To the immense relief of just about everybody, Chris Christie’s tenure in the State House is about to come to an end. Monday was the deadline to file for the primaries, and 11 people —five Republicans and six Democrats—submitted petitions of 1,000 signatures, which places them on their parties’ ballots.

With events in Washington unfolding as they are, the need to install progressive leadership at the state level is becoming more urgent: State governments can do a great deal to mitigate damaging actions at the federal level, from guaranteeing civil and reproductive rights to funding education, from regulating polluters to promoting a living wage.

Jim Johnson, an Undersecretary of the Treasury in the Bill Clinton Administration, is running for Governor of the Stare of New Jersey.