Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) are set to face off in their second New Jersey gubernatorial debate Wednesday night, but two MLB playoff games might dim the bright spotlight on the race to be the next Garden State governor.
The gubernatorial debate will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. Viewers can expect to watch Sherrill and Ciattarelli go toe to toe on energy and affordability, two of the most important topics to both voters and the candidates throughout this gubernatorial race.
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The two sparred over energy prices during the September debate, as Ciattarelli ripped Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D-NJ) offshore wind energy policies, while Sherrill blamed the Trump administration’s funding cuts and utility companies for high costs. The affordability debate in New Jersey extends far beyond energy policies, seeping into housing costs and healthcare.
The government shutdown could also pervade the stage on Wednesday, as the two candidates have traded barbs online over which party is responsible for the government shutdown that froze funds for the $16 million “Gateway” Hudson Tunnel Project.
Likewise, the two candidates could continue their push-and-pull over the National Archives’s release of Sherrill’s unredacted military records to a Ciattarelli ally or over a 30-year-old Naval Academy cheating scandal, in which Sherrill, a Naval Academy student at the time, did not cheat but also did not report the names of her classmates who did.
A spokesperson for the Ciattarelli campaign previewed his debate plans in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“Jack will continue to highlight his affordability agenda and the positive changes he will bring to Trenton, while we expect his opponent, Mikie Sherrill, will continue to avoid answering questions directly, especially when it comes to her specific plans on property taxes, lowering utility rates, or why she won’t release her disciplinary records from the Naval Academy that would explain what she was punished for regarding her involvement in [the] cover-up of the largest honor code violation in the academy’s history,” the Ciatterelli spokesperson said.
Sherrill’s campaign did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
The congresswoman has consistently led Ciattarelli in head-to-head polls throughout the race, but a late-September Emerson College poll showed the two candidates tied at 43%.
As the stakes are raised in Wednesday’s debate in light of the Emerson College poll, one of the only things that could take New Jersey political junkies’ eyes off the debate is if they are also baseball fans. Both the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies are fighting to continue their run in the MLB playoffs on Wednesday, with the Yankees’ first pitch at the same time as the debate.
Nearly half of all New Jersey adults are “very interested” or “somewhat interested” in baseball, in a state that is a breeding ground for sports fans between two major sports cities: New York and Philadelphia. The state’s fandom is largely split between New York Yankees and Mets fans in the north and Phillies fans in the south.
Forty-seven percent of the state’s baseball fans are Yankees fans, according to a 2018 Quinnipiac poll of 1,147 New Jersey adults, with 20% Phillies fans. The numbers have stayed relatively consistent over the years, with a 2013 Monmouth University poll showing Yankees fans make up 52% of the state’s baseball fans and the Phillies at 19%. The Monmouth poll also showed 62% of New Jerseyians have a favorable view of baseball.
Last week’s winner-take-all game between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card round garnered a record 7.44 million viewers. MLB viewership also typically rises during the postseason as the World Series approaches.
Ciattarelli has gone on record before in support of the Yankees, reposting a team Facebook post this week.
“Like the Yanks — it’s all gas, no brakes for this campaign!” Ciattarelli wrote. “Let’s bring home the win for New Jersey.”
Sherrill has not yet pledged allegiance to the Yankees or Phillies, but she did post from MetLife Stadium with former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber in late September.
The Yankees play the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night at 7:08 p.m. at Yankee Stadium, down 2-1 to their rival from the north in the best-of-five series. The series has caught some political attention, given President Donald Trump’s sparring with Canada over it becoming the “51st state” earlier this year. Trump, a native New Yorker, has also historically been a Yankees fan.
The Phillies play the Los Angeles Dodgers at 9:08 p.m., down 2-0 in the best-of-five series. Former President Joe Biden, a longtime Phillies fan, attended Monday night’s game.
The Ciattarelli spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the Republican candidate hopes for “news that both teams are winning their games as well” after the gubernatorial debate Wednesday night.
ABC, which is streaming the debate in both New York and Philadelphia, did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment on the anticipated ratings for Wednesday’s debate.