Jack Ciattarelli on his message in final days of New Jersey governor's race
Jack Ciattarelli is nearing the end of his third campaign for governor of New Jersey and he's hoping it's the charm.
Amid a huge early voting turnout in the Garden State, the Republican is in a heated race with Democrat Mikie Sherrill to take over for term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy.
Lower taxes
Ciattarelli, appearing Sunday on CBS News New York's "The Point with Marcia Kramer," described his vision for New Jersey if he were to win Tuesday's election.
"Certainly one that's more affordable by lowering taxes and lowering electricity bills, certainly one where the public education system is serving our students better, and certainly one that is safe again. Non-violent crime has spiked in this state because of cashless bail and handcuffing our police in so many different ways. We want safe communities," he said.
Over the campaign's final days, Ciattarelli has been on a bus tour of the state, covering the issues from improving public education to lowering energy costs and property taxes. He said he plans to shrink the size of state government and use a new school funding formula to lower taxes across the state.
"In Pennsylvania, the top income tax bracket is 3%. Ours is nearly 11%. How is it they can do it and we can't?" Ciattarelli said. "We can do this, other states do. We can too."
Sherrill previously said on "The Point" that New Jersey taxes were at a "breaking point" and that raising them is not an option.
The Trump factor
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, a Democrat, suggested Ciattarelli would be ahead of Sherrill "by 12 or 15 points" if President Trump was not in office.
Ciattarelli, who Mr. Trump endorsed, sees the president's second term as an advantage.
"I couldn't disagree with the mayor more. The president's done some really good things for New Jersey, halting the wind farms off the Jersey Shore, beating up on New York Democrats over their congestion pricing plan, the 'big, beautiful bill' puts $4,000-$5,000 more in the pockets of the average, middle-class family here in New Jersey," he said. "We've found out that having his support has generated momentum, particularly among the base."
In another interview with CBS News New York, Ciattarelli spoke more about the president's endorsement, taxes, utility bills and schools.