Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli clash over Trump, shutdown in final New Jersey governor's debate

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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli repeatedly clashed during their second and final debate in the closely watched race for New Jersey governor Wednesday, butting heads over the federal government shutdown, Sherrill's military records, President Donald Trump and the high cost of living in the state.

Much of the conversation focused on local issues, including strategies to lower property taxes and energy prices in the notoriously expensive state. But they also addressed immigration, as well as the administration's efforts to use the shutdown as a pretext to freeze funding for the Hudson River project, which would build a new rail tunnel to help ease strain on the more than century-old, crumbling infrastructure connecting New Jersey and New York City.

The debate became increasingly pointed and personal as it went on. One of the most contentious moments came when Sherrill, a four-term congresswoman elected during Trump’s first midterm to a longtime GOP-held seat, accused Ciattarelli, running for governor for the third time, of profiting off the opioid crisis, leading to deaths.

“You’re trying to divert from the fact you killed tens of thousands of people by printing your misinformation, your propaganda,” she charged. The connection to opioid manufacturers surfaced during Ciattarelli’s last bid for governor. NJ.com reported that a medical publishing company Ciattarelli owned received more than $12 million in grants, mostly from pharmaceutical companies, to publish content promoting the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment for chronic pain. Ciattarelli sold the company in 2017.

Ciattarelli denied the accusation — “shame on you,” he said, accusing his opponent of lying in an act of desperation — and responded by referencing the scandal surrounding Sherrill's military records, saying, at least “I got to walk at my college graduation.”

On several occasions, Ciattarelli also tried to tie his opponent to New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, whose candidacy the right has seized on over his far-left stances.

But they agreed on one thing: Both are united in keeping in place a law that makes it illegal to pump your own gas in the Garden State. New Jersey is the only state where you can’t pump your own gas and an attendant must do it.

New Jersey is one of two states, along with Virginia, electing governors this fall — and the contests are widely seen as measures of how voters feel about Trump’s second term and how Democrats are responding.

The hourlong debate was held as voters have already begun mailing in ballots ahead of the Nov. 4 election.

Here are some top takeaways from the debate:

The president was again front and center on the debate stage, as Sherrill accused Ciattarelli of being beholden to Trump. Trump endorsed Ciattarelli in the GOP primary, saying he was “ALL IN” and “now 100% (PLUS!)” on the president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, despite past criticism.

“Jack won’t say one bad word about the president,” Sherrill charged as she tried to tie the two men together.

Ciattarelli said he would put the needs of New Jersey residents first, while talking up the benefits of having a positive working relationship with the White House.

“Let me be clear. No matter who sits in the White House, my job is to stand up for the 9.3 million citizens of the state, and I will. I will fiercely advocate for them at all times. But let me also say this, that in times of need, it’s best to have a relationship with whoever occupies the White House and I will,” Ciattarelli said.

He also mocked Sherrill for trying to blame everything wrong with the state on the president.

“I don’t know what he has to do with our property taxes. I don’t know what he has to do with our energy rate,” he said.

While he gave the Trump administration an overall “A” grade, Ciattarelli also noted several areas where he disagrees with the current administration, including on immigration.

He talked at some length about his belief that people who are in the country illegally but who have otherwise followed the law should be given a path to citizenship -- while describing it again just as a “pathway to recognition.”

Sherrill expressed skepticism at the idea.

“That’s not really a real thing,” she said.

Ciattarelli repeatedly raised questions about Sherrill’s military record after it was revealed that the congresswoman did not participate in her 1994 graduation from the Naval Academy amid fallout that year from a well-documented cheating scandal.

Sherrill has said she was barred from walking because she did not turn in her classmates and has seized on the fact that her unredacted records were released by the National Archives to a Republican operative close to Ciattarelli’s campaign. That release is now under investigation.

Ciattarelli again called on Sherrill to release additional records to back up that defense, which she has declined to do.

“If she’s so transparent, then approve the release of her disciplinary records at the Naval Academy so we can know why it is that she was punished,” he said. “I think she was punished for something else,” he said, accusing her of “trying to create a giant smoke screen” by focusing on the records' improper release.

Sherrill, who went on to graduate and was commissioned as an officer in Navy, stressed that she had held multiple positions of trust, including as a pilot, and suggested Ciattarelli played a role in obtaining the documents.

“Either he’s really incompetent or he’s lying,” she charged.

The federal government shutdown, now in its second week, loomed large during the debate, with both candidates saying they hoped for a speedy resolution.

But they clashed over its impact on the Gateway project, after the administration put a hold on roughly $18 billion in funding for the new tunnel and an extension of the city’s Second Avenue subway as they review its compliance with new diversity policies.

“The bad news is there’s a shutdown right now. I hope it ends any moment,” Ciattarelli said. He called the project “critically important,” but claimed that it was not being impacted by the shutdown yet.

“The construction is not stopping. This shutdown would have to go on for two or three months before the gateway project would run to a halt,” he claimed.

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Colvin reported from New York.