The top candidates to become New Jersey's next governor are looking to build off Sunday night's debate as they hit the homestretch in this contested race. 

For the first time, Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli went head-to-head on the debate stage, with a little more than six weeks until Election Day on Nov. 4.

Affordability is a key issue

Over the course of the 90-minute town hall-style debate, candidates answered nearly two dozen questions from moderators and voters in the audience. Many of those questions touched on one topic in particular: Affordability.

Whether it was high property taxes, rising utility rates, or the cost of living, candidates each focused on their plans to lower costs for New Jerseyans.

Ciattarelli said his platform includes "Making all retirement income tax-free for our seniors, freezing property taxes once you hit age 70 for life, (and) allowing seniors to deduct 100% of property taxes on their N.J. tax return."

Sherrill said she plans to address the issue by having municipalities share services and costs "and continuing to hammer home the way in which we can support seniors with ANCHOR and STAY New Jersey," which are tax relief programs. 

Sherrill also promised to declare an emergency and freeze utility rate hikes.

Micah Rasmussen, one of the debate moderators and director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said New Jersey has long been a high-cost state and that likely won't change anytime soon, regardless of who wins.

"You're not going to hear these candidates say that they're going to drive down the high cost of living. Because it ain't going to happen," Rasmussen said. "What they can hope to do is tinker at the edges. What they can do is stop the rate of growth."

The candidates also debated the reasons behind the rising cost of living. Sherrill pointed to the Trump administration, discussing federal funding cuts, tariffs and inflation. Ciattarelli, meanwhile, pointed at Democrats holding the governor's office for the last eight years, and the state legislature for the last two decades.

Rasmussen says he expects this question to play an important role for voters over the next six weeks.

"Do more New Jerseyans blame the national economy and President Trump and those tariffs and that inflation? Or do more blame Gov. Murphy and the current condition of New Jersey, and the economy here?" Rasmussen said.

New Jersey sales tax questions

One of the more contentious pieces of the 2025 New Jersey gubernatorial campaign has become questions over a possible sales tax increase. A controversial ad running during the campaign accuses Ciattarelli of "talking about" a 10% sales tax.

Ciattarelli was asked directly about it during the debate.

"We are not raising the sales tax here in New Jersey," Ciattarelli said.

Rasmussen said it was the moment that stood out for him from the GOP candidate.

"He emphatically swatted that back. He said, 'I will not be raising the sales tax.' I thought that was an important moment for him," Rasmussen said. "Because that's something that I think the Sherrill campaign has been pretty effective in saying, 'Well, you've talked about it.' I think that's fair game, candidate's talking about it. He emphatically said no, it's not going to happen. I think it was an important moment for him, and probably the most important point that he had to make."

The current sales tax rate in the state is 6.625%.

Rasmussen says his most memorable moment from Sherrill didn't come from a policy discussion or heated exchange. For him, it came when a man in the audience of nearly 1,500 people yelled profanity as the Democratic nominee was speaking.

"Bull****," a man yelled as Sherril was speaking.

"Hey, we have kids in here," Sherrill responded.

"That underrated, underappreciated moment really showed us that we're looking at a mom here. We're looking at a mom who is looking out for the interests of the kids," Rasmussen said. "I was really impressed by that. It was not something she could've prepared for, not something she had a canned response. It was more a human, mother, response."

Candidates address national issues

National attention is coming to the New Jersey governor's race for several reasons. It's one of only two gubernatorial elections nationwide in 2025, along with Virginia. It's also the first election test for President Trump after he retook the White House in January.

Mr. Trump was a focus for several questions, with Sherrill saying multiple times Ciattarelli wouldn't "stand up" to the president. Ciattarelli did not criticize Mr. Trump during the debate, and he highlighted parts of Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill Act that he says are helping New Jersey. But he also claimed no New Jersey Republican "has had a more independent streak than I have," saying he called on leaders like Chris Christie to step down.

Other national topics included immigration, with the candidates disagreeing over New Jersey's Immigrant Trust Directive. The 2018 rule limits the assistance state and local law enforcement can provide to federal authorities, including Immigrations and Custom Enforcement.

Candidates were asked if they would continue or repeal the directive.

"Executive order No. 1, Day 1, we're getting rid of the Immigrant Trust Directive here in N.J.," Ciattarelli said to applause from his supporters in the room. "I believe the Immigrant Trust Directive, us having sanctuary cities, us being a sanctuary state, encourages illegal immigration and restricts our local law enforcement."

Sherrill did not directly answer whether she would continue or end the directive, but pointed to her background as a federal prosecutor.

"I care deeply about public safety for the people here, and I think we can all agree that violent criminals should be deported. But what I also believe deeply in is due process," Sherrill said. "The due process rights that are in our Constitution. So I'll follow the law and I'll follow the Constitution."

Race tightens

Rasmussen said this race is likely tightening as we near November.

"The last governor's race in New Jersey was tight, 3 to 4 points. There's nothing to suggest that's not the case now," Rasmussen said. "We are getting down to a really head-to-head race here in which every vote is going to count, crisscrossing the state is going to count."

In that race, Ciattarelli lost to current Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat. Murphy is term-limited.