(Photo by Benjamin Clapp | Eagleton Institute for Politics)

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By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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In less than a week, New Jerseyans will head to the polls to elect a governor to succeed Chris Christie — and polls show Democrat Phil Murphy leading Republican Kim Guadagno by double digits.

But there are also five third-party or independent contenders on the ballot.

No independent candidate has ever been elected governor in New Jersey. Only two have ever raised enough money to qualify for the debate stage under the state's matching funds program (None this year did.) And so far, polls have found no more than 5 percent of voters prefer someone other than Murphy or Guadagno.

But some surveys have also found that many voters aren't happy with the major-party candidates in the Nov. 7 election..

NJ Advance Media recently hosted a town hall with most of the independents in front of a student audience at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

Here are videos of the interviews, presented in alphabetical order.

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GINA GENOVESE, independent

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Age: 58

Occupation: Genovese is a former professional tennis player. She has owned and operated an indoor tennis club in Berkeley Heights for the last 34 years. Politically, Genovese was a township committeewoman in Long Hill in Morris County and served as mayor from 2005 to 2007. She was New Jersey's first openly gay mayor.

Family: Genovese is married to her partner of 20 years, Wendy McCahill. They live in Long Hill.

Mission statement: Genovese said her time in local government makes her a prime contender for the governor's office because 73 percent of the state budget goes to property tax relief or financial support for local towns and schools and because she understands municipal consolidated "is needed" to reduce administrative costs and property taxes. She also said she will use her experience the last eight years as executive director of Courage To Connect NJ, a nonpartisan group focused on reducing property taxes, to "make the necessary structural changes needed for towns and schools in New Jersey." She also vows to "tackle the pension issue with much-needed reforms to reign in abuses as well as funding."

Campaign website

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SETH KAPER-DALE, Green Party

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Age: 42

Background and occupation: Kaper-Dale is pastor of the Reformed Church of Highland Park in Middlesex County. He is also a community developer and activist and a founder of four non-profits. He has never held elected office.

Family: He and his wife Stephanie have three daughters and live in Highland Park.

Mission statement: "The last are first. For too long, New Jersey has been thinking about necessary transformation in the state through the wrong lenses. We have accepted one form of trickle down economics and ideology or another, and none have been creative enough to bring about real change. New Jersey can find the answers to its economic problems and all its other social problems through the 'last are first' lens."

Campaign website

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RELATED: 2017 N.J. governor election coverage

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MATTHEW RICCARDI, Constitution Party

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Age: 30

Occupation: Riccardi, who served in the Marines, runs a legal services business started by his father. He has never held elected office.

Family: He and his wife Ashley live with their three children in Tinton Falls in Monmouth County.

Mission statement: Riccardi has a contract with voters in which he promises not to break his campaign promises. If he fails? He vows to pay $10,000 to the Democratic Party of New Jersey and $10,000 to the Republican Party of New Jersey.

Campaign website

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PETER ROHRMAN, Libertarian

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Age: 47

Occupation: Rohrman, who served in the Marines, is a network engineer for an internet-service provider. He has never held elected office, losing two campaigns for Bergen County freeholder in 2015 and 2016.

Family: He is a single father of two teenage boys and lives in Ramsey in Bergen County.

Mission statement: Rohrman says his life's mission statement is: "Leave the world a better place than I found it."

Campaign website

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VINCENT ROSS, independent

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Ross, a 51-year-old Edison resident, is also on the ballot. But he did not provide an email address or a website about his campaign for voters to assess his policy positions. Arrangements could not be made to interview him at Eagleton.

In his campaign flyer, Ross calls for lower state taxes, lower sales taxes and an end to progressive taxes.

In his campaign statement, he said he is running under the "We the People" banner and that the tax system has hurt "the working people of New Jersey."

Ross' Twitter account

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More coverage:

Learn more about the independent candidates

17 things to know about the governor's race

The most recent poll in the race

Do these 5 independent candidates have a chance to be our next governor?

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NJ Advance Media staff writer Claude Brodesser-Akner contributed to this report.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.