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Kim Guadagno Launches Campaign for New Jersey Governor

'We can do better,' she told supporters at her campaign kick-off event

What to Know

  • Christie's second-in-command has mostly stood by his side for seven years
  • She publicly disagreed with him last year over his support of Donald Trump and an increase in the state's gas tax
  • Guadagno joins Republican Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, among others, competing in the June 6 primary

New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno launched her gubernatorial campaign on Tuesday, pledging to cut taxpayers' burdens and accusing Democrats of making those burdens worse. 

Supporters and local officials - but not incumbent Gov. Chris Christie - gathered at a restaurant in Keansburg as Guadagno announced she was seeking the Republican nomination for this November's election. 

Christie's second-in-command mostly stood by his side for seven years, before publicly breaking with him last year over his support of Donald Trump and an increase in the state's gas tax. She repeatedly referred to the idea that New Jerseyans were some of the most taxed people in the country.

"That's simply unacceptable. We can do better," Guadagno told supporters. 

She also launched a new website to back her campaign, pledging there to address three primary issues: lowering property taxes, improving education and growing jobs. 

"Simply put, I will make New Jersey better," she said. 

Guadagno is an attorney who served as a federal prosecutor in New York and later moved to New Jersey, where she served as Monmouth County sheriff. 

She joins Republican Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, among others, competing in the June 6 primary. Ciattarelli is scaling back his campaign while undergoing treatment for cancer in his neck.

On the Democratic side, former Goldman Sachs executive, Democratic National Committee finance chairman and U.S. ambassador to Germany Phil Murphy is facing off against Assemblyman John Wisniewski. Most of the state's key Democrats at the local and national level have endorsed Murphy. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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