Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli clashed Sunday over their responses to political violence and solutions to the rising cost of living in the first general election debate of New Jersey’s 2025 gubernatorial race.
President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda loomed large in a state he lost last year by six points. The candidates sparred over energy policies, health care cuts, tax changes and vaccines, reflecting the issues animating voters in the off-year election.
The contest offers a key test for both parties ten months into the second Trump administration. Republicans in New Jersey have made gains in recent election cycles even as Democrats have held serve at the statewide level.
Political violence and Charlie Kirk
On the day of the public memorial service for Charlie Kirk, fears of escalating political violence emerged as an early flashpoint. Ciattarelli and Sherrill both expressed safety concerns while declaring their commitment to free speech.
“This is something I think about all the time, and 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 that “I think it’s the responsibility of any public official and candidate for office to engage in rhetoric that doesn’t divide us,” adding that “I do think we need to take down the temperature a whole lot.”
Ciattarelli hit Sherrill for her criticism of the conservative activist.
“My opponent on Friday went down to Washington, voted yes on a resolution to celebrate Charlie Kirk’s life but then, within minutes, sent out a statement that basically condemned him. I think that was wrong,” Ciattarelli said.
Sherrill responded, “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.”
“Here’s the thing: I care deeply. I care deeply about this country. I stand against political violence,” she continued. “The videos that came out about, 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.”
Affordability, energy and wind farms
New Jersey is among the states that have been hit hardest by skyrocketing electricity bills. Both candidates called out surging costs in their opening statements.
The GOP candidate blamed the outgoing administration of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, focusing his criticism on offshore wind farms while calling for an “all of the above” approach to energy production to help offset growing demand.
“Anybody who’s from New Jersey would know that the Jersey Shore is sacrosanct, here at the state, nobody wants wind farms off our Jersey Shore,” Ciattarelli said. “What I’ve said all along is I’ll reopen and repurpose the plants, we’ll expand our nuclear footprint in South Jersey, we will accelerate solar on rooftops, our warehouses, and we’re pulling out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, that carbon tax initiative has been a failure.”
Sherrill criticized the Trump administration’s energy policies, in particular funding cuts for renewable energy, and called out grid operators, saying that “everybody at the table is at fault, and they keep dumping the costs onto the ratepayer here in New Jersey.”
“Let’s face it, some of our utility companies have made over a billion dollars in profits, and yet our ratepayers are constantly suffering,” Sherrill said. She also pointed to power-hungry data centers placing surging demands on the interstate grid, an issue likely to worsen with the growing adoption of artificial intelligence.
The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ comes up
Sweeping policy legislation passed by Republicans in Congress over the summer was a key point of contention.
“All he does is say that Trump’s right. It’s okay to drive up your tariffs. It’s okay to have the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’ which drives up your health care and utility costs,” Sherrill said.
Ciattarelli, meanwhile, rallied to the landmark legislation’s defense, praising Trump’s signature policy achievement and noting its expanded deduction for state and local taxes, a key issue in New Jersey, as well as other tax provisions in the bill like new deductions for tips and overtime.
“They’re good for all New Jerseyans,” he said. “She voted no, my opponent, did on that bill.”
Vaccines and trans participation in youth sports
The candidates were asked about vaccine policy amid Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to review guidance on when and how vaccines are administered.
“New Jersey parents should be very worried. We just had back to school, so many of the parents know there’s a lot going around,” Sherrill said. “These are eminently curable diseases, and we are allowing children to get sick and, yes, die because we are not appropriately following medical research vaccine protocol.”
Ciattarelli also endorsed vaccines, saying that “the rise in things like measles, mumps, whooping cough and the like are very, very concerning.” He said that communities across the state have “got to get above the threshold for herd immunity.”
He then pivoted to criticizing Sherrill for the second time over policies over trans participation in youth sports, a frequent attack line Republicans have used nationally. “I just wish my opponent showed the same concern when it came to biological males participating in female sports,” he remarked.
Sherrill fired back, saying that “Jack Ciattarelli will tell anybody whatever they want to hear. And I think we just saw that tonight.”
“He hasn’t actually stood up for vaccines,” she went on. “He hasn’t stood against RFK. He hasn’t mentioned anything about firing the head of the CDC. He doesn’t mention anything about how Trump’s appointee gets most of his medical information on TikTok and reels. This is not somebody who’s going to keep our kids healthy.”
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