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New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill on Monday doubled down on her declare that Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli is “complicit” with opioid corporations within the deaths of tens of hundreds of New Jerseyans.
Sherrill spoke throughout a press convention on the Backyard State’s opioid epidemic, accusing Ciattarelli of “taking a look at methods to assist folks get entry to the medication that had been killing them” via his ties to pharmaceutical-backed coaching applications.
“So that you heard it, Jack made thousands and thousands,” she mentioned. “The opioid corporations made billions, and hundreds of New Jerseyans had been dying.”
When a reporter requested Sherrill if she nonetheless holds Ciattarelli personally answerable for the opioid deaths, the state lawmaker initially hedged her reply.
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New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill, on the stage moments at the beginning of their second and ultimate debate on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox Information Digital)
“I believe we have laid out the case that Jack is complicit with these opioid corporations, in league with these opioid corporations,” Sherrill mentioned.
The reporter asks Sherrill once more, “So that you’re saying he killed tens of hundreds of New Jersey residents?”
“I believe he’s proper there with the those that once more paid billions of {dollars},” Sherrill replied. “So I believe that the road is fairly clear.”
Sherrill first made her claims that Ciattarelli contributed to the opioid epidemic throughout final week’s gubernatorial debate.
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Ciattarelli fired again the day after the controversy, pledging to file a defamation lawsuit in opposition to Sherrill.
“Mikie Sherrill cracked,” Ciattarelli marketing campaign chief strategist, Chris Russell charged in an announcement Thursday.
“In doing so, she claimed — twice — that Jack Ciattarelli ‘killed tens of hundreds of individuals, together with youngsters,’ a clearly defamatory assault that shocked the moderators, press, and public alike,” Russell added. “In a time the place political violence and violent rhetoric have gotten all too prevalent, Mikie Sherrill baselessly and recklessly accusing a political opponent of mass homicide in a televised debate crosses the road.”
New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill, proper, and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, on the stage moments at the beginning of their second and ultimate debate, on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox Information Digital)
The Sherrill marketing campaign rapidly responded.
“Jack’s response is to cover behind a lawsuit, to not take accountability. What’s reckless and irresponsible is Jack Ciattarelli making thousands and thousands of {dollars} profiting off the ache of New Jerseyans — publishing misinformation concerning the risks of opioid habit and creating an app to educate sufferers to ask docs for extra medication,” Sherrill marketing campaign communications director Sean Higgins argued in an announcement.
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“As he was making thousands and thousands, the Large Pharma corporations made billions, and tens of hundreds of New Jerseyans died. He’s clearly unfit to steer and defend this state, and owes the folks of New Jersey solutions,” Higgins charged.
Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker and an authorized public accountant who began a medical publishing firm earlier than moving into politics and profitable election as a state lawmaker, is making his third straight run for New Jersey governor. 4 years in the past, he grabbed nationwide consideration as he got here near upsetting Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.
Jack Ciattarelli, the GOP gubernatorial nominee in New Jersey, takes questions from reporters following a debate on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox Information)
It was throughout his 2021 marketing campaign that Ciattarelli’s connection to opioid producers first surfaced. Ciattarelli bought his firm, which revealed content material selling using opioids as a low-risk therapy for persistent ache, in 2017.
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At a post-debate information convention final week, Ciattarelli claimed the assault by Sherrill was “a determined tactic by a determined marketing campaign on behalf of a determined candidate.”
Sherrill, requested after the controversy if she had proof instantly linking Ciattarelli to the opioid deaths, advised reporters, “I assume he’s not likely expressed something about this. I believe there’s rather a lot we don’t know. I believe he continues to not be very clear about it.”
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in New Jersey, takes questions from reporters following a debate on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox Information)
New Jersey and Virginia are the one two states to carry gubernatorial contests the 12 months after a presidential election, which implies the races historically seize outsized nationwide consideration.
This 12 months’s poll field showdowns are considered as essential early exams of Trump’s reputation and second-term agenda, and are thought-about key barometers forward of subsequent 12 months’s midterm elections for the U.S. Home and Senate.
The winner of subsequent month’s election in New Jersey will succeed the term-limited Murphy.
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Whereas Democrats have lengthy dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very aggressive in gubernatorial contests, profitable 5 out of the previous ten elections.
Within the 2025 race, political historical past favors each events.
The social gathering that wins the White Home tends to lose the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections the next 12 months, which favors the Democrats. However Democrats in New Jersey are additionally attempting to buck historical past — it has been over six many years since a celebration gained three straight Backyard State gubernatorial elections.
