With two days to go, New Jersey’s governor’s race is deadlocked at 49–49, setting the stage for a seismic Republican upset in a state that Democrats have run like their personal fiefdom for decades.
Jack Ciattarelli is on offense. He’s running on the issues that matter: crushing tax burdens, soaring energy costs, crushing housing regulations and the unchecked overdevelopment strangling suburbs. He’s not pretending he can fix New Jersey from Washington – he’s promising to fix it from Trenton.
Mikie Sherrill is taking a different tack. She’s draping herself in every big-name Democrat she can find, from Barack Obama to Pete Buttigieg. She’s trying to turn this election into a referendum on Donald Trump, as if New Jerseyans don’t have their own worries.
Sherrill’s rallies have become glamour tours. Newark was the backdrop for her “gateway to America” speech. But her message is national talk-show chatter, not answers to New Jersey’s affordability crisis.
Ciattarelli is unafraid. He refuses celebrity crutches. He’s hitting every neighborhood, every diner, every corner of the state. “I know these streets,” he tells voters. “I know these problems. And I know how to fix them.”
He’s setting clear priorities:
• Tax relief. New Jerseyans pay the highest property taxes in America. Ciattarelli will slash rates and repeal wasteful surcharges.
• Energy affordability. He’ll unleash more competition, ban special interest bailouts and force utilities to lower bills.
• Housing freedom. He’ll overhaul zoning rules to build responsibly and ease desperate shortages.
• Public safety. He’ll restore local control, back the police and end sanctuary-state status that invites chaos.
• Education excellence. He’ll empower parents, strip away woke mandates and bring real accountability to schools.
On cultural issues, Ciattarelli is honest, not ideological. He defends women’s and girls’ sports. He laughs off Sherrill’s gender-branding tour: “She’ll remind you she’s a woman. Fine. I’ll remind you I’m a man.” The applause is unmistakable.
Sherrill’s answer? More DC politics. She declared New Jersey the “epicenter of our democracy.” She rails against “hits from Trump and Washington.” But when voters ask about property tax relief or public safety, she points to her guest list.
Republicans are mobilizing. Vivek Ramaswamy and Byron Donalds have rallied behind Ciattarelli. Donald Trump plugged in via phone – calling Sherrill “fake and corrupt” and mocking her “unusual name.” That line got a roar, but Ciattarelli knows Trump is toxic here. He’s kept his own footing, energizing the base without alienating moderates.
Turnout is surging. Early and mail ballots are already half of 2021’s total, and real election-day crowds are set to swell. New Jersey hasn’t seen this level of excitement around a GOP candidate in years.
This isn’t just another governor’s race. It’s a showdown: local solutions vs. national soundbites. Real leadership vs. celebrity endorsements. Opportunity vs. entitlement.
New Jerseyans know who has the plan—and who has the speeches. On Election Day, they’ll decide whether to keep the same old failures in Trenton or to hand Jack Ciattarelli the keys to revival.
