NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — In a close New Jersey gubernatorial race, Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican former state legislator Jack Ciattarelli met for their second and final debate, fiercely attacking each other’s character and record.
They debated electricity costs, commuter rail service and criminal justice policies, key issues facing New Jersey voters. Some of the candidates’ attacks also turned personal.
Ciattarelli accused Sherrill of obfuscating her role in a 1992 U.S. Naval Academy cheating scandal. Sherrill blamed “tens of thousands” of opioid deaths on a medical publishing business Ciattarelli owned.
“Shame on you,” both candidates told one another during one contentious moment.
The debate’s moderators also asked Ciattarelli and Sherrill to give letter grades to two key figures — President Donald Trump and term-limited incumbent New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat — whose popularity, or lack thereof, has provided an important backdrop to the campaign.
Sign up for PolitiFact texts
Sherrill said she would give Trump an F and Murphy a B. She praised the governor but, referring to the state capital, said, “There’s ways Trenton could do a lot better.” Ciattarelli gave Trump an A and Murphy an F. “I think (Trump) is right about everything he’s doing,” Ciattarelli said.
PolitiFact and the New Jersey Globe partnered to fact-check the candidates’ claims during the New Brunswick debate, which was sponsored by WABC-TV in New York and WPVI-TV in Philadelphia.
One inaccurate statement we noted came from moderator Bill Ritter, who said at the close of the debate, “Vote on Tuesday, November the 14th.”
That’s the incorrect date: Election Day in New Jersey is Tuesday, Nov. 4. Early voting will run Oct. 25 to Nov. 2, and vote-by-mail ballots have already been sent to voters.
Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli (AP)
Personal attacks
Sherrill: “You killed tens of thousands of people by printing your misinformation, your propaganda.”
There is no evidence that Ciattarelli “killed” anyone.
During the debate, Sherrill referred to news coverage from the 2021 gubernatorial campaign. NJ Advance Media reported then that a medical publishing business Ciattarelli previously owned, Galen Publishing, produced educational materials that included articles downplaying the risk of opioid misuse among chronic pain patients. Major pharmaceutical companies gave Galen Publishing millions in grants, as is common for similar publishing firms, according to the report.
Sherrill repeated some of the story’s points, saying Ciattarelli published pro-opioid “propaganda” while tens of thousands of New Jerseyans died. After a heated back-and-forth with Ciattarelli, she broadened her attack, saying that Ciattarelli’s actions directly killed tens of thousands of New Jerseyans. (According to state statistics, 27,490 New Jerseyans died of overdoses from 2012 to 2023.)
When reporters asked Sherrill after the debate for evidence to support her claim, she again said Ciattarelli exacerbated the opioid epidemic through his company, but did not repeat her accusation that Ciattarelli personally killed New Jerseyans.
Sherrill: Ciattarelli’s “number one donor” is under investigation for driving up rental housing costs.
This needs context.
This appears to refer to the Kurtz family, owners of Kamson Corp. apartment management firm. Patriarch Richard Kurtz and other family members have collectively donated more than $750,000 to Ciattarelli and his allied groups during Ciattarelli’s 2021 and 2025 gubernatorial campaigns, Gothamist reported.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin has sued Kamson Corp., accusing the company of colluding with a software company to raise apartment rents.
Members of the Kurtz family have supported Democrats, too, according to federal campaign finance data.
Although Richard Kurtz gave $250,000 to a pro-Ciattarelli super PAC, he has also given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats over the last 30 years. His donations include $6,600 in 2024 to Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who lost to Sherrill in this year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, and $8,600 to Murphy during his 2017 campaign for governor.
Ciattarelli: Sherrill has missed “90% of the votes in Washington” during her gubernatorial campaign.
This is exaggerated. Since entering the race for governor last November, Sherrill’s campaign schedule in New Jersey has kept her out of Washington for many House votes, but she hasn’t missed 90%.
The New Jersey Globe’s vote trackers — which track substantive, non-procedural House votes — found that Sherrill has missed about 55% of votes since November 18, 2024, when she announced her campaign.
Democratic candidate Mikie Sherrill (AP)
Sherrill: “Your campaign right now is under federal investigation for how you illegally got access to my (military) records”
This needs context.
Earlier this year, the National Archives and Records Administration gave a Ciattarelli ally Sherrill’s unredacted military personnel file following a public records request. After CBS News reported that sensitive information, including addresses and Social Security numbers, were visible in the publicly released file, Sherrill and other Democrats called for a federal investigation, accusing Republicans of exploiting the federal government to weaponize Sherrill’s records.
In September, Politico reported that the National Archives and Records Administration’s inspector general had initiated an internal investigation. However, Fox News Digital quoted an agency spokesperson Oct. 1 saying there is “no current indication that the release was intentional by the employee or the requestor.” A Ciattarelli spokesperson also told Fox that the investigation “has nothing to do with our campaign,” and the campaign has repeatedly said it did not commit any wrongdoing.
Electricity
Ciattarelli: “Not one” Democratic legislator has endorsed Sherrill’s plan to freeze utility rates.
This is inaccurate.
After Sherrill released her plan, Murphy threw cold water on it, telling reporters that he was “not sure how you’d actually do that.” Responding to Murphy’s comments, at least three Democratic legislators publicly criticized the governor and supported Sherrill. “We can, should, and will freeze utility rates,” Democratic Assemblywoman Andrea Katz said on social media.
Ciattarelli: New Jersey electricity rates are at an “all-time high.”
Statistics support this.
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t calculate the consumer price index for states, but it does track prices for electricity in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area, which can be used as a proxy for costs in one of New Jersey’s most densely populated areas.
This price for electricity was higher in the second half of 2024 — the most recent period available — than at any point since 1984, when the statistic was first calculated.
Electricity prices in that metro area are up by about 37% since before the pandemic.
Economy
Ciattarelli: Sherrill is “blatantly lying” about whether Ciattarelli supports a 10% sales tax.
Sherrill has made misleading statements about Ciattarelli’s stance on sales tax, drawing primarily on statements he made at a June rally.
A rally attendee asked Ciattarelli if he would consider abolishing the state’s income tax and recouping the revenue with an increased sales tax. Ciattarelli responded by describing Tennessee’s policy, in which many areas have sales tax rates of up to 10% rather than an income tax. Ciattarelli didn’t commit to a specific course of action at the rally, but said “every option is on the table.”
In ads, Sherrill and her allies have frequently used a clip of Ciattarelli speaking the words “10% sales tax, including food and clothing” as evidence that he supports such an increase. The spliced clip showed him describing Tennessee’s policy, not his own proposal.
Ciattarelli has repeatedly said since the rally that he would not increase the sales tax. None of his policy documents mention any proposed sales tax increases.
Sherrill: Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill has “taken away health care … for millions of people.”
This needs context.
Nonpartisan projections support the idea that under the Republican law, millions of people will eventually lose health insurance coverage. These losses haven’t materialized yet, however, because it will take time for the bill’s policy changes to work their way through the health insurance system. Many changes also don’t start immediately.
The Congressional Budget Office, Congress’ nonpartisan number-crunching arm, estimated that 7.5 million people on Medicaid will lose their health insurance by 2034 as a result of the bill Trump signed earlier this year. CBO projects that others will lose coverage from other program changes in the bill.
Ciattarelli: In New Jersey, “We have always lagged the national average when it comes to unemployment.”
Federal data shows this is largely accurate.
New Jersey’s unemployment rate has often exceeded the national rate. This pattern has been persistent since the end of the coronavirus pandemic around 2021.
Voting records
Sherrill: “When (Ciattarelli) was last in office, he voted to defund Planned Parenthood.”
This is accurate.
When Ciattarelli was in the state Assembly, then-Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, cut state funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides women’s health services, including abortions. When Democratic legislators sought to restore the group’s funding, Ciattarelli repeatedly voted against those efforts, NJ Spotlight News reported in 2021.
Ciattarelli continues to oppose state funding for Planned Parenthood, at least for abortion. He said at a GOP primary debate earlier this year that he would cut “the portion of the money that goes (to Planned Parenthood) for advocating for abortion.”
Ciattarelli: Sherrill “voted to get rid of qualified immunity.”
This is accurate, although Sherrill has backtracked on that position in the gubernatorial race.
In both 2020 and 2021, the House — then under Democratic control — passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would have eliminated qualified immunity. That generally protects police officers from liability for wrongdoing while on duty unless they violate a person’s “clearly established” constitutional right. Sherrill, along with nearly all of her Democratic colleagues, voted for the bill both times.
During the Democratic gubernatorial primary earlier this year, Sherrill said she opposes ending qualified immunity in New Jersey, Politico reported.
Sherrill: Ciattarelli “voted to give rapists parental rights” to children conceived by rape.
This is generally accurate.
On April 29, 2013, Ciattarelli voted against Bill A3537, which provided for the “termination of parental rights of certain persons convicted of sexual assault that resulted in the birth of a child.” The measure passed, 61-7, with three abstentions and nine members not voting.
In a post-debate press conference, Ciattarelli said the bill was flawed and argued judges should decide how to handle those cases. The state Senate did not pass the bill.
Blackburn reported from New Brunswick; Fox and Jacobson reported from Washington.
