Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) and former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli met for their first debate of the fall Sunday night in a bout that touched on energy costs, political violence, Donald Trump, and more.
At a 90-minute, town-hall style debate in the gym of Rider University, Sherrill and Ciattarelli stayed aggressive but failed to deliver knockout punches.
In opening statements, they stuck to their campaign messaging. Sherrill said Ciattarelli would follow President Donald Trump’s demands no matter what and offer a lot of “nonsense” during the debate, while Ciattarelli said she would be a continuation of eight years of Democratic control in Trenton.
Organizers said more than 1,600 people attended the debate, the largest audience of a gubernatorial debate in the state’s history. While there were no severe interruptions, the crowd exhibited a fair share of raucous moments — at several points, Ciattarelli motioned for a group of his supporters in the bleachers to quiet down.
The debate was combative, but not extremely so. The candidates mostly kept to their allotted time and rarely spoke over one another.
Sherrill regularly accused Ciattarelli of unabashed fealty to Trump, a continued strategy as her campaign seeks to tie him to the president. One such moment came when he defended the dismantling of the federal Department of Education.
“The farther away you get from the classroom, the less impact I think any governmental institution has on what’s taking place in the classroom and student learning,” Ciattarelli said. “So I don’t necessarily have a problem with the president and the administration downsizing the Department of Education. Just because they got rid of the Department of Education doesn’t mean they got rid of federal funding.”
Sherrill rejected the premise, pointing to major cuts to research funding and Pell Grants under Trump. She said she would “claw back” funding sent to the federal government if cuts continue.
“So at almost every level, the federal government right now has limited the money that they’re sending back to New Jersey for education,” she said
Immigration came up toward the tail end of the debate — Ciattarelli repeated his stump-speech promise to ban all “sanctuary state” policies on his first day in office.
Sherrill was asked twice during the debate and twice by reporters afterward whether she would keep or repeal the Immigrant Trust Directive, a state policy limiting how often state and local law enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration agents. While she didn’t discuss the policy, she vowed to bar immigration agents from wearing masks and said New Jersey officials should follow the law and the Constitution.
She also didn’t say whether she would support legislation that would classify political violence as a hate crime — such a bill has yet to be introduced, but it’s garnered support from a bipartisan pair of top state senators. Speaking with reporters afterward, she disavowed political violence but said she want to see the language of such a bill to make sure it doesn’t unjustly limit free speech.
“We see this time and time again in the campaign,” Ciattarelli said. “Generalities, platitudes, ducking the direct question by not giving a direct answer.”
At the press gaggle afterward, Ciattarelli refused to take a question from NorthJersey.com columnist Charlie Stile, saying the journalist is in the “penalty box.”
Ciattarelli said the congresswoman wouldn’t be able to address the spike in energy prices better than Gov. Phil Murphy. Sherrill has promised to unilaterally freeze rate hikes (Murphy and others have wondered how such a policy could be implemented) in addition to more power generation, and Ciattarelli said the state should expand its natural gas, nuclear, and solar energy capabilities.
As the debate roared forward, thousands of people, including the country’s top Republicans, mourned at an Arizona memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed last week in Utah. After both candidates said leaders should work to limit violence, Ciattarelli criticized Sherrill for voting for a House resolution that honored Kirk’s legacy and then releasing a statement that criticized his political beliefs.
“I also think it’s fair, Jack, to speak up when you disagree with something. So if you want to stand up that Martin Luther King [Jr.] was a bad guy, or that women should submit to their husbands, you have a right to do that,” Sherrill said, referring to statements from Kirk that have garnered controversy. “And I have a right to say I disagree with it.”
They are each looking to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Public polling has consistently shown Sherrill with a 6 to 10-point lead. One internal poll released by the Ciattarelli campaign found he held a 1-point lead.
Sunday’s debate was the first of two between Ciattarelli and Sherrill. The second debate between the pair will be held on Wednesday, October 8, and sponsored by WABC and WPVI. A debate between the two lieutenant governor nominees — Republican James Gannon and Democrat Dale Caldwell — is scheduled for Tuesday, September 30, at 7:00 PM, sponsored by PIX11/WPIX-TV, PHL17/WPHL-TV, Kean University, and New Jersey 101.5.
The New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey, and Rider University sponsored Sunday’s debate. David Wildstein, editor of the New Jersey Globe; Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University; and Sophie Nieto-Muñoz, a reporter at the New Jersey Monitor, served as main panelists. Laura Jones of On New Jersey moderated.
Mail-in ballots will begin to reach voters this week.
You can watch the debate, including pre- and post-debate coverage, here.
