Republican rivals for NJ governor face off 7 p.m. Tuesday

TRENTON — New Jersey 101.5 will host the first Republican gubernatorial debate of the 2021 election.

The live event 7 p.m. will be the first time Jack Ciattarelli and Hirsh Singh will face-off in a head-to-head debate before Republican voters decide who will face incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in November.

Ciattarelli and Singh were the only two candidates who qualified for the two debates sanctioned by the Election Law Enforcement Commission. Philip Rizzo and and former Somerset County freeholder and mayor Brian Levine also are on he ballot.

The primaries are June 8. Murphy has no opponent on the Democratic ballot.

For almost 30 years, candidates seeking statewide office have made appearances on New Jersey 101.5 to connect directly with the people they are asking to vote for them.

New Jersey 101.5 Senior Political Director Eric Scott will moderate the one-hour live program and will take questions from on-air listeners as well as questions from various social media platforms.

Unlike traditional debate formats, the majority of questions will be asked by voters. No candidate, campaign or outside group will know which questions will be asked until the moderator asks them live on air and online at Facebook.com/nj1015 and the free New Jersey 101.5 app.

“This format allows ordinary citizens a chance to talk directly to the candidates about what is important to them,” Scott said. “And you never know what they are going to ask.”