Barack Obama stumps for Murphy at Newark rally as early voting begins in N.J. governor race – NJ.com

Former President Barack Obama visited Newark on Saturday to call for New Jerseyans to re-elect Gov. Phil Murphy, saying politics across the world are at a “turning point” and Murphy’s increasingly tense race against Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli is a choice between moving forward or backwards.

Obama told a crowd of more than 700 people at an outdoor rally for Murphy, a fellow Democrat, that there’s “a mood out there,” a “politics of meanness and division and conflict, of tribalism and cynicism.”

“That is the path to ruin,” he said during his 30-minute speech at Weequahic Park in the state’s largest city. “The good news is: There’s another path, one where we pull together.”

“I’m here today because I believe, New Jersey, you will make the right choice,” Obama added. “I believe America will ultimately make the right choice. I believe you’re going to show the rest of the country and the world that we’re not going to indulge our worst instincts. … We’re gonna move forward, with people like Phil leading the way.”

The appearance came the same day early in-person voting began for the first time in New Jersey history, giving voters a chance to cast ballots for nine days leading up to Election Day Nov. 2.

Obama encouraged the audience, filled with Democratic voters and union members, not to wait.

“Go out there. Fight. Work,” he said. “You are going to decide this election and the direction of New Jersey and this country for generations to come. Do not sit this one out.”

His visit also came as the governor’s race appears to be tightening in its final stretch. Murphy has led Ciattarelli in all public-opinion polls so far in the blue-leaning Garden State, though an Emerson College/PIX poll released Thursday found the governor leading by just 6 percentage points. A Stockton University poll released late last month found him up by 9.

Ciattarelli, a former member of the state Assembly, spent Saturday at seven events across the state, meeting with voters and encouraging them to vote. He said it was the start of his “10 Days to Fix New Jersey Tour.”

Murphy — who‘s aiming to become the first Democratic New Jersey governor to be re-elected since 1977 — told the crowd “we have turned the page to a new era in New Jersey … but our work is not done.”

“The last thing we need is extreme leadership,” the governor said. “There is a chance if you guys don’t turn out and vote, they can steal this from us.”

“We’d go back so far, it would make Chris Christie look reasonable,” Murphy quipped in a reference to his Republican predecessor.

With the word “VOTE” sprawled in capital letters on a banner behind him, Obama told the crowd he’s known the governor for years. Murphy was a top Democratic donor and served as U.S. ambassador to Germany during Obama’s first term.

“He was an early supporter of mine, back when people could not pronounce my name,” Obama joked.

The former president said Murphy has “been busy,” installing laws that have given New Jersey a higher minimum wage, restored funding for Planned Parenthood, and a tax increase on millionaires so wealthy residents “pay their fair share.”

Obama then took multiple swipes at Ciattarelli, though he never mention him by name. He said the Republican nominee’s plan to revamp New Jersey’s school funding formula would take money “away from Black and brown communities” and that he would loosen gun-control laws and cut taxes on wealthy residents and corporations.

“He wants to go backwards,” Obama said.

Ciattarelli has said his school plan would be fairer and lower property taxes. He also says New Jerseyans have a right to bear arms and the state is over-taxed under Murphy.

Obama also noted how Ciattarelli appeared last November at a “Stop the Steal” rally in support of former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him because of voter fraud. Obama said that shows Ciattarelli is “not going to be a champion of democracy.”

Ciattatelli has said he was not aware of the rally’s theme when he spoke there.

The former president wouldn’t have it.

“When you’re standing in front of a sign that says ‘Stop the Steal,’ and there’s a guy in the crowd waving a Confederate flag, you know this isn’t a neighborhood barbecue,” Obama said. “You know it’s not a League of Women Voters rally. Come on, man. That’s not what New Jersey needs.”

Obama chided Republicans for claiming last year’s election was stolen. He recalled how he once lost a race for Congress in 2000.

“I didn’t know I could just get up and say, ‘I didn’t get beat. The machines were broken.’” Obama quipped. “I said: Let me think about how I can be better so I can win the next time.”

”Democracy is not supposed to work where if you lose, you just ignore it and pretend it didn’t happen. Our democracy is what makes America great,” he said, echoing Trump’s campaign slogan.

When Obama criticized Republican efforts to revamp voting laws, the crowd booed. But Obama stopped them.

”Booing doesn’t do anything,” he said. ”Go out there and vote.”

Obama’s appearance came a few hours after he stumped for Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the even-closer governor’s race in Virginia, the only other state with a gubernatorial election this year.

Obama is the latest in a string of high-profile Democrats to travel to New Jersey as Murphy seeks a second term. President Joe Biden will make an official visit to Newark on Monday to tout his agenda, appearing alongside Murphy in a state Biden won by 16 percentage points last year.

Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and First Lady Jill Biden have already made trips to stump for Murphy. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, trekked here for official visits, as well.

Actor Kal Penn — a Jersey native who starred in a noted Jersey movie, “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle — also appeared at Saturday’s rally. Penn, who grew up in Marlboro and Freehold and is best known for his role in the “Harold & Kumar” movies, took a break from his acting career to work in the White House’s Office of Public Engagement during Obama’s administration.

Penn told the crowd he’s proud to hail from a “solidly blue state.”

“I roll my eyes when I see things happening in other parts of the country,” the actor said. “But then I remember why we shouldn’t take stuff for granted.”

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka had a message aimed directly at Ciattarelli.

“We can’t go back with Jack!” Baraka chanted. “He wants to make our communities as lame as he is.”

Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who is running for another term with Murphy, said they want to “play that old Ray Charles” record on Election Night.

“Hit the road, Jack,” said Oliver, an Essex County native. “And don’t you come back no more.”

The state Republican Party said Saturday that Obama’s visit shows how “flustered” Murphy is by the race. The GOP compared it to when Obama, then the newly elected president, came to New Jersey to stump for Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine’s re-election bid in 2009 — a race Corzine ended up losing to Republican Chris Christie.

“I want to bring you back to a time when another Goldman Sachs Governor fond of sweater vests found himself in a similar position and called upon the newly-elected President Obama to come to his rescue,” GOP spokeswoman Alex Wilkes said.

Both Murphy and Corzine were previously executives at Wall Street investment banking firm Goldman Sachs.

Rachel Lee, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said Democrats must be worried if Obama “has decided to come to town.”

Ciattarelli‘s campaign declined to comment on Obama’s remarks.

But Ciattarelli wrote an open letter to Obama ahead of the visit, criticizing Murphy for not doing enough to help Black residents and outlining his plan to revitalize Newark and other cities. That includes expanding charter schools, working with faith organizations, and fostering redevelopment.

“Sadly, under Governor Murphy, hope and opportunity have been sorely lacking,” Ciattarelli wrote. “If I am fortunate enough to be elected by the people of our great state on November 2, I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with you and discuss how we could work together to improve the lives of all our citizens and raise the level of discourse in our politics, as well.”

The overriding message for both candidates Saturday was about voting early. Murphy signed a law in March making New Jersey the latest of dozens of states to have early in-person voting. People can vote in person at centralized polling locations in their counties for nine consecutive days, from Saturday to Oct. 31, next Sunday.

Mail-in voting has already begun in the state. Voters can still cast ballots the traditional way on Election Day Nov. 2.

Murphy voted in person Saturday morning in Long Branch. It’s unclear when or where Ciattarelli will vote.

A spokeswoman for Ciattarelli’s campaign said the candidate supports early voting by machine. Ciattarelli’s election platform also calls for photo identification from all voters, an idea that Democrats and urban mayors have criticized as a disenfranchisement technique.

Murphy and Democrats are looking to capitalize on a voter-roll advantage. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in New Jersey by more than 1 million, though that only helps if voters turn out.

Ciattarelli and Republicans, meanwhile, likely need to pick off independent and moderate voters to close the gap.

Saturday marks the second time Obama has traveled to New Jersey to campaign for Murphy. He visited Newark in 2017 as Murphy ran for governor the first time.

This time, Obama noted “some people are tired of politics.” But he urged voters to fight past the apathy to lay the groundwork for their children and future generations.

“We don’t have time to be tired,” Obama said.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Rebecca Panico contributed to this report.

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