Political experts who watched the debate were divided on how the candidates fared on stage, but all of them told The Post that Mikie Sherrill had much sharper attacks than in the first debate.

“B-” for both candidates, said Dan Cassino, a politics professor and executive director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll.

“This was more acrimonious than we’ve seen in the past,” Cassino explained. “They both hit their talking points. Did what they set out to do. Nobody landed a real knockout blow or a huge viral moment that’s going to define this debate.”

“This was very much a draw.”

“A” for Jack Ciattarelli and “D” for Sherrill, Republican strategist Jeanette Hoffman said.

“She’s definitely sharpened her attacks on Jack, because the polls are tightening, right?” Hoffman explained. “I actually thought that was pretty unhinged and unfounded.”

“She was clearly more prepared in this debate in terms of some specifics, not a lot. But I feel [in] this debate, she showed a little bit more desperation.”

“A+” for Sherrill and a “C-” for Ciattarelli, Democratic Strategist Laura Matos said.

“He continued to denigrate her record of public service and misrepresent his positions on everything from affordability to abortion to even how long schools were closed in New Jersey due to Covid,” Matos said.

And that’s a wrap.

The very acrimonious debate between Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Rep. Mikie Sherrill has officially concluded.

One question the two candidates struggled over was a request to compliment the other.

“I really appreciate that his son is serving,” Mikie Sherrill said.

Jack Ciattarelli tersely replied, “Her military service.”

The moderators then asked, “Anything else?” but drew crickets.

Republican Jack Ciattarelli pledged to safeguard free speech in New Jersey regardless of what happens at the national level.

“I can’t control what other people say,” he said. “No. 2, I won’t be afraid to step up for the people in New Jersey, every day of the week, if something is taking place that disadvantages them in any way, including their constitutional rights.”

“There will be free speech here in the state of New Jersey.”

Republican Jack Ciattarelli clarified his pro-choice stance on abortion and declared that New Jersey is not Texas on that hot-button issue.

“I’ve always supported a woman’s right to choose, and I said yes to that question back in 2021,” he said. “What I don’t support is celebrating abortion the way the current administration does. What I don’t support is making New Jersey the abortion capital of the country.”

“I don’t support that, let alone using taxpayer dollars to do that. I also support something that my opponent does not, parental notification.”

“We are not Texas.”

Rep. Mikie Sherrill cast doubt on that, saying “these are not pro-choice positions.”

Rep. Mikie Sherrill dug into her attack against Jack Ciattarelli over his ties to pharma industry-backed training materials about opiates that his company produced.

“I think you’re trying to divert from the fact that you killed tens of thousands of people by printing your misinformation, your propaganda, and then getting paid to develop an app so that people could more easily get the opioids once they were addicted,” she said.

Ciattarelli shot back, “I got to walk at my college graduation” — a reference to her facing discipline at the US Naval Academy for her involved in the cheating scandal.

“I’ve never broken the law. She had to pay federal fines for breaking federal law on stock trades and stock reporting and the New York Times reports,” he added.

During his closing remarks, Republican Jack Ciattarelli unloaded on Rep. Mikie Sherrill, accusing her of peddling mass lies about him.

“My opponent has based her entire campaign on a stack of lies about me, her disdain for the President, and that’s not going to fix New Jersey,” he said.

“What we need are solutions here in New Jersey, her party has controlled the legislature for 25 years, they’ve had the executive branch for the last eight years, can anybody honestly say that things are better off?”

Rep. Mikie Sherrill abruptly pivoted from a question about the unemployment rate in New Jersey to launch a scathing attack on Republican Jack Ciattarelli’s business.

“My opponent likes to talk a lot about being a businessman, but I think what New Jersey doesn’t know much about his business, how he made his millions by working with some of the worst offenders and saying that opioids were safe, putting out propaganda, publishing their propaganda,” she said.

“Tens of thousands of New Jerseyans died. And as if that wasn’t enough, then he was paid to develop an app so that people who were addicted could more easily get access to opioids.”

Sherrill was referring to a NJ.com report that came out at the end Ciattarelli’s last run for governor that spotlighted a $12.2 million contract one of his companies took from 2007 to 2016 to publish pharma industry talking points about opioids.

READ MORE

Jack Ciattarelli voiced support for President Trump’s immigration crackdown, and said as governor New Jersey would not be a sanctuary state.

“I support the president in securing the border, I believe it was a matter of national security, I think it’s my role as governor to keep the state safe and will do that one day one by not having sanctuary cities in our state nor will we be a sanctuary state,” the GOP businessman said.

Ciattarelli added that he believes sanctuary policies both encourage illegal immigration and hinder local police from doing their jobs.

Republican Jack Ciattarelli downplayed the possibility of President Trump dispatching federal troops to the Garden State if he’s elected.

“I’ve told the president [that he] and the people of New Jersey will never have to worry about New Jersey, because as governor we will have safe communities,” he said.

“I appoint the Attorney General. I appoint the 21 county prosecutors. I appoint the superintendent of state police, and we’re going to be a law and order state again.”

He also said he would abolish sanctuary cities in the state.

Acknowledging the high rate of unemployment in New Jersey, Jack Ciattarelli vowed to bring that down with business-friendly policies.

“I’m going to grow the economy by making New Jersey a better place to do business,” he said. “That means lowering the highest business tax in a nation, lessening regulations without screwing the consumer residents, or doing irreparable harm to the environment.”

The two candidates battled over the Gateway Tunnel Project that had federal funding put on hold several days ago amid the partial government shutdown.

“The bad news is it is shut down right now. I hope that it ends any moment, if not tomorrow. The good news with regard to the Gateway Project, which is critically important and a quintessential governmental infrastructure program,” he said.

“It’s a negotiation is taking place with the Congress.”

Mikie Sherrill downplayed the role of the government shutdown in the federal funding hold on the project.

“This is not tied to the shutdown. This is simply the President saying he’s freezing the Gateway Tunnel funds, which he should not be able to do,” she countered. “And in my administration, I take him to court over it, because those are congressionally appropriated funds.”