NJ Transit and an engineers’ union appear to be heading toward a major rail strike that would start Friday — the first one in decades. Currently, both sides are in Washington, D.C. participating in mediation,

The USA TODAY Network New Jersey surveyed nine of the candidates on topics ranging from transit to taxes, affordability and the environment to give residents a frame of reference on where the potential nominees from each party stand.

For months, officials at the rail agency and the NJ Transit Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have been locked in tense negotiations over pay raises for the roughly 500 transit workers represented by the union.