New Jersey’s gubernatorial candidates Jack Ciattarelli and Rep. Mikie Sherrill faced off Wednesday in their second debate hosted by New York City’s WABC-TV and Philadelphia’s WPVI-TV, less than a month out from Election Day.
Polling shows Democratic nominee Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, holding an edge over Republican Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman. A recent survey from Quinnipiac showed Sherrill leading in a head-to-head matchup, 51%-42%.
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Here are highlights from Wednesday’s debate:
Trump takes center stage; candidates rate his presidency
President Donald Trump was a main character on Wednesday’s stage. Ciattarelli embraced the main tenets of his presidency while attempting to keep some distance between himself and Trump’s greater political movement; meanwhile, Sherrill took several opportunities to salvo Trump while looking to tie the president and Ciattarelli tightly together.
During the start of the debate, Ciattarelli sidestepped a question of whether he is part of Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, saying instead that he is “part of the New Jersey movement.”
Heather Khalifa/AP – PHOTO: Election 2025 New Jersey Governor
“I’m part of the New Jersey movement. We need change in New Jersey. We’ve got various crises that are raging across the state that are punishing the middle class,” said Ciattarelli.
Despite that, Ciattarelli said he’s aligned with Trump on his immigration policy and that it’s beneficial to have a relationship with whomever sits in the Oval Office. He said the one place he splits from the administration is on the implementation of a wind farm off New York’s Long Island.
“But let me be clear, no matter who it is, it’s in the White House, my job is to stand up for the 9.3 million citizens of this state, and I, we, I will, I will fiercely advocate for them at all times. But let me also say this […] it’s best to have a relationship with whoever occupies the White House,” said Ciattarelli.
In a post-debate gaggle, Ciattarelli said the White House is “happy to help us in any way that we think they bring value to the campaign” and that his team is “looking at every opportunity to see what brings value.”
He said he would give Trump an A grade for his job in the White House thus far. Conversely, Sherrill said she’d give Trump an F, casting the blame for rising costs squarely on Trump’s administration.
Both candidates were then asked how they’d grade Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who is leaving office after hitting his term limit. Sherrill gave Murphy a B grade, wishing Murphy was more responsive to constituents.
“I’m going to have a culture shift in Trenton. I’m going to make sure that we have more accountability in government, driving down costs for people,” said Sherrill.
Ciattarelli gave Murphy an F, saying New Jersey is the victim of several crises under the “worst governorship of our lifetime.”
“It’s been a failure across the board, and we need change,” he said.
Split views of handling government shutdown
Sherrill, currently a Democratic U.S. congresswoman, echoed the view of many Democrats in Washington, pinning the government shutdown on what they say is a fight against Republicans who are working to strip millions of Americans of their health care.
“I think we’ve seen at every level, cuts to affordability for working people. So we’ve seen these tariff cuts, we’ve seen these health care costs. We’ve seen hikes on utility costs as we go forward with the one big, beautiful bill. And now they’ve taken away health care in the one big, beautiful bill for millions of people, and they now want to cut health care support for people who still have it with the markets, the Affordable Care Act markets, that’s what we’re fighting for,” said Sherrill.
Ciattarelli argued Sherrill is partly why the government is shut down and why thousands of Jersey residents are now furloughed.
“I hope the shutdown ends within moments. I hope it ends tomorrow. We’ve got 22,000 New Jerseyans that are being furloughed because of the shutdown, but this is what happens in Washington, D.C. The job of the governor is to get things done. I have relationships with people in the legislature. We’ll be able to work together to get things done,” he said.
Hudson Gateway funding
Both candidates also addressed the Trump administration’s recent decision to halt funding to the Hudson Tunnel Project — which is meant to expand rail links between New York City and New Jersey — a decision announced by the White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought on Oct 1.
“You need a shutdown for two or three months before the shovels stop working,” said Ciattarelli, tying the freeze to the government shutdown.
Sherrill interjected, “This doesn’t have to do with the shutdown. This is the President freezing those funds.”
Sherrill accused Trump of overstepping his authority and said she’d sue Trump if she were governor.
“This is simply the president saying he’s freezing the Gateway tunnel funds, which he should not be able to do. And in my administration, I take him to court over it, because those are congressionally appropriated funds for the gateway tunnel,” said Sherrill.
Addressing political violence
The pair also commented on the rise in political violence and divisive rhetoric.
Sherrill said that such violence was not acceptable.
“It really undermines, I think, our democracy and the idea that people want to come forward and serve. And I worry very much that with this kind of political violence, we are going to see people trying to step away from public life. So here in New Jersey, as governor, I will always work to make sure everyone is safe, to ensure that people can speak freely and yet not face political violence,” she said.
Ciattarelli initially praised Sherrill voting yes on a resolution celebrating the life of Charlie Kirk, and accused Sherrill of flip-flopping on her values, criticizing her for condemning some of Kirk’s rhetoric.
“The way to tamp down the hateful rhetoric is by having the right kind of leadership in place. I’ve always conducted myself the respectful way, even when I disagree with people. I’m never going to tarnish the name my parents gave me, and I’m never going to embarrass my four children. I’ve always been respectful with my rhetoric, and I think that that’s more important than ever,” he said.
Abortion access
When asked about whether they support enshrining abortion access in the state constitution, Ciattarelli said that he “always supported a woman’s right to choose” but is uninterested in women traveling from out of state to get an abortion in Jersey.
Ciattarelli also said parents should be invited if their children under the age of 18 get an abortion.
Sherrill said Ciattarelli is misrepresenting his stance and is “peddling misinformation.”
“We also have the fact that when he was last in office, he voted to defund Planned Parenthood. So these are not pro-choice positions. I know he’s getting up here to tell everyone what they want to hear right now as he desperately tries for the third time to become the next Governor of New Jersey. But this is not credible,” said Sherrill.
