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The Democratic and Republican nominees in a crucial election for governor in New Jersey are trading fire over taxes in one of the most heavily taxed states in the nation.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the 2025 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, on Friday launched a new ad labeling her GOP rival Jack Ciattarelli “high tax Jack.”
And Ciattarelli, following the first debate between the two candidates, emphasized on social media that Sherrill “refused to rule out raising your taxes.”
Taxes, along with affordability, are top issues on the New Jersey campaign trail in one of the most expensive states in the country.
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The Sherrill campaign ad spotlights the “taxes are on the table” comment made by Ciattarelli running mate Jim Gannon earlier this week at the lieutenant governor’s debate.
“Whoa Jack, what the [bleep] did your guy just say,” says the narrator in the digital spot.
The debate answer by Gannon, a county sheriff, came as he was asked whether the Ciattarelli administration would consider increasing taxes on millionaires.
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“We have to look at it. You have to look at the whole thing,” Gannon added. “What I’m saying is, millionaires, we can’t just beat up the millionaires. The millionaires, many times, are employers; they’re employing us.”
Following the debate, the Ciattarelli campaign said that Gannon meant to say that cutting taxes is on the table, not raising them.
Ciattarelli, who came close to defeating Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, appeared to do some cleanup in a Fox News Digital interview the day after the debate.
“There will be no tax increases under Governor Ciattarelli. And I would put forth a very specific plan on how to decrease the income tax and the property tax here in New Jersey. No tax increases,” he said.
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The crossfire over taxes came a week after Sherrill, at her first debate with Ciattarelli, appeared to give her rival some political ammunition with her answer to a question on whether she’d consider raising the sales tax if elected governor.
“I’m not going to commit to anything right now, because I’m not just going to tell you what you want to hear,” Sherrill responded.
Ciattarelli took to social media following the debate to write, “Both candidates were asked tonight if they would commit to not raising your taxes as Governor. Only one would. It was me. Mikie refused. Hear that loud & clear New Jersey: Mikie Sherrill refused to rule out raising your taxes. Here’s the truth: We just can’t afford Mikie.”
But the next day, Sherrill, in a campaign release, committed to not increasing the sales tax.
“I will not raise the sales tax as your governor,” she said.
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Taxes were the top concern on the minds of New Jersey voters in a Fox News poll released this week.
In spontaneous, unprompted replies, 34% said taxes are the biggest problem facing the state, with 20% saying the cost of living. Other issues like housing and energy costs, were mentioned by 5% or fewer.
The poll, which was conducted Sept. 25–28, indicated that Sherrill was preferred by 16 points among those whose priority is the cost of living, while tax voters favored Ciattarelli by 5 points.
Sherrill, a Navy veteran who flew helicopters during her years in the military and who later served as a federal prosecutor before first winning election to Congress in 2018, held a 7-point lead over Ciattarelli among registered voters questioned in the Fox News survey.
But Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker and a certified public accountant who started a medical publishing company before getting into politics, touted in his Fox News Digital interview that “the energy is off the charts, and the fact that I’m being endorsed by Democratic mayors around the state says a whole lot about people wanting change here in the state of New Jersey.”
The two candidates will face off next week in their second and final debate before voters head to the polls in the election to succeed term-limited Murphy.
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