Late last month, we invited the candidates running to become our next governor to NJ.com’s video studio to tell us why New Jersey should vote for them. Eight years after Phil Murphy acrobatically jumped on stage (literally) to accept the governorship to replace outgoing Gov. Chris Christie, nearly a dozen candidates are running to replace him come November. Only two — one Democrat and one Republican — will be on the November ballot after you vote in the primary election on June 10. Over the last two weeks, you saw and heard them on the debate stage (here and here), but no other news organization has sat down with every single candidate. Aside from asking them questions about how to solve some of the Garden State‘s most critical issues, we made sure they offered a glimpse of who they are outside of politics. A sort of old-fashioned, “Would voters have a beer with this person?” We wanted to make sure the candidates had an opportunity to show us how relatable they are. We asked them to tell us something personal about themselves they’d like voters to know. Most are parents. Several were in the armed forces. There’s a tomato gardener, a standup comic, a poet, a hockey player, a lacrosse coach, a truck driver and union leader. You’ll find out who roots for the Yankees and who’s a Mets fan. There’s one Phillies fan. And you’ll be surprised by some of the musicians or bands some of the candidates said were their favorite. Probably the funniest answers were whether Central Jersey exists. For some, it was hard to breakout of the protective gear they wear as politicians. For others, the authenticity was a walk in the park. All the candidates, a whole soccer team of them — six Democrats and five Republicans — enthusiastically played ball. And while these soft-ball questions were a measure of these candidates’ likability and authenticity, the piercing ones gave us an idea of where they stood on the issues: I don’t have to tell you the answers the “always Trumper” gave were diametrically opposite from the “most progressive” candidate‘s or the moderates’ bipartisan mantra. We’re going to rollout the videos, filmed and edited by Andre Malok, on NJ.com’s YouTube channel and other social media on Thursday, May 15, with summaries and transcriptions of the interviews publishing in The Star-Ledger. Politics reporter Brent Johnson did the interviews. Political columnist Tom Martello and I oversaw the production. (Lookout for their columns on some outtakes and side interviews they did with some of the candidates.) In addition to the unedited video package, a team of reporters are profiling the leading candidates. We also invited all 11 candidates to submit an op-ed to run in our Opinion pages before June 3, the last day we’ll publish a commentary before the primary. The candidates in the Democratic primary are: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller, and former state Senate President Steve Sweeney. The candidates in the Republican primary are: contractor Justin Barbera, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac, and former radio host Bill Spadea. Enrique Lavín is editor of The Star-Ledger online, and NJ.com’s Opinion editor. Find him at elavin@njadvancemedia.com Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.