Sherrill and Ciattarelli face off in final New Jersey governor’s debate

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — With less than a month until Election Day in New Jersey’s competitive and volatile gubernatorial race, Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli sparred over Sherrill’s military record, Ciattarelli’s business career and his support for President Donald Trump in their second and final debate.

The showdown in New Jersey in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, which has grown increasingly bitter in recent weeks, played out during Wednesday’s acrimonious debate.

During a heated exchange, Sherrill accused Ciattarelli of profiting from the opioid crisis, saying he had “killed tens of thousands of people” because of his ties to pharmaceutical industry-backed training materials.

And Ciattarelli countered that Sherrill “broke the law,” pointing to the fine she paid four years ago for failing to timely disclose stock trades, as members of Congress are required to do under federal conflict of interest law.

Trump looms large in 2025 election

New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill, right, and Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli on stage at the start of their second and final debate October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Fox News Digital/Paul Steinhauser)

New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold governor contest the year following a presidential election, meaning races traditionally attract outsized national attention.

And this year’s election showdowns are seen as crucial early tests of Trump’s popularity and his second-term agenda, and are seen as key barometers ahead of next year’s midterm elections for the U.S. House and Senate.

The two candidates have clashed over key issues, including New Jersey’s sky-high energy costs, property taxes, immigration and the ongoing federal government shutdown.

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And even though he’s not on the ballot, Trump dominated the debate.

Ciattarelli, who won the Republican Party nomination earlier this year after winning Trump’s support, was asked about his disagreements with the president.

“I do not agree with the president on the Empire wind farm on Long Island,” replied the Republican candidate.

Moments later, Sherrill accused his Republican rival of having “shown no signs of resisting this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he has shown every sign of being one.”

New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill on stage at the start of their second and final debate October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, NJ (Fox News Digital/Paul Steinhauser)

Ciattarelli countered that “in times of need, it’s best to have a relationship with whoever occupies the White House, and I will.”

When asked to assess the president’s performance so far in his second term, Ciattarelli responded, “I would definitely give the president an A. I think he’s right about everything he’s doing.”

“I think that tells us everything we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli supports. I give him an F right now,” Sherrill responded, noting New Jersey’s high cost of living.

Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker and certified public accountant who started a medical publishing company before entering politics and winning election as a state lawmaker, is making his third consecutive campaign for governor of New Jersey. And four years ago, he gained national attention when he was about to upset Murphy.

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It was during the 2021 campaign that Ciattarelli’s ties to opioid manufacturers first surfaced. Ciattarelli sold his company, which published content promoting the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment for chronic pain, in 2017.

“You’re trying to distract from the fact that you killed tens of thousands of people by publishing your disinformation, your propaganda,” Sherrill accused. “I think our children deserve better. I think the people you became dependent on and died from deserve better than you.”

Ciattarelli responded by saying, “As far as everything she just said about my professional career supporting my family, that’s a lie. I’m proud of my career.”

“Shame on you,” Ciattarelli added.

Sherrill responded, “Shame on you, sir.”

Cittarelli then blamed the fentanyl crisis on former President Joe Biden’s “open borders” policies.

And in a post-debate press conference, he claimed that Sherrill’s attack was “a desperate tactic of a desperate campaign on behalf of a desperate candidate.”

Sherrill, who was asked after the debate if she had any evidence directly linking Ciattarelli to the opioid-related deaths, told reporters: “I guess he hasn’t really said anything about it. I think there’s a lot we don’t know. I think he continues to not be very transparent about it.”

Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli on stage at the start of their second and final debate October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Fox News Digital/Paul Steinhauser)

Ciattarelli, during the debate, fired back at Sherrill, saying, “I was able to walk at my college graduation,” while referring to the controversy surrounding Sherrill’s military records.

The race was upended two weeks ago after a New Jersey Globe article revealed that Sherrill’s military records indicated that the United States Naval Academy had barred her from participating in her graduation in 1994 because of the cheating scandal.

Sherrill claimed Ciattarelli was embarking on a “witch hunt” over his improperly released military records, which raised questions about his possible involvement in a cheating scandal that rocked the U.S. Naval Academy three decades ago.

Ciattarelli and his campaign have repeatedly asked Sherrill, who later flew helicopters during her military career after graduating from the Naval Academy, to release her military records to explain why she was not allowed to attend her graduation ceremony.

New Jersey GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli answers questions from reporters following a debate October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Paul Steinhauser-Fox News)

But another CBS News report found that the National Personnel Records Center, which is a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration, mistakenly disclosed Sherrill’s improperly redacted military personnel records, which included private information like his Social Security number, to a Ciattarelli ally.

The National Archives, in a letter two weeks ago, apologized to Sherrill, saying the inappropriate disclosure was due to an official’s error during a legal records request.

Following the records breach, Sherrill’s campaign sent cease and desist letters to the National Archives and Ciattarelli’s campaign, as well as Ciattarelli’s senior strategist Chris Russell and Nicholas De Gregorio, who is described by Sherrill’s team as “a campaign operative working under the direction of” Russell.

The Sherrill campaign also launched a digital ad targeting Ciattarelli.

“They broke the law by attacking a veteran,” the narrator accused on the spot.

Sherrill, when asked why she didn’t attend her graduation, said during the debate: “I didn’t denounce some of my classmates, so I didn’t march at the graduation because I come from an incredibly responsible place.” But I continued to get my degree. I was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy.

And she reiterated that she did not want to give Ciattarelli and his campaign access to the files of her Naval Academy classmates.

And she asked: “Why is my opponent still not taking responsibility for the publication of these documents. There is currently a federal investigation that says a member of his team, someone he selected to become his lieutenant governor, actually had access to these documents, said he was shocked and disgusted, and yet still sold them to reporters when asked about it, he acted like he had no idea what his campaign was doing.

“So either he’s really incompetent or he’s lying,” she argued.

Representative Mikie Sherrill, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for New Jersey, answers questions from reporters following a debate October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Paul Steinhauser-Fox News)

Ciattarelli quickly responded, calling on Sherrill to release her records.

“We know for a fact that she was not allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony. We know for a fact that her name was not on the graduation drill schedule. She says it’s because she didn’t return her classmates. That’s the honor code at West Point. That’s not the honor code at the Naval Academy. You don’t get punished for that. I think she was punished for something else,” he said. supported.

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While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are highly competitive in gubernatorial elections, winning five of the last ten elections.

And in the race to 2025, political history favors both parties.

The party that wins the White House tends to lose gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia the following year, which favors the Democrats. But New Jersey Democrats are also trying to buck history: It’s been more than six decades since a party won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in the Garden State.