Lieutenant governor candidates Dale Caldwell, left, and Jim Gannon meet on the debate state on Sept. 30, 2025. (Photo courtesy of PIX 11)
NUTLEY — Where else to watch the one-and-only debate between our leading lieutenant governor candidates than in one of New Jersey’s swingiest towns?
Nutley voters backed Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s reelection bid in 2013, then flipped to Democrat Phil Murphy four years later, then switched to Republican Jack Ciattarelli in 2021. Their presidential choices are equally swingy: Barack Obama in 2012, then Donald Trump four years later, Joe Biden in 2020, and Trump again last year.
This is a town that cannot make up its mind. Not that I thought I was going to run into many fence sitters at Tuesday’s debate watch party hosted by American First Republicans at VFW Post 493. This was such a pro-Trump crowd, one woman wore a t-shirt that read “even my dogs love Trump.”
And while we were all there ostensibly to watch Democrat Dale Caldwell and Republican Jim Gannon — running mates of gubernatorial hopefuls Mikie Sherrill (D) and Ciattarelli — debate issues like property taxes, transit, and immigration, the stakes of November’s gubernatorial race are so high for some of those at the Nutley VFW that no less than Trump’s political future is on the line if Democrats win New Jersey’s governorship in November.
“Donald Trump is on the ballot this year,” said Michael Byrne, the Montclair GOP chair. “If they win this race, they’ll go into the midterms with momentum and they’ll impeach him for a third time. We can’t have that. This election is about Trump as much as it’s about Jack and the future of our state.”
Trump was a major theme in Tuesday’s debate, too, at least for most of the time Caldwell spoke. Caldwell, like running mate Sherrill, name-drops the current occupant of the White House like Trump is his actual opponent. Whether the question was about lowering property taxes or discouraging political violence or continuing the Anchor tax rebate program, Caldwell’s responses were more about Trump than his and Sherrill’s plans to govern.
Even when asked about whether he would support continuing NJ Transit’s plan for annual fare hikes, Caldwell said, “We have to look at them, see where the money’s coming from, with the assault from the Trump administration.”
It didn’t get much better when Caldwell avoided Trump, like when he was asked about state school policy on transgender students. The Murphy administration has been sharply criticized by Republicans for a policy that requires school officials to accept a child’s asserted gender identity even absent parental consent. Ciattarelli has vowed to reverse that policy.
Democrats, especially in the wake of embarrassing national losses in 2024 that came after aggressive Republican campaign ads targeting transgender people, have struggled to communicate on this issue. Caldwell’s rambling answer to this yes or no question veered from saying his dad was supportive of the LGBT community to calling the relationship between parents and their children sacrosanct to saying not every school district is the same.
“We need to begin to look at the unique needs and the unique safety issues around every child. Mikie has said, and I have said, that safety is No. 1. We will do whatever it takes to make sure that the safety of the children in the school district, the safety of the children in the community, is our priority,” he said.
Yeesh. Moderator Dan Mannarino pressed him, “So you would keep the guidance?”
“We would, we would review the guidance, but, uh, you know, at this stage it makes some sense,” said Caldwell, a pastor and president of Centenary University in Hackettstown.
Here’s how our next governor says they’ll make NJ more affordable
Then there was the GOP side of the debate stage. Gannon, the Morris County sheriff, stepped in it big time when asked if a millionaire’s tax would be on the table for the Ciattarelli administration to fund services like food stamps that are facing cuts on the federal level.
“Taxes are on the table, but I’d be careful of millionaire’s taxes. They’re employing us,” Gannon said.
“So new taxes are on the table in New Jersey in your administration?” moderator Henry Rosoff asked with what I detected was a hint of incredulity.
“Well, you have to look at it. You have to look at the whole thing, but what I’m saying is, millionaires, we can’t just beat up the millionaires. The millionaires many times are employers. They’re employing us,” Gannon said.
Talk about a gift for the Sherrill campaign, which has argued repeatedly that Ciattarelli would raise taxes if elected governor (he says he would not). Within moments, a clip of Gannon saying taxes are on the table if he becomes lieutenant governor was widely shared by Sherrill’s campaign and her allies.
I heard no response among the crowd at the Nutley VFW when Gannon said this. There was a much larger audible reaction to Caldwell using his closing statement to praise Republican radio talk show host Bill Spadea, a Ciattarelli foe, with one woman saying, “That was a slimy move.” Afterward, the event’s organizers said they saw nothing in the debate that dampened their enthusiasm.
“Jack is more popular than he ever has been, with President Trump,” GOP operative Mike Crispi told me. “Mikie Sherrill, when she harps on these national issues in a race that I think is very localized, because it’s an off-year election, where the focus is Garden State issues, people roll their eyes.”
We’ll see if he’s right very soon. Election Day is in 34 days.
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