Fulop states his case against Sherrill in Twitter post

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop outlined what he views as the major differences between his campaign and one of his Democratic primary opponents in the race for governor, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) in a social media post on Sunday, saying that Sherrill’s experience in Congress is very different from running a state.

Fulop said that Sherrill’s “background and rhetoric has avoided the daily scrutiny that comes with local office which makes her very vulnerable in a general election.”

“(Republican Jack) Ciattarelli will have a field day exploiting omissions in her background in what is anticipated to be a brutal campaign. I have been covered every day for twelve years via nj.com and the Jersey Journal,” Fulop said.  “I think her unwillingness to be vocal on defending vulnerable communities or take any position that is risky is a huge liability. You need to be able to win independent voters with a message that is truth and believable. Hiding is not an option.”

He suggested that Sherrill is overplaying her experience as a Navy helicopter pilot, saying that “military service is part of a resume but not a reason.”

“The case for me to be governor has never been based solely on my Marine Corps service,” said Fulop.  “Anyone that follows the race can understand the difference I’m pointing out.”

Fulop is also doubling down on the comparison between his three-terms as mayor of the state’s second-largest city and Sherrill’s nearly seven years as a congresswoman.

“Being a mayor with executive experience is a real difference.  We have 564 municipalities in New Jersey and executive experience matters,” he explained.  “Running federal elections is very different than state/local elections. Period.”

He also continued his criticism of Sherrill’s decision to seek re-election to her 11th district House seat last year when she intended to run for governor.

“Running for Congress and then pivoting the next day to run for another office is running from leading the fight against Trump, but more importantly something that voters should and will find questionable,” Fulop said.

Sherrill’s campaign manager, Alex Ball, used her own social media account to respond to Fulop’s statements.

“Steve Fulop has been running for governor for more than two years and he’s let Mikie live rent free in his head the entire time — pretty generous when you consider Jersey City had the second-highest rent in the U.S. last year,” said Ball.  “We’ve all seen him spew attacks at Mikie, denigrate her military service, and lie about his record as mayor. Now, he’s especially triggered these days as he is still chasing her in every poll after spending $14 million on TV ads.”

Ball accused Fulop of selling out Jersey City residents to wealthy real estate developers.

“He’s made a practice of trading city contracts for donations to his super PAC, and weakened pay-to-play laws to do it. So much for being a reformer,” said Ball.

She noted that Sherrill has outperformed the top of the ticket in all of her races: Bob Menendez in 2018, Joe Biden and Cory Booker in 2020, and Kamala Harris and Andy Kim in 2024.

“Mikie has run in tough general elections and won big. Steve has never faced a competitive general against a Republican. In fact, he dropped out of the last Gov(ernor) primary because he was scared of losing — or some other reason that he has never admitted to and he is never pressed on,” Ball noted.  “So Steve can keep yelling into the Twitter void; I’m sure he’ll be triggered again by this — but at the end of the day, our campaign is about service over self and that’s exactly how Mikie will govern Day 1.”