portable housing where the jobs are and where transportation is that we can do that by simply having a state plan. Mr. Murphy. Phil murphy i cant help but go back to the last conversation about legalization. Number one, colorado has had a high death rate of desk related to the use of Legal Marijuana number two social justice is not an entitlement. [applause] phil murphy so your question, Affordable Housing. This administration has done everything they can to kick the can down the road through the courts. Kim guadagno that is not true. Phil murphy they have taken money out of dedicated funds. Kim guadagno that is not true. Phil murphy i apologize. You will have your shot. The other thing they have done is by up empty, foreclosed homes and convert them into Affordable Housing. Is that something you would do . Kim guadagno 100 percent phil murphy 100 . I want to help folks who fought and stayed not just for the folks who come there because those communities have momentum. They sure do, by the way, but it has got to work for the people who fought and stayed. Affordable housing. Since we are at William Patterson university, we thought it was a good idea to have students be involved in this democratic process. So we would like to welcome a student here from William Patterson. He has a question for both of the candidates. Hi, my question is, the student debt is about 1 trillion in america. Some people arent even able to pursue Higher Education due to the huge debt. New york has recently started offering they started offering free tuition programs to students. Would you support Free College Programs for bachelors degrees in new jersey, and if you do how would he pay for . Mr. Murphy, we will let you answer that first. Phil murphy great question. This is one that comes up all the time. Higher education is out of the reach of too many young people and their families. It is maddening. Youve probably seen this at the university of maine advertises on a billboard above the turnpike, on up and check us out. Come on up and check us out. Our instate tuition is lower than your instate tuition. We have ravaged Higher Education in the state so a couple of things. There is no one magic bullet. Number one we stand for Free Community college. There is a study they came out this summer that makes a compelling point that that is the middle skill jobs we are going to have the least number s of folks who are trained in. Secondly we love the idea of a public bank that we all have citizens own, and along the lines of business are reasonable Student Loans. And how about Something Like thirdly, stay in new jersey for college, state here five years to work after and we will give 5, 6, seven, eight, nine in 10 in x number of dollars off of your Student Loans and those are some of the things we are talking about. Kim guadagno i cant imagine a worse idea that giving all of the receipts to some bureaucrat in trenton to hand out to the other people. The idea of a bank handing out loans to students is just beyond words fantasyland. That is the first. Second, Free College Education falls in the category of whos going to pay for it . I would love to provide you with a Free College Education, and if you have the means to pay for it do i still want to provide you with a Free College Education . I would say, whether you can afford it or not, you get it. Look at this room, look at the camera, you will note who is going to pay for it. Everyone in new jersey is going to pay for it. Phil murphy is going to raise your taxes, and i wont. Next question. This is going to start with you, ms. Guadagno. Just this monday, republicans and Democratic State leaders agreed that newark is going to be the states official bid for amazons new headquarters. New jersey gets it, it will be 50,000 jobs. How far would you go, how far would your administration go with incentives, tax breaks, subsidies, land to get amazon to come to new jersey . Kim guadagno so my understanding of the deal is quite simply that there will be tax credits afforded to amazon as part of the deal. As part of the package, the partnership for action will be presenting, and that is a benefit to the taxpayers of new jersey. That means the net benefit will be 9 billion over time. I have signed a letter that said i would agree to that. My concern is that we dont have enough playing there. I love newark. We have worked hard to rebuild is we, but the problem need a bigger menu. We need North Brunswick and camden and Atlantic City as competitors. I dont think we should reject any of those. 50,000 jobs is a lot of jobs that we need, and the problem is my opponent becomes the governor of the state of new jersey, he will not use any of those tax credits. That is not the point. The point of the question whether it is newark, whether its new brunswick, is there a point of too much that we give back to get those jobs . Kim guadagno i understand that the only way these credits work is if its a net connected to the taxpayers over time exceeds the value of the credit. Thats the way its always been. You have to make our money for the taxpayers than you give out. And in this case my understanding from the letter that was written to us from the government that it would be 9 billion worth of benefits. Quite frankly i dont think you can put a value on bringing 50,000 jobs to new jersey. However if my opponent becomes the governor the state of new jersey we are not going tax , credits. We are going to raise business raise we are going to taxes on people who live here, and amazon will not find new jersey a businessfriendly place anymore. Phil murphy may i . First of all i hope amazon comes , to new jersey. That would be a gamechanger. It will work for them, but it will have to work for us. We line up awfully well. It reminds me of what General Electric said they were looking for before they moved to boston. We did not get that in the competition for General Electric because we throw out tax credits to the tune of 260,000. I would like to go to amazon with a competitive tax deal and say, we will put 10 million into Newark Liberty and build up the hudson river light rail and build the gateway tunnel under the hudson. We will fully Fund Public Education. We will put money into Higher Education. All of those things will be good for amazon and their employees, but the important thing is it will be good for all of us. I want to get amazon, but i want to get it on the right terms. When amazon started we had 15 technology incubators. New york has 179. That does not happen by accident. That is ignoring it on this side of the hudson and embracing it on that side. Washington to put 100 million to work to get amazon started. Please pick the next question. [applause] you mentioned earlier that new jersey is the fourth smallest state, but somehow we have managed to fit 560 municipalities into the garden state. Given that state tax dollars go to these towns for police and other services, what specifically can you do to convince more communities to merge or share . Phil murphy someone once said dont let a good crisis go to waste. That crisis with property during haschristie, guadagno years caused people to think about sharing services that they did not before. There is a lot of appetite, but you need leadership. You have got some counties that have it in the extreme. We live in monmouth county, 53 communities. But the thing i believe, you cannot beat people over the head. There are Different Levels of government, that is a democracy. But you can provide incentives. If you mayors and councils want to explore a possible sharing of services, will help fund that. Of you goch each independent and say we want to do this, we will help fund that as well. We need to offer incentives to leadership to get it done. It will be a shared service c zar. We will put resources behind it and be aggressive. Phil murphy we need more shared kim guadagno we need more shared services but we need an arbitration cabinet, which my opponent has not provided. There will not be any incentive for the 560 some odd municipalities or the 612 schools. What we do need to do is incentivize that. The way to do that is to put pressure on the property tax, key property taxes lower than the 2 cap. Murphy because he is in the pocket of special interest and has promised the labor unions he will not sign those caps, you will never see those kinds of savings we could otherwise realize. Jessica dean. You guys have a lot to say about one another and each others policies. It is nice to have each other ask one another a question. Ms. Guadagno, i will let you do that first. What is your question to mr. Murphy . Kim guadagno how do you plan to pay for kindergarten through 12th and College Education with universal health care . Just to name a few. I think they add up to be of from 55 million to 65 million without raising taxes on the middle class and working class because your plan right now provides only 1 billion. And i say only 1 billion. Anybody who runs a campaign that says they will raise taxes in new jersey is simply out of touch with new jersey. How do you plan on paying for all of the promises you make during the primary . Phil murphy that is quite a question. [laughter] phil murphy you know those numbers are not true. You are saying me and the turnpike in running for president we have got to get to the basis of truth of the discussion. That is what people turned up for tonight. Sorry, could not hear you. [laughter] [speaking simultaneously] [indiscernible] [applause and cheers] we would like to keep a certain decorum and professionalism in this room. I apologize for the interruption. Interruptions, you will be asked to leave the auditorium. Phil murphy with governor christie all these years and debating policy, you have taken care of hedge funds, big corporations, and the wealthiest among us that have the sweetest ride of their lives. That will come to an end. That will be fair and the beneficiary is the middleclass. And we have a very cogent plan where the pensions will be finally obligated, Household Income is down 5 year to year with governor christie. Property taxes are up 17 , nj transit up 36 . College is up 20 . The middle class has been squeezed and left behind. I would just say to the middleclass, help is on the way. Mr. Murphy, what is your question to miss guadagno . Phil murphy there are things we agree on like smart government. Where have you been . Could you describe more explicitly for us you have christies side for 2800 29 days, and this is the state we have a result of that. You have made choices. You chose to take care of hedge funds for the very wealthiest if the expense of the middle class. Where have you been . Kim guadagno what you have to thosetand is i went back many days, and that is the amount of money you make per hour when you were in Goldman Sachs as one of those hedge funds. Phil murphy that is a lot. Kim guadagno and what you have to understand and i have said it before is the government makes the ultimate decision like the president makes the ultimate decision. If i had a battle with the governor, and i had a number of battles with the governor, i did what i believe works. I only started the battle publicly when he started to hurt the middle class with a . 23 tax gas increase, something by the way that mr. Murphy endorsed and that does not help the middle class. That is not building up the middle class. That is hurting the very people who need the gas tax relief the most. Kim guadagno phil murphy this was after phil murphy u. N. Governor christie bankrupted the trust fund. And my partner way. 50 50 every step of the way. Kim guadagno i am you talked about Sheila Oliver. Never forget that Sheila Oliver was the speaker of the assembly for every single one of the governors budgets, and had the gadget the budget not been presented and announced in favor of Sheila Oliver and her democratic colleagues, it never would have gotten to the governors desk. So transportation is one example, 10 credits are another example. Phil murphy i am so honored to be on the ballot with sheila. All right. I would like to go to our flash round where we ask for some brief answers. The flesh round. Always flash round, always a little fun. Phil murphy mix it up. We will move on to the flash round. My first question is to mr. Murphy. If senator menendez is convicted of a corruption, should he resign . Phil murphy i think any speculation on someone who is in the middle of a trial is a complete waste of time, so the answer is he has proven innocent until proven guilty. Lets see how this turns out. If he is convicted phil murphy i will not speculate. I am persons are allowed their full extent of the law. Misquote donna, should senator menendez be convicted of corruption should he resign . Kim guadagno absolutely. It is an embarrassment he has phil murphy has finally stood by the side of senator menendez for two years while he has been under indictment. It will have been a greater embarrassment if we had the United States senator representing the state of new jersey in the senate in washington dc. Phil murphy are we still in america . This is a followup. Hypothetically if senator menendez is convicted and ask getto resign, will you then to pick the replacement, would you consider Chris Christie . Kim guadagno no. [cheers and applause] kim guadagno that was an easy one. Youre going on record saying you will not consider Chris Christie. Kim guadagno very much on the record i will not consider Chris Christie. All right. This next question, we have seen it series of virtual town meetings with our viewers, and they turned out very successful. Many of them had some great questions, but this most. Of new one stood out to us the most. This one stood out to us the most. New jersey is the garden state and as such what is your favorite fruits and vegetable and why . Mr. Murphy. Phil murphy for me . For . Do you say, for me, phil murphy grapefruit and broccoli. Im a huge broccoli fan. How quickly, why . Phil murphy i tell you i have , loved broccoli since i was a kid. I wish my late mom and dad were here. They could give you a better answer. Miss guadagno. Kim guadagno tomatoes and cranberries. [cheers and applause] all right, we do have to kim guadagno that was fun. Phil murphy that was fun. Closing statements. A coin toss earlier determined who would go first. You each have 90 seconds. Mr. Murphy. Phil murphy only in america can a guy grow up as i did working poor to a mama got out of high school and a dad that didnt, find himself on a stage like this. I am incredibly honored and humbled. We are very clear visions for our state. One is for the state, and the other is a Chris Christie term where the middleclass to be hollowed out, the truth is left behind. Public education does not get funded, infrastructure is ignored. We are more and more unfair by the day and it is us against them. We need to turn the page to embrace change and leadership and new priorities that we respect our seniors and celebrate and invest in the middle class and those who aspire to get into the middle class. We Fund Public Education and infrastructure. We become fair and inclusive to all. We Fund Planned Parenthood and do something about climate change, and we reject gimmicks and deliver real tax relief to the middleclass. On the one hand you have folks that want to scare to to vote for them. That is not right. I come from being grown up and inspired by people like john kennedy or Bobby Kennedy and cesar chavez and barack obama. If that is your vision i need , you. [cheers and applause] all right, miss guadagno. [applause and cheers] have guadagno, you miss guadagno, ms. Guadagno, ms. Guadagno you have 90 seconds starting now. Kim guadagno i want to speak to the people at home. I want to talk to those people who are saying, why should i go to the ballot on november 7 . The answer is very clear. Phil murphy will raise your taxes and i will lower them. That is why you should go to the ballot box on november 2. We need your votes. I grew up moving around the country. My dad lost his job. I know what it means when a family has to leave a state and town they grew to love. I dont want to see New Jerseyans do the same thing. I put myself through college. I put myself through law school, and i was lucky enough to marry a guy from jersey where i knew i wanted to raise my family. My family has been raised in new jersey, and i think the reason i am running for governor i know the reason i am running for governor is that i do not want other families in new jersey to lead the life i lead. Led. I do not want other children to be raised the way i had to be raised. If phil murphy becomes the governor, the only person who can afford to stay in new jersey will be phil murphy. He has promised to raise taxes on everybody and proved it tonight. Vote for lower taxes and a safer new