New Jersey gubernatorial candidates Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli presented sharply differing views on education and Princeton’s relationship to the state at their first debate held on Sunday in Lawrenceville.
The University has enjoyed a particularly close relationship with outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy through the New Jersey AI Hub, a partnership funded with $25 million in state money along with contributions from Microsoft and Coreweave.
Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee, criticized the partnership.
“I thought [the funding] should have gone to our public universities like NJIT or Rutgers,” Ciattarelli said. “My first job is to take care of our public university colleges and our public college university students.”
On the other hand, Sherrill, a Democrat currently serving in Congress, strongly supported the University’s relationship with the state, stating that she wants to “ensure that we’re continuing to push money into our ally University, including where we are improving innovation, driving up our research,” and even “taking the federal government into court” to win back research funding suspended by the Trump administration.
Throughout the night, the candidates addressed numerous issues implicating college students, ranging from escalating housing rents and income tax to mental health and public transit.
Early in the debate, Ciattarelli proposed eliminating the first two years of income tax for recent college and high school graduates. He addressed the high housing rent and N.J.’s status as a state with one of the highest property taxes.
Ciattarelli also presented a number of proposals to help alleviate housing concerns, including numerous senior tax exemptions, capping property taxes for first-home buyers, and the two-year income-tax exemption for citizens right out of school.
Sherrill addressed these concerns by advocating for equitable cost distributions for services and school administrations across municipalities, as well as supporting senior citizens through the Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters (ANCHOR) program.
The candidates also discussed mental health and privacy in public K–12 schools.
The congresswoman advocated for an increase in mental health counselors and described AI as bringing “a whole extra set of issues” regarding mental health.
Ciattarelli responded by emphasizing that school districts “should not be keeping secrets from parents.”
The candidates also addressed the U.S. Department of Education and the state of public education, with Ciattarelli advocating for an overhaul of the entire public school system: “back to basics: teaching critical life skills, providing vocational training opportunities, and a more rigorous academic curriculum,” he said.
Sherrill, on the other hand, encouraged merging some school districts in order to help eliminate unnecessary administrative costs.
“[New Jersey] has more municipalities than California, more school districts than municipalities, and it’s raising costs on everybody,” she said.
Addressing the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education, Sherrill added that she would have her attorney general sue the federal government to “claw back as much money from the federal government as we can” — an act that Ciattarelli called “a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
The candidates also engaged in conversations about improving New Jersey Transit, support for a proposed state sanctuary law, and responses to political violence in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death.
While Sherrill called for improving general maintenance of the rail lines, Ciattarelli proposed bringing all of the state’s mass transportation systems under a single authority: the Garden State Transportation Authority. This single entity would have “better management” and “better accountability,” drawing their revenue from the state budget, he said.
Ciattarelli took a definitive stance against the Immigrant Trust Directive, which limits the types of voluntary assistance that state law enforcement officers may provide to federal immigration authorities, and opposed the designation of New Jersey cities as sanctuary cities, which he believes “only encourages immigration and restricts our local law enforcement.”
The Princeton Town Council passed a resolution in support of the directive this summer following a federal immigration raid that arrested 15 people.
Meanwhile, Sherrill emphasized the importance of due process rights and following the Constitution, citing her own experiences with undocumented individuals.
“I’ve prosecuted people who were criminals here and who are undocumented. They were deported because I care deeply about public safety for the people here,” the congresswoman said.
In a press gaggle following the debate, Sherrill declined to take a definitive stance on the Immigrant Trust Directive.
New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to be holding gubernatorial elections this fall, marking the first elections to take place since President Trump took office in January. The Lieutenant Governor debate will be held on Sept. 30 at Kean University, and the second gubernatorial debate will be held on Oct. 8 at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. The election will be held on Nov. 4.
Luke Grippo is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from South Jersey and usually covers University and town politics, on a national, regional, and local scale. He can be reached at lg5452@princeton.edu.
Clara Docherty is a staff News writer for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Lafayette, N.J., and typically covers campus clubs and institutional legacy. She can be reached at clara.docherty@princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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