Bill Spadea, candidate for N.J. governor, suggested a Jersey DOGE. The state’s business community booed.

New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Bill Spadea suggested that New Jersey should have its own Department of Government Efficiency, also known as “DOGE.” Business and political leaders weren’t happy.

Spadea, a recently resigned conservative radio host running in the Republican primary, made the comment at a candidate forum Friday in Washington as part of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s “Walk to Washington” event, which brings together business leaders, lobbyists, and politicians for networking.

Attendees filled a large conference room Friday morning after a late night of cocktails and rubbing elbows to hear from eight candidates — including five Democrats and three Republicans — on how they would support businesses in the Garden State. It’s the first time the event has taken place since 2020.

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“But the most important thing we need — we don’t — if we’re going to have any new departments in government, there’s only one. We need N.J. DOGE,” Spadea said. “We ought to be on the phone with Elon Musk, and say whatever you’re doing federally right now, we can bring that to Jersey.”

The otherwise quiet audience erupted into grumbles and boos.

The comment comes as Musk, the richest man in the world and one of Trump’s top surrogates, is leading DOGE to overhaul the federal government in an attempt to cut the government workforce and wasteful spending.

As part of the effort, Trump signed an executive order instituting a government hiring freeze and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management offered federal employees a chance to resign with eight months’ pay, but the “deferred resignation” program is now blocked in court. In one of Musk’s more drastic moves, he has upended the U.S. Agency for International Development, the federal government’s main overseas aid agency.

The New Jersey chamber’s forum was specifically designed to avoid the combativeness that comes with a debate. After Spadea’s comment sparked uproar, Ben Dworkin, the moderator and the director of the Rowan Institute for Public Policy & Citizenship, tried to reel in the audience and remind them that the format isn’t for booing and cheering.

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“Hold on, folks, listen, we’re not doing that,” Dworkin said. “Guys, please.”

“It’s alright, I’m used to it,” responded Spadea.

Spadea’s remarks were part of his answer regarding the policies he would implement to support small businesses and entrepreneurs in New Jersey. Spadea also said he wants to cut regulations and encourage more kids to pursue trade careers instead of going to college.

Spadea, who is campaigning as a staunch Trump ally, positions himself as the most conservative serious candidate across the field. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who is viewed as the most progressive, said in an interview afterward that Spadea’s suggestion was “tone-deaf.”

“You can see the madness that’s happening right now in D.C.,” Baraka said. " … all of that stuff is so ridiculous to me.”

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Another Democratic candidate, Sean Spiller, former Montclair mayor and president of the New Jersey Education Association, which has 200,000 members, said after the panel that he “can’t even comment on how ridiculous I think that is.”

Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican candidate who narrowly lost to incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021, said in an interview after the panel that he had his own vision for government efficiency, but stopped short of calling for a Garden State DOGE. Ciattarelli said he would consolidate the state investigations commission and comptroller’s office to become part of the state’s auditor general office.

“That is the equivalent thereof,” he said. “But I really believe the best approach is to get rid of the duplication.”