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The New Jersey gubernatorial debate got tense and personal on Wednesday night after GOP candidate Jack Ciattarelli mocked his Democratic opponent, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, over her involvement in a massive cheating scandal at the U.S. Naval Academy that kept her from participating in her graduation.
The exchange was kicked off by Sherrill accusing Ciattarelli of being responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, saying, “He made his millions by working with some of the worst offenders and saying that opioids were safe.”
In response to this attack, Ciattarelli said, “Shame on you,” and adding, “It’s a lie, I’m proud of my career.”
“The difference between me and the congresswoman? I got to walk at my college graduation,” said Ciattarelli, referencing the Naval Academy scandal.
Republican Jack Ciattarelli (right) faced off against Democrat Rep. Mikie Sherrill (left) during a New Jersey gubernatorial debate on Wednesday night. (Noah K. Murray/AP Photos)
Bombshell private military records that were recently improperly unsealed by the National Archives and Records Administration revealed that Sherrill was not allowed to walk with her graduating class at the Naval Academy and that her name was not included in the commencement program due to her involvement in the scandal.
Sherrill has not been accused of cheating at the Naval Academy but has said she faced disciplinary action for not reporting some of those who had cheated on an exam. Due to this incident, Sherrill’s name was not included on the commencement program during the May 25, 1994, ceremony, according to records obtained by the New Jersey Globe.
Ciattarelli pressed hard on the Naval Academy controversy during Wednesday’s debate. He also accused Sherrill of improperly reporting stock trades during her time in Congress.
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“I’ve never broken the law,” he said. “She had to pay federal fines for breaking federal law on stock trades and stock reporting, and the New York Times reports that she was trading defense stocks while sitting on the House Armed Services Committee.”
Sherrill shot back, “What [Ciattarelli] never learned, despite walking at his graduation, was accountability, integrity, care for the community, and I think that disqualifies him.”
“This is the same old misinformation that he continues to promote, because he knows that I don’t trade in individual stocks, he knows I’ve gone above and beyond that. He also knows he promotes some garbage number, but he actually knows so much about my finances because they’re all to the dollar.”
New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill, right, and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, on the stage moments at the start of their second and final debate, on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News Digital)
Ciattarelli immediately dismissed this, saying, “She released two years of tax returns the years after she paid the federal fines; I released 12 years, going back every single year.”
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In response, Sherrill accused Ciattarelli of releasing the returns right before the debate, “Because you knew I was going to call you on it.”
After that, Ciattarelli whistled and leaned over and remarked, “Getting desperate.”