Candidates for N.J. Governor Clash Over Opioids, Trump and Taxes [View all]

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee, and Representative Mikie Sherrill, the Democrat, described starkly different visions for the state in a debate Wednesday.

With less than a month before Election Day, the candidates for governor of New Jersey faced off on Wednesday in a final debate that showcased stark differences in how they plan to lead the state, an accusation of culpability in the opioid epidemic and a rare moment of comity on, of all things, self-serve gasoline.

The hourlong debate between Representative Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, and the Republican nominee, Jack Ciattarelli, also featured flash points over the Trump administration’s release of her military records and its decision to withhold $16 billion for construction of a new commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River that is vital to New Jersey’s economy.

These were some of the key moments in Wednesday’s debate:

Pumping Gas
The candidates did agree on one thing: a law unique to New Jersey that does not permit drivers to pump their own gas.

Ms. Sherrill, who was raised in Virginia, said she had become fond of the custom.

“Especially when my kids were little and in the rain,” she said.

Mr. Ciattarelli also said he would leave the law alone if elected.

“Jersey girls don’t like to pump their own gas,” he said. “We’ll continue at full service.”

((When my daughter was in college, near Philly, she was the only among her friends who knew how to do so; she was born and lived in DC.))

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/nyregion/new-jersey-governors-debate-ciattarelli-sherrill.html