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New Jersey residents will vote in one of the most competitive gubernatorial races in the country in the Nov. 4 general election, with several candidates vying to replace outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy.

Democratic candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli are in a tight race for the state’s top public office, according to recent polls. Libertarian candidate Vic Kaplan, who is positioning himself as the anti-tax candidate, favors expanded efforts to create affordable housing and supports immigration reform.

Socialist Workers Party candidate Joanne Kuniansky is also on the ballot.

Socialist Workers Party Candidate Joanne Kuniansky (Kuniansky for Governor)

Kuniansky’s early life

As a high school student in Atlanta, Georgia, Kuniansky said she fought for Black rights and against the Vietnam War.

She met members of the Socialist Workers Party while actively campaigning for the decriminalization of abortion and for the Equal Rights Amendment and joined the party in 1977. She moved to New Jersey in 2010.

The Socialist Workers Party

The Socialist Workers Party believes problems in America are caused by capitalism, a system that values profit above all else.

Kuniansky said the Socialist Worker Party gives workers an opportunity for a better life, and her campaign is helping spread that message.

“We don’t think that you can reform capitalism,” she said. “We think that it’s only through workers taking actions independently of the bosses’ parties, the Democrats and Republicans, that you can begin to make progress.”

She said she hopes her run for governor is successful, but her campaign is focused on building momentum for change.

“If you win something but don’t fundamentally change the system of capitalism, then the profit system and the competition that’s at the root of this system will just erode gains that have been made,” she said.