and directly to the east is Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulip Another boldly progressive candidate who's also a three-term mayor and a former Marine who served in Iraq after 9/11 Here's a look at the issues driving his campaign for governor You might call Steve Fulip the pragmatic progressive who's running in the Democrats left of center lane for governor after serving 12 years as mayor of Jersey City I'm Steve Phillip and I'll open up the books in Trenton so you can see who's paying off the politicians I'll fight Donald Trump's Medicaid cuts by using the state surplus Phillips overseen some explosive growth that revitalized Jersey City's glittering downtown He's also amassed significant political contributions from real estate developers But the soaring highrises charged high rents that pushed out thousands of longtime residents many people of color according to a recent report Fulip argues we have built more affordable housing than anybody else and we have increased uh the population at a significant rate and uh the reality is that no city can manage the crisis of affordable housing by itself But the 48-year-old Marine reservist says he's a warrior for social equity on a statewide level I would focus on housing I would focus on education And I would focus on employment opportunities through diversity and inclusion And I think those are at the forefront of solving this issue Philip's also an outspoken critic of plans to spend $10 billion to widen New Jerseys turnpike and replace eight miles of elevated structures including the Newark Bay Bridge He's vowed to squash unfunded mandates and pull back hard on unsustainable state spending People in New Jersey pay a corruption tax just a system of government And I think we're trying to change that I think that creates a cost of government Got a lot of layers I think you need a governor that forces consolidation on municipalities and schools And uh you know people talk about unfunded mandates If you're going to control spending you need somebody who understands those and is willing to be bold and has some scars and is willing to fight And I think I stand alone in those lanes Fullip like Raz Baraka avoided county party conventions Hudson County bosses ended up backing Democrat Mikey Cheryl for governor But as the first Democrat to toss his hat into the now crowded primary ring Philip spent two years collecting endorsements and support from dozens of other mayors and legislators across New Jersey The people who have the building blocks of turning out votes block by block street by street are the mayors Writers Michael Rasmusen says Philip will no doubt win a chunk of Hudson County votes The question is will his network of endorsements pay dividends at the polls I think we're starting to see that Mikey Cheryl you know just yesterday attacked him um and uh you know came after him a little bit and realized that maybe he's breathing down her neck and um so we'll see what happens Vote by mail ballots have already been sent out Early in-person voting starts June 3rd primary day June 10th I'm Brenda Flanigan NJ Spotlight News [Music]