Jack Ciattarelli slams Mikie Sherrill for Charlie Kirk attacks, Sherrill calls rival a killer in heated New Jersey debate

New Jersey gubernatorial candidates Jack Ciattarelli and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) clashed in the final debate of this campaign cycle, featuring personal attacks from Rep. Sherrill, who repeatedly called Ciattarelli a killer, while Ciattarelli focused on Rep. Sherrill’s questionable investment record and the posthumous personal attacks on Charlie Kirk.

At one point during the debate, hosted by local affiliate ABC 7, Ciattarelli whistled and muttered to himself, “Desperate!” »

Moderator Bill Ritter, a local news anchor, attempted to ask questions about a variety of local issues of great concern to New Jersey residents, including the barely functional state of New Jersey’s public transportation and the public education system in disrepair after eight years of radical left-wing administration from Massachusetts native Phil Murphy. While the candidates presented divergent views on local issues, the debate came to a head during discussions of the candidates’ personal files. At one point, Rep. Sherrill was asked her position on left-wing political violence in the country, which she claimed to oppose — which allowed Ciattarelli to note that Rep. Sherrill disparaged Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk immediately after his assassination in September.

Rep. Sherrill voted in September to pass a bill condemning Kirk’s assassination, but followed up with a statement in which she falsely claimed that Kirk was “advocating for a Christian nationalist government and rolling back women’s and black rights (sic) people.”

“She missed 90 percent of the vote in Washington,” Ciattarelli noted, but “missed two very important joint appearances in New Jersey to go to Washington, D.C., to vote yes on the Charlie Kirk resolution celebrating his life.”

“I applaud her for that vote. When she came back to New Jersey and caught hell from the left, she issued a statement condemning Charlie Kirk, calling him a misogynist and a racist,” he continued. “To me, the two things are incompatible. The way to quell hateful rhetoric is to put the right kind of leadership in place.”

The Republican nominee vowed he would avoid violent and inflammatory rhetoric if elected, noting, “I have always conducted myself in a respectful manner even when I disagree with people. I will never tarnish the name my parents gave me and I will never embarrass my four children.”

Sherrill responded by once again attacking Charlie Kirk, falsely claiming that he advocated for the abolition of women’s rights.

Elsewhere in the debate, Rep. Sherrill condemned Ciattarelli for founding and owning medical publishing companies, saying he personally “killed” people by publishing information that allegedly downplayed the dangers of opioids. The company, she claimed, was “working with some of the worst offenders and claiming that opioids were safe…by publishing their propaganda.”

“First of all, shame on you,” Ciattarelli responded.

“Under the Biden administration, she had no problem with the fact that thousands of people were crossing our border every day without knowing what impact they were having on our communities as it relates to the fentanyl crisis, fentanyl abuse, fentanyl distribution, vaccination rates and others,” Ciattarelli responded, adding that regarding the allegations about her company, “It’s a lie.”

Ciattarelli then mocked Rep. Sherill as she repeated her attack, joking, “I was able to walk at my college graduation.” Rep. Sherrill, according to revelations in late September, was not allowed to walk during her graduation from the United States Naval Academy. The circumstances surrounding this decision are not publicly clear, although reports allege that Rep. Sherrill had ties to an alleged cheating scandal.

Rep. Sherrill responded to this attack by claiming that after Ciattarelli graduated, he “continued to kill tens of thousands of people in New Jersey, including children.”

In addition to her academic situation, Ciattarelli also attacked Rep. Sherrill because “she had to pay federal fines for violating federal securities trading and reporting law…by trading defense stocks while serving on the House Armed Services Committee.”

Polling ahead of New Jersey’s November gubernatorial election shows a tight race between the two candidates. Ciattarelli has begun campaigning in more Democratic areas of the state, including Hudson, Bergen and Essex counties, while Democrats nationally have sounded the alarm that Rep. Sherrill is a weak candidate.

“We’re jumping right into this race in New Jersey, even though a lot of people think it’s a blue state and maybe we don’t need to act,” Janet Murguia, president of the left-leaning UnidosUS Action Fund, told CBS News on Wednesday. CBS noted that Sherrill’s campaign, “some Democrats admit, has struggled with its messaging, which often echoes the playbook that former Vice President Kamala Harris used in her failed 2024 White House campaign.”

“Several Democrats told CBS News that Sherrill’s campaign has yet to articulate a compelling economic message and has failed to emphasize ‘kitchen table’ issues like inflation and the cost of living,” the report observed.

This is Ciattarelli’s second time running as a Republican candidate for governor of the state. In 2021, he lost, but performed surprisingly well in a state that overwhelmingly voted for former President Biden, bringing the race to within four percentage points of victory.

The gubernatorial election will take place on November 4, but early voting is currently open.

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