>> major funding for "Reporters Roundtable" with David Cruz is provided by RWJBarnabas health.

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♪ David: The results are in, so what does it all mean?

Hey, everybody.

It is "Reporters Roundtable."

I'm David Cruz.

Our All-Star panel this week includes -- We will hear from the panel in just a minute, but we begin today with the man who finished last in this week's Democratic gubernatorial primary but managed to set himself apart as a thoughtful, experienced, and principled member of the partner -- party, who some are already calling its elder statesmen.

We will see if he likes that partner -- that moniker.

>> it's good to see you.

Elder statesman is nothing I ever visualized may be in, but I'm getting older.

I just turn 66, so I guess you could say that.

David: I want to talk about that as well in a minute.

The thing I remember most about all these joint appearances that you candidates made leading up to the election was all the noise of candidates sniping at one another and how it would stop as soon as you spoke.

My grandson always reminds me that cool people don't need to tell you how cool they are.

They just show it.

I thought there's no better sign of respect in politics then somebody shutting up when you start to talk.

>> I did not realize it at first, and then obviously I recognized it during a commercial when they were all agreeing with me, but I appreciate the fact that they recognized that I understood the issues, and I just wanted to fix New Jersey.

I love New Jersey.

It's my home.

I'm never leaving.

We have work to do to fix it.

Anyway she wants me to help, I am in because it's not going to be an easy run.

It's going to be tough.

David: We all expected you to pull a little better, even though you were known as the South Jersey candidate.

What you have done anything differently in retrospect?

>> Well, if I had $40 million, I am sure I would have.

What happened is we got outspent heavily.

I was out of office for four years.

I'm proud I was able to get a full matching funds because it's not easy, but we ran a campaign.

We ran it based on issues.

I had a platform on what needs to be done.

I'm proud of the fact that candidates agree we need to do multi-here budgeting now, so maybe that gets done.

We all agree that we need to make our schools pre-k-12.

A lot of good ideas came out of it, and I'm hoping that we follow through with fixing some of the things that are broken here.

I put a 2% tax cut in place in 2011.

Today, average taxes are $10,000.

If we did not do it cap, it would be $15,000, which means the way we are delivering services, we are never going to be affordable unless we change the way we are delivering government.

David: Right, so you had a pretty moderate candidate at the top of the list of leaders, but the second place candidate, Ras Baraka, is probably the most progressive candidate or was the most progressive candidate in the field.

What does that say about your party?

Is it divided or is it a big tent?

>> Does not feel like a big tent right now.

It used to be a big tent.

For everyone's sake, hopefully everyone pulls together and gets back under that big tent.

We have not had three consecutive terms of a Democrat in 60 years, so we have our work cut out for us.

Hopefully, everyone that I ran against all line up and support Mikey.

I became friends with Ras.

I enjoyed running with him.

He is a great guy.

David: Did he not turn out to be really kind of the story of the Democratic primary?

I mean, the headline was Mikey wins in a landslide, but I think not too many people expected Baraka to be number two.

>> He got a hell of a lot of votes.

We've got to get Democrats voting Mikey.

David: Progressives were not voting for Mikey sherrill.

>> I know this was not their preferred candidate, but Jack Ciattarelli is definitely not their preferred candidate, so I definitely think we need these guys to work together and we hustle and get this thing done.

Again, I'm committed.

The minute I saw the election results, I'm committed to helping.

I went into this race expecting organized labor to come out strong.

You don't take your ball and go home when things happen like this.

You all got to get together and we all got to work together to make sure we win.

David: I also think I hear you saying that Democrats don't need to move to the left.

The progressives need to move to the right.

Is that what you are saying?

>> we need to come to the Center for the better of all, at least in this election.

Elections are a view of where we want the party to be.

Right now, the party is behind with the vision that Mikey has.

When you finish second, you finish second, like you finished sixth, whatever.

If you don't win, you get together, you move the ball together down the field, and if the progressives take a walk, that is their prerogative, but it is at their expense.

David: What should sherrill be looking for in a lieutenant governor, and do you have someone in mind?

>> obviously, that is completely up to her.

It is someone who will be compatible and someone who will be able to help her.

Whoever she picks, that is her pick, and we want to make sure she partners up with someone who is able to bring everybody together.

David: Ultimately, lieutenant governors have less impact than everybody thinks, but as a statement early in the campaign, it does say something.

Does she need to look for a person of color?

Does she need to look for some other geographic diversity?

>> you know, again, that is her prerogative now.

She's going to pick whoever she thinks is best.

The truth is no one is going to vote for a candidate based on who the lieutenant governor's.

They are voting for who the governor is.

Whatever she feels is best suited for her to drive home the message and win this thing, that's who she should pick, and I'm sure that's who she will pick.

David: You're going to be behind her through this thing.

You are not running for the Senate again.

I don't think you want to run for governor again.

So, elder statesman is pretty good for you?

>> Do I have to be elder?

How about just statesman.

One thing I do know, I understand policy, so if I could be a statesman instead of an elder statesman, that would be nice.

David: I love it when you call me Michael because it is a tribute to our founding editor Michael Aaron, so it is one of the things that is most endearing about you.

I appreciate that.

>> David, because I love you like I love him.

David: Always good to talk to you.

We will see you down the road.

Talk to you soon.

Pannell, hello.

Good to see you all.

Here we are Tuesday night, a little bit after 8:00.

Breanna is talking with reporters in the field and by 8:15, the race is called for Generali -- ciatarelli.

20 minutes later, it is called for mikie sherrill.

>> we made it through.

There was still plenty to talk about, as there always is.

That was the thing about this, was that it was not necessarily a surprise that mikie sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli got their parties' nominations.

It was a reminder of the machine apparatus, but what was surprising was how quickly and how much of the vote they got, but I will say, and just listening to your conversation with the senator there, about 36% of the vote did go to progressive candidates, so to that end, there is quite a bit of unity that needs to -- unifying that needs to happen within the party because more folks voted for progressives than they did for Mikey Sherrill --Mikie Sherrill.

David: Have you been able to come up with some impressions or takeaways?

>> I want to piggyback on what she said.

If you look at the Republican party as well, Stadia got about 32%.

Both parties right now see this push from a lot of their voters to the edges.

The more progressive and more conservative sides of their party, so it will be interesting to see how they unify or if they do not and how that impacts both candidates' turnout come election day.

I think there is a trend we are seeing on both sides.

David: Colleen, you were at the desk with us and had full view of what was going on across the state.

What is in your mind as we head into the weekend?

>> I think continuing in this vein, if you look at the results, the turnout results from the election, Democrats were a little bit more energized than Republicans, I think we can say.

About 33% of registered Democrats came out compared with 28% Republicans.

I'm not sure that that will translate down to November, but we will have to see.

In terms of the unity, getting back together, I think both sides feel like this is an important election and that there will be a need to unify.

I could be dead wrong, but I think while the progressives on the Democratic side may not be terribly excited about Mikie Sherrill, it could be a little easier for them to get together.

Remember, Stadia did not agree to endorse Jack Ciattarelli if he won, so there could be some bad blood there.

>> I agree.

I do not think that voters will necessarily not vote to vote against a candidate like Sherrill or Ciattarelli, but I think it sends a signal that these folks need to pay attention to these wings of the party and their issues.

David: Yeah, I agree.

Had an interesting piece, too, on endorsements and how much they mattered or did not.

>> Certainly the county parties are not dead because the candidates I got the party endorsement, there was not a line on the ballot, but they certainly were able to say on the ballot that they were endorsed by the party, so those folks really won overwhelming numbers, but in the gubernatorial race, we saw that a number of counties -- and nothing against the elder statesman, but he was not able to win four of the counties where he did get the party endorsement.

So that is significant, and we still have a couple of races that are uncalled and a few other races in which non-endorsed candidates -- two races, in fact.

Non-endorsed candidates and beat endorsed candidates.

David: For the most part, the apparatus at least did what it usually does, no?

>> It did because it is an organizational operation.

It gets people out on the ground.

They have the teams to make phone calls, send text messages, to go door to door.

There is still this operation that once you win that county convention, you are tapped into all of those resources.

We saw that play really well for Mikie Sherrill and for Jack Ciattarelli.

David: The story to me was Ras Baraka.

We touched on it a little bit, his second-place showing, 160,000 votes.

You saw this race unfold over the last two years.

This was more than just the arrest outside Delaney Hall, wasn't it?

>> easily.

We held not just our debates, but prior to that, we partnered with a bunch of different groups holding forums.

Not really debate style, but forums with a lot of these candidates, and Baraka was at every single one.

Hard to tell if he brought a lot of folks with him that were supporting him or if the crowd every time was just that much they are with what he was saying, but certainly, he had a good ground game.

These last couple of weeks, you saw him in those suburban backyards where there was a lot of talk about could he break through the urban vote into the suburban vote.

If you look at Essex and Union counties, Baraka won in those counties.

Of court, the seat in Essex is Newark, which is Baraka's turf, but union, definitely that is a big deal.

This party is going to take note of that.

David: Baraka was very open not only about Mikie Sherrill and the Democrats but about himself, his stature certainly raised statewide.

>> I think his stature raised nationwide with the arrest.

I think that helped him in that final push, but I think he was strong on every debate stage.

I think he was strong knowing the issues that impact New Jersey.

He was unabashedly progressive, and he got the endorsement of unions and working groups across New Jersey pretty early on, so he knows he has made a mark.

He knows that I think he has some staying power here.

I think he has his sights set on the future.

He said it in his concession speech.

"I'm not going anywhere.

My voice is going to get louder and louder."

I think he is here to stay as the voice of New Jersey.

He just needs to calculate where to go next.

David: Does the data show how Baraka managed to roll past Steve Fulop, for instance, who everyone assumed would be the second place finisher?

>> Ras Baraka also won the city of Paterson.

I know there was a lot of hard work for him there, including but Kenyatta Stewart, who was one of those defeated County-endorsed candidates.

He also came very close to Fulop 's backyard in Jersey City.

Baraka was really appealing to urban voters, but he did stretch out a bit and appeal to suburban voters as well.

I think it is the progressives are everywhere, not just in the cities.

They are throughout the state, so his message certainly rang out with those folks.

David: Meanwhile on the GOP side, the outcome was presumed for some time.

I guess the question is more -- how close does check -- how close does Jack Ciattarelli hold Donald Trump in November?

>> remember he came within three percentage points of Governor Murphy in 2021 and at that point, he did not seek out the president's endorsement.

At that point, it probably would not have helped him as it did this go around, but he has leaned into his conservative ideology and enter the conservative wing of the party, and it shows that having the president's approval is good for the GOP in New Jersey.

He has made inroads.

Colleen brought up Pattison, which I think is interesting because I think Passaic County is going to really be a place to watch come November because the president had really good margins there.

We are talking about a very urban area that is heavily Democratic, and yet, that went much more bread than anybody was anticipating -- much more red than anybody was anticipating.

Jack Ciattarelli having the president's support will be a benefit for him to Penny it where he is.

David: Some are saying Donald Trump may be even more popular come the fall.

I guess that is -- possible but does not seem likely.

How does Ciattarelli walk that tight rope?

>> What comes out of Washington is anyone's guess.

We don't know what the future holds, but right now, those who are trump loyalists are happy with what they are seeing.

Even some moderate Republicans are feeling good about President Trump, based on recent polling.

Right now, President Trump is helping him.

That is for sure.

I think they are both trying to run this surrogate race.

He is trying to make Mikie Sherrill a surrogate of Governor Phil Murphy and vice versa.

It's interesting to see that there is this deep divide between the Stadia MAGA crew and Jack Ciattarelli.

I'm not sure how he will cross that line.

David: Maybe having Stadia against him will work for him.

Republicans point toward Trump's showing in the presidential and their solid numbers, but Ciattarelli is going to have to get a lot of crossover votes, no?

>> Absolutely.

Despite the creep we have seen, and it is real, of Republican registrants, there are still more registered Democrats than Republicans.

It is unlikely that many Democrats will vote for Ciattarelli or vice versa that any Republicans would vote for Sherrill.

You are also fighting for unaffiliated votes.

In a general election, these are the folks who vote mostly in presidential elections, but I think people will come out because of this proxy war at the very least or because they want to make sure that abortion remains legal here or because they are a parental control in schools percent, so I think there are some issues that will bring them out, and a question is just who they speak for.

>> I think there is an outlier nobody has talked about yet, and I think it is the Italian-American population in New Jersey that could show up for Ciattarelli.

You cannot understate that because I know of a lot of moderate Democrats, moderate Republicans who are thrilled to see an Italian candidate, and that my just turn some people who say in a Trump presidency, we don't want a Republican governor, except I'm going for the Italian guy.

I think that is something to watch as we go through this race.

David: Interesting take.

A common way to show unity, and both parties and to do that -- both parties need to do that, is with a lieutenant governor's pick.

Let's do a roundtable on who you think Sherrill should pick and who you think Ciattarelli should pick.

>> I'm not going to say who I think they should pick but I will say the names being floated out there and I have until July to do this.

I don't think he would mind that we shared it.

There's a prediction that it will be Troy Singleton for Sherrill because he brings in the state experience being in the legislature and on the Republican side, hearing names like Christine Corrado, Senator Holly ship easy, a female, and one that has some inroads in the area.

David: Interesting names there.

>> I would add -- I don't want to repeat, so I would add an end to the Democratic side.

He is in a purple area.

He keeps winning.

If you are looking for someone who is a little more progressive, you have an Andrew Zwicker.

If you are looking to really go crazy and have an all-women ticket, how about a Teresa Ruiz?

On the Republican side, I'm also thinking ship easy.

If you want to go much -- macho, -- it's not really a purple district, but there are a lot of Democrats.

David: They took all the good names, I think.

>> they took them all.

I've got nothing left.

David: At these names we mentioned might not want to take that job.

I got one minute left.

Let me do a quick job recommendation for any of these candidates, what they can do next.

>> Maybe Baraka will run again for mayor.

Steve Sweeney, I think this is the end of his political road.

David: Who's got good job prospects?

>> If Stadia is back on the radio or at Fox News, I think he would do very well.

Sean Spiller can probably remain at the njea.

David: The mayor's are the mayor's, but Phillips says he is not going to run and everybody else kind of already has a job except for Fulop.

>> That is going to be an open congressional seat, so I don't know if that is something he would be interested in.

I'm not sure if Mikie Sherrill would nominate him.

They seem to have some bad blood at this point.

David: Got to leave it there.

That is "roundtable" for the week.

Good to see you all.

Thank you very much.

Thank you all -- thank you also to Steve Sweeney for joining us.

We are on blue sky now, so follow us there.

For all the crew here at Gateway Center, we thank you for watching.

We will see you next week.

>> major funding for "Reporters Roundtable" with David Cruz is provided by RWJBarnabas health.

Let's be healthy together.

♪