Spiking electricity prices, President Donald Trump’s vendetta against offshore wind and the Democratic Party’s identity crisis have all set the stage for a messy New Jersey gubernatorial election.
Tuesday’s primary will winnow down a fragmented Democratic field of six candidates, with polls finding a large share of voters remain undecided. Trump’s endorsement, meanwhile, has helped elevate a front-runner among the five Republican candidates.
They’re all competing to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, whose big bet on offshore wind was snarled by cost overruns and cancellations before Trump’s anti-wind policies finally killed it.
That failure has shaped an election whose defining issues are high costs and responding to Trump, even as offshore wind itself has become a moot point on the campaign trail. Both parties are preparing for energy politics to affect the general election, and the primaries are offering a preview.
