Nicholas Pugliese

State House Bureau, @nickpugz

If New Jersey residents want to watch their candidates for governor square off on stage for the first time next month, they'll first have to find their way to Facebook.

The state’s election watchdog announced this week that the first two primary debates — one each for Republicans and Democrats — will be held on May 9 at Stockton University in Atlantic County and broadcast on Facebook Live.

The Democratic candidates will then have a short turn-around before their second debate, on May 11 in Newark, while the Republican candidates will meet again on May 18. Those events will be broadcast by NJTV, NJ Spotlight, WNET and C-SPAN.

The primary election is June 6, a major hurdle in the race to replace Republican Chris Christie as governor.

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Facebook Live has come under severe criticism this week amid reports that 37-year-old Steve Stephens used the feature to stream footage of himself shooting and killing an elderly Cleveland man, Robert Godwin Sr., on Easter Sunday. Police later clarified that Stephens had not live-broadcast the murder — although he had posted a live video at some point Sunday, the shooting itself was not live — but the incident still raised questions about how the world’s largest social network monitors offensive or harmful content.

Stephens reportedly committed suicide Tuesday after a brief police chase near Erie, Pennsylvania.

Other violent incidents have been broadcast using Facebook Live in recent months, including the police shooting of Philando Castile during a traffic stop in Minnesota, the gang rape of a woman by three men in Sweden, the fatal shooting of two radio journalists in the Dominican Republican and a man's suicide in India.

But as the example of Stockton University shows, Facebook Live can also be put toward more constructive uses and help overcome resource constraints. In her pitch to the state’s Election Law Enforcement Commission last month, Sharon Schulman, a university representative, said Facebook Live would allow Stockton to broadcast the primary debates despite a lack of interest by Philadelphia-area TV stations.

“I’m offering you the opportunity to do something a little bit different, a little distinctive,” Schulman said at the time. Facebook Live was debuted by the social media giant in April 2016.

The Republican debates will include Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli. The Democratic debates will include former Goldman Sachs executive and ambassador Phil Murphy, former U.S. Treasury Department official Jim Johnson, Sen. Ray Lesniak and Assemblyman John Wisniewski.

Under state law, all candidates who qualify for public matching funds must participate in at least two debates during both the primary and general election. Other candidates not seeking public funds but who commit to raising and spending at least $430,000 can also participate.

So far, ELEC has disbursed more than $3.6 million to gubernatorial candidates through its public finance program, which gives candidates two dollars for every one raised from private sources. Guadagno and Johnson have both received more than $1.1 million from ELEC, while Ciattarelli and Wisniewski have received more than $650,000.

Murphy is not participating in the public finance program, which also imposes limits on campaign expenditures of $6.4 million for the primary and $13.8 million for the general election. Murphy has already loaned his campaign $10 million.

The May 9 debates will both be hour-long affairs that begin at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. They will be rebroadcast later by NJTV. Which candidates go first is yet to be determined at random by Stockton officials.

Email: pugliese@northjersey.com