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Sherrill calls Ciattarelli ‘complicit’ in New Jersey opioid deaths
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New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill on Monday doubled down on her declare that Republican opponent Jack Ciatarelli is “complicit” with opioid corporations within the deaths of tens of 1000’s of New Jerseyans.
Talking at a press convention concerning the opioid epidemic within the Backyard State, Sherrill accused Ciatarelli of “on the lookout for methods to assist individuals get entry to the medication that have been killing them” by way of his ties to drug-supported coaching applications.
“So that you heard: Jack made tens of millions,” she stated. “The opioid corporations made billions, and 1000’s of New Jerseyans died.”
When a reporter requested Sherrill if she nonetheless holds Ciatarelli personally answerable for the opioid deaths, the state lawmaker initially hedged her reply.
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New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill on stage initially of their second and last debate on October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, NJ (Paul Steinhauser – Fox Information Digital)
“I believe we have made the case that Jack is complicit with these opioid corporations, in collusion with these opioid corporations,” Sherrill stated.
The reporter asks Sherrill once more, “So that you’re saying he killed tens of 1000’s of New Jersey residents?”
“I believe he is proper concerning the individuals who paid billions of {dollars} once more,” Sherrill responded. “So I believe the road is fairly clear.”
Sherrill first made her claims that Ciatarelli contributed to the opioid epidemic throughout final week’s gubernatorial debate.
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“Concerning every little thing she simply stated about my skilled profession, she supplied that [for] my household, it is a lie. I’m pleased with my profession,” Ciatarelli responded in the course of the debate.
And Ciatarelli’s marketing campaign fired again the day after the talk, vowing to file a defamation lawsuit in opposition to Sherrill.
“Mikie Sherrill has cracked,” Chris Russell, chief strategist for Ciatarelli’s marketing campaign, stated in an announcement Thursday.
“In doing so, she claimed – twice – that Jack Ciatarelli ‘murdered tens of 1000’s of individuals, together with kids,’ a patently defamatory assault that shocked the moderators, the press and the general public alike,” Russell added. “At a time when political violence and violent rhetoric have gotten all too prevalent, Mikie Sherrill crosses the road by baselessly and recklessly accusing a political opponent of mass homicide in a televised debate.”
Democratic New Jersey Governor candidate Mikie Sherrill, proper, and Republican candidate Jack Ciatarelli, on stage initially of their second and last debate, on October 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, NJ (Paul Steinhauser – Fox Information Digital)
The Sherrill marketing campaign responded shortly.
“Jack’s response is to cover behind a lawsuit, not take duty. What’s reckless and irresponsible is that Jack Ciatarelli is making tens of millions of {dollars} benefiting from the ache of New Jerseyans by publishing misinformation concerning the risks of opioid habit and creating an app to educate sufferers to ask medical doctors for extra medication,” argued Sean Higgins, director of marketing campaign communications from Sherrill, in an announcement.
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“Whereas he made tens of millions, Huge Pharma corporations made billions, and tens of 1000’s of New Jerseyans died. He’s clearly unfit to steer and shield this state, and owes the individuals of New Jersey solutions,” Higgins charged.
Ciatarelli, a former state lawmaker and authorized public accountant who began a medical publishing firm earlier than getting into politics and successful election as a state lawmaker, is making his third consecutive run for governor of New Jersey. He drew nationwide consideration 4 years in the past when he almost upset Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.
New Jersey Republican Celebration gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciatarelli solutions questions from reporters after a debate on October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, NJ (Paul Steinhauser – Fox Information)
It was throughout his 2021 marketing campaign that Ciatarelli’s connection to opioid producers first got here to mild. Ciatarelli in 2017 offered his firm, which printed content material selling the usage of opioids as a low-risk remedy for persistent ache.
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At a post-debate press convention final week, Ciatarelli claimed that Sherrill’s assault was “a determined tactic by a determined marketing campaign on behalf of a determined candidate.”
Sherrill, requested after the talk if she had proof straight linking Ciatarelli to the opioid deaths, informed reporters: “I do not assume he is actually stated something about this. I believe there’s so much we do not know. I believe he is nonetheless not very clear about it.”
Consultant Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, solutions questions from reporters after a debate on October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, NJ (Paul Steinhauser – Fox Information)
New Jersey and Virginia are the one two states that retain this standing gubernatorial contests the 12 months after the presidential election, which means the races historically appeal to outsized nationwide consideration.
This 12 months’s poll field battles are seen as essential early exams of Trump’s recognition and second-term agenda, and are thought of essential barometers forward of subsequent 12 months’s midterm elections for the U.S. Home and Senate.
The winner of subsequent month’s elections in New Jersey will succeed term-limited Murphy.
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Whereas Democrats have lengthy dominated federal and state elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are fiercely aggressive in gubernatorial elections, successful 5 of the previous 10 elections.
Within the 2025 race, political historical past favors each events.
The social gathering that wins the White Home tends to lose the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia the next 12 months, which favors the Democrats. However Democrats in New Jersey are additionally attempting to thwart historical past: It has been greater than sixty years since a celebration received three consecutive gubernatorial elections within the Backyard State.