In their second and final mandatory debate, Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli hammered their message on affordability, a top concern for voters in the race for governor.
And with the election less than a month away, they got personal in their attacks.
"I am laser focused on driving down your costs, making New Jersey more affordable. I'm gonna start by declaring a state of emergency on energy costs," said Sherrill, who has represented New Jersey's 11th Congressional District since 2017. "Make government more accountable to you, making it safer and more affordable. And I'm gonna make sure that I'm always fighting for all of you."
"We have an overdevelopment crisis in our suburban communities. We have an affordability crisis because of property taxes and electricity bills," said Ciattarelli, a former assemblyman making his third run for governor. "We have a public safety crisis because we don't let police do their jobs anymore, and we have a public education crisis because we've watered down the public school curriculum."
With New Jersey and Virginia the only governor's races in this off-year election, they are seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump. Moderators asked each candidate to grade the president. Ciattarelli gave Trump and "A" while Sherrill graded him as a failure.
Both candidates addressed federal funding issues facing New Jersey including the loss of Medicaid support and Trump's decision to freeze Gateway Tunnel money.
Sherrill's Naval academy record was also a point of contention. Sherrill was banned from walking in her graduation and Ciattarelli has pressed for her to release her disciplinary records. Sherrill did not name people who were involved in a cheating scandal.
"I didn't turn in some of my classmates so I didn't walk at graduation, because I come from an incredibly accountable place. But I went on to graduate, I was commissioned an officer in the United States Navy, I held positions of trust throughout the Navy... held the highest levels of security clearance," said Sherrill.
"She says it's because she didn't turn in classmates. That's the honor code at West Point. That's not the honor code at the Naval academy. You don't get punished for that. I think she was punished for something else. I think she needs to come clean," Ciattarelli said.
Sherrill later accused Ciattarelli of being responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of New Jerseyans, tied to his medical publishing company. Both candidates saying "shame on you" after the exchange.
"Tens of thousands here as you published misinformation, as you got more people addicted, as you got paid to develop an app so that more people could get more opioids and die," said Sherrill.
"With regard to everything she just said about my professional career, which provided my family, it's a lie. I'm proud of my career. I got to walk at my college graduation. I never broke the law," Ciattarelli said.