Key moments from final New Jersey governor's debate between Mikie Sherrill, Jack Ciattarelli

Ciattarelli was asked if he supports enshrining the right to an abortion in the state constitution like his opponent does.

"I've always supported a woman's right to choose and I said to yes to that question back in 2021, what I don't support is celebrating abortion the way the current administration does, what I don't support is making New Jersey the abortion capital of the country," Ciattarelli said.

He said he also supports parental notification, citing that in the state of New Jersey, you can't get your ears pierced under the age of 18 without permission from your parents.

"But we're not gonna notify parents when a 16 or 17-year-old is having an abortion performed?" he said. "I think that's terribly wrong."

Sherrill in her rebuttal said that Ciattarelli is peddling misinformation.

"When you put in place things like my opponent has suggested, people die," Sherrill said. "We also have the fact when he was last in office, he voted to defund Planned Parenthood, so these are not pro-choice positions."

When asked about family life, Sherrill said she was most concerned about the mental health of children. She vowed to pass the Kids Online Safety act and send more mental health resources to schools.

Ciattarelli agreed that young children face a mental health crisis. He touted a community mental health center he helped build as a Somerset County Commissioner, "I want to work with our 21 counties of government to do the exact same thing in all 21 counties."

With political tensions high, there are fears of political violence. The candidates were asked if there were concrete things they could do to bring people together.

Sherrill said she will always work to make sure everyone is safe and can speak freely without facing political violence.

Ciattarelli said the way to tamp down the hateful rhetoric is by having the right kind of leadership in place, even when he disagrees with people.

Sherrill slammed republicans over the ongoing government shutdown, "with the President, the Senate, and the House all in GOP hands, the fact is they've got to work to reopen government so workers can get back to work and we can continue to drive down healthcare costs."

Ciattarelli criticized Sherrill's voting record during previous government shutdowns, "When there were shutdowns during the Biden era she voted every time for the continuing resolution to get the government open again. This time around, with Trump in the White House, she voted no."

The candidates discuss the ongoing government shutdown.