Tonight, Bob Hugin, Chairman of the New Jersey Republican Party, released the following statement in response to the first gubernatorial debate between embattled incumbent Governor Phil Murphy and businessman Jack Ciattarelli.

“Tonight Jack Ciattarelli proved beyond a doubt that he is best suited to lead our state forward with common-sense, authenticity, and a clear vision for how to bring tax relief and good-paying jobs back to New Jersey. Jack’s a born and bred Jersey guy who has raised a family, started a business and created jobs here, which will prove to be a welcome break from Phil Murphy, a radically out-of-touch Goldman Sachs socialist.

“Not only did Phil Murphy fail to take ownership of the scandals of serial harassment and mistreatment of female staffers that occurred under his watch, he also failed to take ownership of his overreaching, big-government agenda which has led to one of the worst unemployment rates in the nation, record-high taxes, and nearly 10,000 dead seniors and veterans due to his reckless decision to house COVID-patients with healthy nursing home residents.

“One thing was made abundantly clear tonight – the polls in this race are statistically tied because Jack Ciattarelli is the ideal leader for New jersey who is best suited to fix our state and finally get us moving in the right direction.”