Overview

• In New Brunswick’s final debate, Mikie Sherrill accused Jack Ciattarelli’s past medical-publishing work of fueling opioid deaths, prompting tense exchanges of “shame on you.”
• Ciattarelli’s campaign said it will file a defamation lawsuit early next week over Sherrill’s claim he “killed tens of thousands of people,” which he called a lie.
• The candidates also clashed over Sherrill’s Naval Academy history after an improper release of her records by the National Archives, with Ciattarelli pressing for disciplinary files and Sherrill rejecting his demand.
• On costs, Sherrill vowed to declare an energy-price emergency to curb utility hikes, while Ciattarelli pledged to exit the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and emphasized tax and housing affordability.
• National politics loomed as Ciattarelli graded President Trump an “A,” Sherrill criticized the Gateway funding freeze during a partial shutdown, and polls show a neck-and-neck race heading into early voting starting Oct. 25 before the Nov. 4 election.