Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli squared off in their first debate.
Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill face off Sunday night at Rider University in Lawrenceville in the first general-election debate of New Jersey's governor's race.For starters, Ciattarelli chided Sherrill for not answering questions .
Sherrill mocked Ciattarelli as a Trump servant who should be better with math. There was also a pre-teen in the audience who stole the spotlight as he asked them about corruption . The 90-minute debate came a little more than six weeks before the Nov. 4 election to decide who will succeed outgoing Democratic Gov.showed Sherrill leading Ciattarelli by 8 percentage points in the race, one of only two gubernatorial contests in the country.in 2018 , came out swinging immediately with one of her signature arguments: how Ciattarelli is a lapdog for the president and she would challenge Trump. “I have a different kind of background, so I’m going to be a different kind of governor,” said Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor. “He’ll do whatever Trump tells him to do,” she said of Ciattarelli, “and I will fight anybody to work for you.”“All he says is Trump’s right,” Sherrill said. “It’s OK to drive up your tariffs. It’s okay to have the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’ which drives up your health care and utility costs. Not on my watch.”. On Sunday, he praised Trump for halting wind farms in the state and argued the spending law increases the tax deduction for state and local taxes.. And he said he’d appoint a state attorney general who would “not be wasting your money suing the White House every single day.” That’s a reference to how current state Attorney General Matthew Platkin has Still, Ciattarelli stressed: “My job is to represent and advocate for the 9.3 million residents of this state. I will always do right by the citizens of this state, no matter who occupies the White House.”“We need a hands-on CEO governor who is from New Jersey that knows exactly what needs to be done and is willing to do it,” said Ciattarelli, also a CPA and former owner of a medical publishing company. He also repeated his top warning on the campaign trail: that Sherrill would be an extension of Democrats who have controlled the state Legislature for 25 years and the governor’s office for eight.in the state. Ciattarelli has called Sherrill a “liar” over it, insisting he was simply discussing Tennessee’s tax policy, though he said all options are “one the table” here.Ciattarelli accused Sherrill of trying to “manipulate” voters and stressed: “We are going to ”lower the overall tax burden for all New Jerseyans."Ciattarelli criticized her for spouting “generalities and platitudes” while he has detailed plans to cap property taxes and eliminate taxes on retirement income. Later, both contenders were asked directly if they would commit to not raising the state sales tax. 6.62% sales tax.Sherril said: “I’m not going to commit to anything right now, because I’m not just going to tell you what you want to hear.”by top Democrats in state budget negotiations in recent years. She didn’t directly say. “What I’m gonna do is drive down costs for people,” Sherrill said.The debate came a little less than two weeks after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated, which has led toCiattarelli said he would. Sherrill said she wanted to look at it more closely. But both spoke out against political violence. “Everyone in elected office now faces this threat to themselves, but worse, to their families, and so we’re all very concerned about it,” Sherrill said. Ciattarelli said ”it’s the responsibility of any public official and candidate for office to engage in rhetoric that doesn’t divide us.” He added “we need to take down the temperature a whole lot.”“That’s a neat trick to say you don’t want to divide people and then in your answer bring up something that’s very divisive,” Sherrill responded. “I care deeply about this country,” she added. “I stand against political violence. The videos that came out after Charlie Kirk’s shooting were horrific, and I feel horrible because my kids have seen them, and so I can’t even imagine how the Kirk family feels. And that should never happen to anyone because they speak out.” Sherrill said she voted yes on the resolution because she believes in free speech for all — and made a nod toA tense exchange over political violence and free speech after Charlie Kirk's assassination and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel kicked off the first debate in the New Jersey governor's race between Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill. 🎥 New Jersey Globeearlier this year, Sherrill expressed praise for the policy but said she’d stop short of writing it into law because it wouldn’t hold up in court. On Sunday, she did not directly say whether she would keep it in place. “Violent criminals should be deported, but I also believe in due process,” Sherrill said. “I’ll follow the law and I’ll follow the Constitution.”Ciattarelli said he would eliminate the Immigrant Trust Directive on his first day in office. He argued it “only encourages illegal immigration and restricts our law enforcement in different ways.” “The goal is to keep our communities safe,” he said. “We’ve got to get back to being a law-and-order state.”Rivals in the New Jersey governor's race offered sharply different takes on how the state should cooperate with President Trump's immigration crackdown. At their first debate, Democrat Mikie Sherrill criticized ICE activity in New Jersey towns, while Republican Jack Ciattarelli called for an end to sanctuary cities. 🎥 New Jersey Globe Ciattarelli said he’s been in New Jersey for all his 64 years and never remembers affordability “being this bad.” Sherrill retorted: “Sixty-four years and for over half that time he’s been raising taxes on all of this.” “I can see why your career as a CPA was so short-lived because your math doesn’t add up, Jack,” she added. “He’ll tell you whatever you want to hear.” That’s a claim that Sherrill has said a few times on the trail: that Ciattarelli, also a former Raritan Borough councilman and Somerset County freeholder, has repeatedly supported hiking taxes in his career.A young Bridgewater resident asked the night’s most memorable question. “I’m only 12, but I’ve already seen one of our U.S. senators go to prison,” he said in reference to theWhat about electricity rates? Ciattarelli emphasized he’s against wind farms and Now if he was from New Jersey, and anybody who was from New Jersey would know, that the Jersey Shore is sacrosanct here in this state.Sherrill said parents “should be very worried. ... We are allowing children to get sick and, yes, die because we are not appropriately following medical research vaccine protocol.” Ciattarelli said “the rise in things like measles, mumps, whooping cough, and the like are very, very concerning” and the state has “got to get above the threshold for herd immunity.”Republicans have used nationally. “I just wish my opponent showed the same concern when it came to biological males participating in female sports,” Ciattarelli remarked. Sherrill fired back, saying “Jack Ciattarelli will tell anybody whatever they want to hear. And I think we just saw that tonight.”to end segregation in New Jersey schools. Ciattarelli said he won’t “get in the way” but will support school choice and overhaul the state’s education curriculum. Sherrill said she would “attack segregation in this state.” She also called for more county-based school systems and “high-intensity tutoring” to address the issue.property-tax programs, the latter of which aims to cut property taxes in half for seniors in the state. Ciattarelli said Stay NJ’s eligibility threshold is too low, sharing a criticism both progressives and Republicans have. They were asked whether they’d make it mandatory for towns or schools to consolidate or share services to help reduce property taxes. Ciattarelli said no, though he’d “incentivize it.” Sherrill said she’d look to mandates if there are towns that don’t put enough money into education. 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