NJ PBS and WNYC To Host
NJ Decides 2025: Conversations with the Gubernatorial Candidates

Two Live Primary Candidate Conversations on Wednesday, May 7 and Monday, May 12, At 7 P.M.

The live events, moderated by journalists from the host organizations, will be held at the Agnes Varis NJ PBS Studio in Newark and broadcast on NJ PBS and WNYC and streamed across all partner web platforms

April 17, 2025 – NEWARK, NJ – NJ PBS, New Jersey’s public media network, and public radio station WNYC today announced that they will convene two New Jersey Gubernatorial candidate conversations this primary election season.

Republican candidates will be hosted on Wednesday, May 7, at 7 p.m. for discussion moderated by Chat Box Anchor/NJ Spotlight News Sr. Political Correspondent David Cruz and WNYC’s “Morning Edition” Host Michael Hill.

The Democratic candidates will sit down on Monday, May 12, at 7 p.m. for discussion moderated by Hill and NJ Spotlight News Anchor Briana Vannozzi.

Coverage will be produced by NJ PBS’s newsroom, NJ Spotlight News.

Each 60-minute discussion will follow a modified debate format. The goal is to have the candidates engage in civil, solutions-based discussion about issues facing New Jersey, from affordability and health care to the environment and foreign affairs.

The live broadcasts, titled NJ Decides 2025: Conversations with the Gubernatorial Candidates, will be broadcast and streamed live throughout the region across the hosts’ platforms, including WNYC’s sister stations, New Jersey Public Radio. 

Check local listings for rebroadcasts of both events on NJ PBS.

Support for the NJ PBS Gubernatorial conversation broadcast is provided by NJ League of Municipalities, McCarter & English, LLP, and Scott and Susan Kobler.

Lead support for New Jersey Public Radio is provided by The Fund for New Jersey and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, with additional support from the F.M. Kirby Foundation and the Schumann Fund for New Jersey.

DISCUSSION DETAILS

WHERE TO WATCH: Watch both discussions live on NJ PBS (check local listings), NJPBS.org, and the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel and NJSpotlightNews.org; and listen live on WNYC 93.9 FM, 820 AM, and wnyc.org and its New Jersey Public Radio stations WNJT-FM 88.1 Trenton, WNJP 88.5 Sussex, WNJY 89.3 Netcong and WNJO 90.3 Toms River.

AUDIENCE: This is an invited-guest-only event.

MEDIA COVERAGE/ATTENDANCE: Media are welcome to embed the streamed coverage from YouTube with credit to NJ PBS/WNYC. A screening/filing room for press will be available at the NJ PBS Studio for journalists who wish to cover the event in person. Media must RSVP before the event with falkd@mynjpbs.org. Full media guidelines will be issued at a later date.

ABOUT NJ PBS 

NJ PBS, New Jersey’s public media network, brings quality arts, education, and public affairs programming to all 21 counties in the state. Headquartered at the Agnes Varis NJ PBS Studio in Newark, the network offers an array of local programs including Chat Box with David Cruz, Here’s the Story, Drive By History, One-on-One with Steve Adubato, Pathway to Success, Que Pasa, NJ, Soundcheck, State of the Arts, Table for All with Buki Elegbede  and Treasures of New Jersey and PBS favorites such as Nature, NOVA, Amanpour and Company and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. Its award-winning newsroom, NJ Spotlight News, provides multiplatform reporting from across the Garden State on its weeknight newscast, NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi, and digitally via NJSpotlightNews.org, plus live news specials, community engagement events, podcasts and daily newsletters. The  MyNJPBS.org network website offers streaming programs and free digital resources for educators via PBS LearningMedia New Jersey. NJ PBS is operated under an agreement with the state of New Jersey by Public Media NJ, Inc. (PMNJ), a non-profit affiliate of The WNET Group, the parent company of award-winning New York public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21.

ABOUT WNYC

With an urban vibrancy and a global perspective, WNYC is New York’s public radio station, broadcasting and streaming award-winning journalism, groundbreaking audio programming and essential talk radio to the city and beyond. WNYC offers its listeners a unique range of local, national, and international programming, including programming from NPR, American Public Media, and the BBC World Service, along with a roster of WNYC-produced local programs that champion the stories and spirit of New York City and the surrounding region, including The Brian Lehrer Show and All of It. From its state-of-the-art studios, WNYC is reshaping audio for a new generation of listeners, producing some of the most beloved nationally-syndicated public radio programs including Radiolab, On the Media, and The New Yorker Radio Hour. NYC broadcasts on 93.9 FM and AM 820 to listeners in New York and the tri-state area, and is available to audiences everywhere at WNYC.org, the WNYC app and through major digital radio services, all made possible through the generous support of our members, donors and sponsors.