NJ GOP Governor Debate Cancelled Over COVID Testing Cooperation

NEW JERSEY - Two Republican candidates for New Jersey governor slated to take to the debate stage on May 26 won’t be making the appearance after all.

In a statement made May 24, NJ PBS - the station scheduled to host the live debate - announced that the virtual debate would not take place as candidate Hirsh V. Singh did not re-confirm his participation by Monday’s deadline and refused to comply with COVID-19 testing requirements and the station’s production protocols.

“NJ PBS was proud to be asked by ELEC to host one of this year’s Gubernatorial Primary Republican debates and has been actively communicating with the Ciattarelli and Singh campaigns about the details, including rules and logistics, with the goal of providing New Jersey with a live, virtual, primetime debate,” the statement reads.

Both candidates will debate Tuesday night at the only other scheduled live GOP debate at the New Jersey 101.5 studios at 7 p.m. You can tune in here.

"Democrat leaning PBS News, funded by your tax dollars, has unilaterally canceled the 2nd debate with myself and Never Trump Jack Ciattarelli on the grounds that I have refused to comply with their orders to get vaccinated and take a COVID test to participate in the debate," Singh wrote on social media following the announcement.

"The most ridiculous aspect of their condition was that they wanted me to take a COVID test and be vaccinated for participating in a virtual debate from the confines of my own home or office. I do not need to be vaccinated to be in my own home or office."

Singh was scheduled to debate Jack Ciattarelli, a former 16th Legislative District Assemblyman from 2011 to 2018 and Hillsborough resident. He previously ran for governor in 2017, coming in second in the primaries behind then-Republican nominee Kim Guadagno. Ciattarelli's platform is centered on relaxing pandemic-related restrictions and reinvigorating the New Jersey economy in the wake of the health crisis. He's already gained backing from U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew as well as multiple county chairs (including those in Bergen, Atlantic, Somerset, Essex, Salem and more) and has pivoted his focus to attacking Murphy. Read more: NJ Gov Candidate Calls For Gathering Limit, Face Mask Lift By May

"Hirsh Singh’s weak decision to back out of this debate - despite previously agreeing to it and knowing all of the rules well in advance - has nothing to do with medical freedom or vaccines or masks," Ciattarelli wrote in a statement.

Singh is a perennial candidate who has announced bids to run for governor in 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 and the U.S. Senate in 2020. He is a businessman with a background in engineering who runs his family's security firm. Born in Atlantic City, Singh lives in Linwood and graduated from NJIT. He is trying to paint himself as the more pro-Trump Republican and Ciattarelli as too moderate.

Other candidates running in the 2021 gubernatorial race include Brian D. Levine, a former Somerset freeholder and Franklin Township mayor, as well as North Bergen-based pastor and real estate developer Philip Rizzo. Rizzo failed to qualify for the debate as he reportedly missed the deadline to file paperwork and that "deficiencies" were included in the papers he did submit. Rizzo is a former businessman in the construction and real estate industries. A state appellate court ruled May 20 that Rizzo missed the deadline to file, according to the New Jersey Globe.

Ciattarelli and current Gov. Phil Murphy are the only candidates to qualify for public funds, which caps candidates at spending $7.3 million during the primary election.

The New Jersey primary elections will take place on June 8.