No ‘kumbaya’ during first New Jersey GOP gubernatorial debate

But as Wildstein noted during the debate, it was not going to be “the kumbaya night” panelists had with the Democrats.

Ciattarelli, who was second in a recent poll behind “undecided,” called Spadea a “professional liar” and referred to him as such several times. Spadea returned the remark while noting that Ciattarelli was not a strong Trump supporter.

On the opposite end of the stage, Bramnick, the moderate in the Republican race, defended his entreaties to the other side of the aisle while attacking Durr for being a one-term senator.

“How many votes did you lose by? 6000?” Bramnick asked his partymate, ”And now you’re lecturing New Jersey on how to win the election?”

Durr also went after Bramnick for being bi-partisan while positioning himself as the outsider. When challenged by Bramnick on whether “you [are] supposed to hate the governor because he’s of another party?”

“Absolutely, I hate the governor for what he’s done with the state,” Durr responded.

The debate was presented by the New Jersey Globe, streaming channel On New Jersey and the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.