Ciattarelli and Sherrill clash in first gubernatorial debate

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican former Assembly member Jack Ciattarelli faced off Sept. 21 at Rider University in the first of two debates as they campaign to be New Jersey’s next governor.

In the 90-minute town hall-style debate, the candidates fielded questions from moderators and from members of the public.

From the get-go, Sherrill and Ciattarelli were trading barbs.

“For those who have been following Jack’s race, you’ve heard a lot of nonsense. And you’re going to hear a lot more tonight,” Sherrill said in her opening remarks. “But there’s a clear choice. In 1990, Jack took his first of many votes to raise your taxes. That was the same year I took my first of many oaths to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. He’ll support abortion bans; I’ll support your personal freedoms. He’ll do whatever Trump tells him to do, and I will fight anybody to work for you.”

Ciattarelli responded by blaming Sherrill and Democrats for problems New Jersey faces, including higher energy prices and crime.

“My opponent will blame all of these things on the president,” Ciattarelli said. “Make no mistake:. The party that’s controlled our Legislature for 25 years, the party that’s controlled the executive branch for the eight years, are the reason why we are today.”

Sherrill said that Ciattarelli has never done anything with the power he had to push things in the direction he now says he wants to take New Jersey as governor: “Jack’s been in office before, and a lot of the things he complains about, he was the architect of.”

She underscored her plan to declare a state of emergency on energy costs and freeze energy rate hikes, and discussed making it easier to navigate the construction permitting process in the state..

“That’s the kind of transparency, accountability and costs savings I’m going to bring to government,” Sherrill said. “Jack doesn’t have a plan to do it because all he does is say that Trump’s right.”

Ciattarelli responded: “What you just got is 60 seconds of generalities and platitudes.”

He suggested a different route of eliminating certain taxes, like making retirement income and income for new graduates tax-free and freezing property taxes for those over age 70.

The two particularly clashed on the issue of racially segregated schools in New Jersey. A 2017 report issued by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, showed that New Jersey has the sixth most segregated school system in the country and is currently facing a lawsuit over the issue filed by a group that includes the Latino Action Network and the NAACP New Jersey State Conference.

Asked by a moderator what he would do to reduce segregation in New Jersey schools, Ciattarelli said: “We do have the most segregated schools, but I wonder if we would be having this discussion if the performance of schools with predominantly Black student populations were outperforming schools with predominantly white populations. We need to get back on day one to improving all of our schools, and I intend to do that with a high-impact curriculum.” He also said he was going to give communities with failing schools “choice. My opponent is not going to give them choice.”

Sherrill, mentioning county-base school systems and tutoring to help improve schools, seized on his answer to contrast Ciattarelli’s approach with hers.

“I think what you just heard is a very clear difference,” she said. “I care deeply about our school system and I’m going to make sure it performs better. I’m going to make sure that we’re educating children for the future, especially with AI coming. But I’m also going to attack the segregation that we have going on in the state. My opponent doesn’t care about that. He just wants to talk about the schools but has not come forward with any solution for the segregation. I care about both.”

Given a chance for a final word, Ciattarelli said: “We could integrate the Newark school system tomorrow, and it’s not going to improve student performance. We need to change the curriculum.”

On vaccines, Sherrill said New Jersey parents should be very worried about reports that childhood vaccination rates are backsliding so much in the United States that some illnesses that hadve largely been eradicated, like mumps and measles, could make a return.

“These are eminently curable diseases and we are allowing children to get sick, and yes, die, because we are not appropriately following medical research, vaccine protocol, and as governor of this state I’m joining the northeast group of governors that is going to ensure that we follow medical guidelines and keep our kids safe,” she said.

Ciattarelli responded that he, too, is concerned about declining vaccine rates.

“Once we fall below the threshold for herd immunity, it’s of great concern in the community,” he said. “And so I support the vaccine schedule with regard to measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, polio, on down the line. We’ve got to get above the threshold for herd immunity to keep our community safe.”

Sherril responded to that with doubt about whether Ciattarelli believes that, citing the difference between his statement in the debate and what he’s actually said on the campaign trail.

“I keep hearing around the state, Jack Ciattarelli will tell anybody whatever they want to hear,” Sherril said. “And I think we just saw that tonight. Because he hasn’t actually stood up for vaccines. He hasn’t stood against RFK. He hasn’t mentioned anything about firing the head of the CDC. He doesn’t mention anything about how Trump’s appointee gets most of his medical information on TikTok and Reels. This is not somebody who is going to keep our kids healthy.”

Sherrill and Ciattarelli will face each other again Oct. 8 in the second and final gubernatorial debate, at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in New Brunswick.