On Sunday, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) spoke to CNN's Manu Raju about his campaign to be New Jersey Governor.
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00:00In 2024, New Jersey swung more to the right than almost every other state in the nation.
00:05And now they're holding one of the most important races in this off-cycle year,
00:09a battle to be the next governor. An early referendum on President Trump and the state
00:14of the Democratic Party. Primary day is next Tuesday, and a crowded field of 11 candidates
00:19has spent an eye-popping $77.5 million so far in ads. Joining me now is one of the Democrats
00:27battling for his party's nomination, New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer. Mr. Gottheimer,
00:31thank you so much for being here on this very busy morning for you. Good to see you. Absolutely.
00:35We have a new poll out this morning that really shows the depths of the problems facing your own
00:41party right now. Just 16% of Americans say Democrats are the party of strong leaders,
00:47and only 19% say the party can get things done. That is far worse than where the GOP stands.
00:54So six months after the last election, why are Democrats still unable to connect with the
01:00American public?
01:03Well, Amano, first of all, thanks again for having me. I think I've been in, I go around
01:07diners all across Jersey because it's Jersey, and we do everything good starts in a diner.
01:11And what I hear from people is a huge focus on economic issues, right? People are struggling,
01:17whether between utility bills and their taxes and food prices and what Trump's doing with this
01:23chaos to setting prices even higher and messing with their retirement savings. So people are
01:28under a huge amount of stress. And what I'm hearing here in Jersey, that's all I can talk about, is
01:33people see what's going on with Trump and the chaos, and they want actually an alternative.
01:37And the key for Democrats, and this is what my whole race is focused on, is actually showing them
01:42that Democrats are focused on making their lives more affordable, getting costs down, getting taxes
01:46down, and showing them a pathway forward where they don't have to have this anxiety, which I think
01:51was why the election last time was so, you know, so close here in Jersey, and obviously why the
01:56ultimate poll didn't go well for Democrats.
01:58But as you have been going around these diners, how damaged is the Democratic brand right now?
02:04Well, I think what they want to hear is that what's our vision? Not just, of course, that we're
02:08taking on Trump, which we are and I am. We got to fight him everywhere. Anytime he messes with a family
02:13here in Jersey, we're standing up to him. But they also want to know where we're going,
02:18right, what our direction is. And I think that's the key there is all about the economy and showing
02:22them that that's our number one focus. Can you afford to feed your kids, put clothes on their
02:26back, pay your bills, you know, with housing prices and rents where they are? People are really
02:30struggling. And I think our challenge is, and this is, you know, really what I've, that's why I've been
02:35so focused on this, is actually explaining where we're going, how I'm going to lead Jersey to make
02:39make people's lives more affordable here, get their costs and taxes down. And I don't think
02:44they're getting that message nationally. It's like, as, as your panel was just saying, I think
02:48there's some tension on actually what our message is going forward. So I could just speak to what I'm
02:52talking to people in Jersey about. And I know it's working because they, that's actually what they
02:57engage in. They want to know, what are you going to do to make sure that I can feed my kids,
03:01right? That we're going to actually fight Trump when he messes with social security or Medicaid
03:05or Medicare. And what are we going to make sure that I can afford to live here and retire here?