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In the Garden State, the big prize on Election Day goes to the winner of the gubernatorial race. Phil Murphy will be term-limited out of Trenton, so the race comes down to two familiar faces. One is Democratic U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill, the former Navy pilot currently serving her fourth term in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional district. The other is Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who nearly upset Murphy’s bid for a second term as governor in 2021. Award-winning columnist for NorthJersey.com Mike Kelly appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to handicap the big race on the other side of the Hudson.
When pressed by host Larry Mendte, Kelly stressed that he thinks Ciattarelli is simply better at getting his message out there: “I don’t know if you’ve seen his ads or not, but he’s basically saying, ‘Let’s not talk about Trump; let’s talk about what’s going on in New Jersey.’ And his main focus right now is cost of living and immigration. Those two issues resonate with people on the ground- voters; the so-called purple voters that you and I have talked about a lot. These are the voters who go back and forth on elections, depending on the candidate, depending on the issue. Mikie Sherrill is just not out there, and you don’t need to look at the calendar to know that time is getting short here.”
Kelly feels Sherrill could still pull out the win, but would need to make up a lot more ground with the voters to do it: “The question is, can she distance herself from Governor Murphy… It’s going to come down to who can get out the most votes, but I think in the debates, that Ciattarelli will be a very powerful force. He seems to have his message together, and I’m not sure she has her message together.”
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