Decision Desk HQ has called the New Jersey governor's race for Mikie Sherrill.
As RedState covered on Monday, the Real Clear Politics average had Sherrill up over Ciattarelli 48.9 percent to 45.6 percent, a slim 3.3 point difference. Other reputable pollsters showed the race even closer, by one to two points. Ciattarelli was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and Trump appeared with Ciattarelli via an October 24 telephone townhall. Trump also lent his voice to local New Jersey radio ads supporting Ciattarelli's candidacy.
Sherrill received campaign support from former Democrat President Barack Obama, who stumped for her over the weekend.
The New Jersey gubernatorial campaign gained national attention, with Ciattarelli showing tremendous momentum, reducing Sherrill's comfortable 10-plus point lead to within the margin of error in the closing days of the race. Sherrill appeared to falter when it was revealed she had been embroiled in a 1994 U.S. Naval Academy cheating scandal and was not allowed to walk in commencement with the rest of her class because of the fallout. Sherill claimed that she was penalized because she refused to name the classmates involved in the cheating. Ciattarelli called for Sherrill's school records to be released, something that Sherrill refused to do. Sherrill also appeared on the radio program "The Breakfast Club," where she could not recall whether she had made $7 million in stock trades during her congressional career.
Sherrill consistently tied Ciattarelli to Trump, accusing him of co-signing Trump's anti-immigrant agenda, and her campaign ads reflected this. In the candidate's third and final debate on October 8, Sherrill accused Ciattarelli of killing “tens of thousands” of people who were addicted to opioids because of information disseminated through a company Ciattarelli formerly owned. Ciattarelli threatened a lawsuit.
The decidedly anti-Trump and anti-ICE sentiment, along with her rock-ribbed Democrat support, worked to get Sherrill over the finish line. Sherrill promised she would continue her fight against President Trump's agenda in Washington and that she would force ICE officers to present identification when making arrests.
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