ELIZABETH, New Jersey — Gov. Phil Murphy famously said he wanted to make New Jersey the California of the East Coast.
His successors, though, are trading California dreams for Keystone pragmatism.
In the race to succeed Murphy, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli habitually talks about New Jersey’s western neighbor, with his Democratic opponent Rep. Mikie Sherrill regularly incorporating support for Pennsylvania policies in her campaign stops.
At the center of their plaudits is Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, the moderate Democrat who is viewed as a possible 2028 presidential candidate. Ciattarelli has spoken highly of Shapiro, citing his willingness to criticize New York City democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — contrasting that with Sherrill’s initial implied support of Mamdani.
The praise for Pennsylvania underscores its elevated role in American politics: The commonwealth is the country’s preeminent swing state, governed by a rising political star, and now, a model of governance for would-be New Jersey governors.
“They don’t have a property tax crisis, they don’t have a business climate crisis, they don’t have an energy crisis,” Ciattarelli recently said of Pennsylvania. “[If] another state’s doing something way better than we are, we should [do it] too.”
Ciattarelli’s soft spot for Pennsylvania appears to be unrequited, with a spokesperson for Shapiro telling POLITICO that he is supporting Sherrill in the governor’s race — and is even expected to campaign for her in the coming weeks.
“Through commonsense leadership and a focus on delivering results, Pennsylvania is setting an example when it comes to economic development, permitting reform, energy production, government efficiency, and more,” Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder said in a statement to POLITICO. “The Governor knows that in this race, the candidate who will get stuff done and build a better future for New Jersey is Mikie Sherill.”
State and local leaders often look across the country for policy ideas. Murphy’s California of the East comment early in his first term was used in an aspirational way to make the Garden State more liberal. In New York City, Mamdani wants to raise taxes on millionaires like New Jersey did.
Ciattarelli often points to Pennsylvania as a model for the more conservative-leaning parts of his agenda. At a church in North Jersey, he recently preached the Pennsylvania practice of not taxing retirement income — which he said he wanted to emulate in New Jersey. He regularly tells industry groups and business owners that he plans to cut the state’s corporate tax rate by 1 percent over five years, citing the need to be competitive with Pennsylvania, which is cutting business taxes under Shapiro. During the recent general election debate, he cited Pennsylvania’s flat 3 percent income tax as a reason to lower and consolidate New Jersey’s income tax brackets, which are among the highest in the country.
Ciattarelli’s admiration for Pennsylvania even became a punchline during the primary.
“This guy mentions Pennsylvania again, I’m asking him to run for governor over there,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka quipped during a panel of Democratic and Republican gubernatorial candidates in 2024.
Sherrill has been more limited in her praise of Pennsylvania, but no less regular. She has supported Shapiro’s critiques of PJM, which manages the electrical grid in several states, and says that Pennsylvania has successfully cut down the timeline to get permits from state government — something she wants to do in New Jersey.
“I love how just next door, Josh Shapiro cut down small business permitting times by 90 percent,” she told a technology trade group in an interview. “That really speaks to …the efficiency in my heart”
She has said a nearly identical line to New Jersey’s CPA trade group, to reporters outside a bar in North Jersey and in several media hits.
Ciattarelli has also said he supports parts of Shapiro’s energy agenda — like support for nuclear — although some Democrats say the two are not aligned. Anthony Campisi, a Democratic political operative who works in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, noted that Shapiro wants to get his state to 35 percent clean energy by 2035.
“There are definitely lessons that a New Jersey governor can take from Pennsylvania, but there are also ways in which Jack is trying to paint a false narrative of the Pennsylvania story to advance his political ambitions,” Campisi, who works with environmental groups, said in an interview.
But the Pennsylvania praise may do more to help Shapiro than either New Jersey gubernatorial candidate.
“I think [Shapiro’s] making a broad appeal to a common sense style of politics and having folks talk well of your state is probably always a good thing,” Campisi said.
Madison Fernandez contributed to this report.
