In waning days of campaign, Mikie Sherrill says Jack Ciattarelli won’t fight for all

As the New Jersey governor’s race enters its final stretch, Democratic candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill on Oct. 7 answered questions at a bilingual town hall hosted by the Univision Spanish-language network.

Sherrill told viewers that as a mother, she is fighting for a brighter future for New Jersey.

“Jason and I are raising our four kids here in New Jersey, and we want for them what probably all of you want for your kids and so many people viewing today: a great opportunity here in the Garden State,” Sherrill said, according to a transcript of her opening statement. “So that’s why I have a plan to do just that, to drive costs down. On day one, I’m going to declare a state of emergency on utility costs, freezing rate hikes for families. I’m going to cut through red tape and permitting so we can make sure our small businesses thrive, because they’re really the lifeblood of so many of our communities.”

Sherrill first made her pledge to freeze electric rate increases for one year in August. She also promised to make it easier to increase energy production in New Jersey if elected.

“Our utility bills have gone up by 20% this summer. New Jerseyans are hurting, and I hear it from families all across the state,” Sherrill said in a press conference Aug. 21 outside the home of Herb and Mary Michitsch in Kenilworth. “I’ll massively expand cheaper, cleaner power generation and building an energy arsenal in our state.”

Sherrill’s Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, has said rising utility prices have helped him politically.

“This past spring, there was a 17% [electric] rate increase that was passed. How much is that helping you?” Fox Business host Dagen McDowell asked Ciattarelli during an on-air interview Sept. 27.

Ciattarelli responded, “It’s a big help. I mean, listen, I wish that New Jerseyans were never getting this pain from their monthly electric bill, Dagen, but you’re spot-on.”

At a campaign rally over the summer, he also floated the idea of cutting taxes for the wealthy and praised the state of Tennessee for its revenue system, which is heavily reliant on sales tax — a setup that has been shown to create a relatively higher tax burden for those who earn the least.

Ciattarelli’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that allies of Ciattarelli’s campaign have disproportionately excluded nonwhite areas in its campaign ad targeting.

According to the Inquirer, of the nine counties targeted by Ciattarelli-aligned super PAC Change NJ in its most recent ad buy, all but two were more white than the state average.

A spokesperson for the PAC told the Inquirer that the YouTube ads only make up about a fifth of the group’s video budget and that they are reaching nonwhite voters through other platforms.

“This is just another example of how Jack and his MAGA allies refuse to take Black and Hispanic voters seriously,” Sherrill campaign communications director Sean Higgins said in a statement. “Mikie will be a governor for every community, but Jack has never shown up for Black and Latino communities with his voice or his vote — instead he dismissed the importance of Black and Hispanic voters and defended school segregation.”