Well, it was fiery, personal and packed with sharp contrasts.

Democrat Mikey Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciatarelli faced off in their last debate in the race to be New Jersey's next governor.

And no topic was off limits.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis breaks down the key moments from last night and how they could shape the final weeks before Election Day.

It was the second and final debate of this gubernatorial campaign.

Democratic Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill and Republican former State Assemblyman Jack Cittarelli went toe-to-toe last night, both hammering home their message on affordability and other top priorities if elected governor.

I am laser focused on driving down your costs, making New Jersey more affordable.

I'm going to start by declaring a state of emergency on energy costs, making it safer and more affordable.

And I'm going to ensure that I am always fighting for all of you.

We have an overdevelopment crisis in our suburban communities.

We have an affordability crisis because of property taxes and electricity bills.

We have a public safety crisis because we don't let our police do their jobs any longer.

We have a public education crisis because we've watered down the public school curriculum.

that he's the Jersey guy in the race.

Mikey countering saying he might be from Jersey, but she's the only one fighting for New Jersey.

This election considered a referendum on President Trump.

They were asked to give him a grade.

I'd certainly give it to President A. I think he's right about everything that he's doing.

That tells us all we need to know about who Jack Chiarelli's supporting.

I'd give him an F. Asked about the president freezing gateway tunnel funding because some of it was tied to a DEI initiative.

Construction is not stopping.

This shutdown would have to go on for two or three months before the gateway project would grind to a halt.

This is not tied to the shutdown.

This is simply the president saying he's freezing the gateway tunnel funds, which he should not be able to do.

And in my administration, I take him to court over it, because those are congressionally appropriated funds for the gateway tunnel.

It's a negotiation that's taking place with the Congress.

With the people of New Jersey and their commuting at state.

They addressed the controversy swirling through the media the last few weeks.

Cheryl being banned from walking in her Naval Academy graduation.

And Cittarelli's campaign releasing her private military records.

I didn't turn in some of my classmates, so I didn't walk at graduation.

Because I come from an incredibly accountable place.

But I went on to graduate.

I was commissioned an officer in the United States Navy.

I held positions of trust throughout the Navy.

Held the highest levels of security clearance.

She says it's because she didn't turn in classmates.

That's the honor code at West Point.

That's not the honor code at the Naval Academy.

You don't get punished for that.

I think she was punished for something else.

And so I think she needs to come clean.

I'm certainly not going to open up my classmates' hundreds of records so he can rampage through them on a witch hunt.

Here's what I think really demands an answer is why my opponent still won't take accountability for the release of those records.

It's under federal investigation that a member of his team, someone he vetted to be his lieutenant governor, actually got access to those records, said he was shocked and disgusted, and yet nevertheless shopped them out to reporters.

When he was asked about it, he acted as if he had no idea what his campaign was doing.

She's trying to create a giant smoke screen for something the National Archives has taken complete responsibility for and apologized for with regard to a Freedom of Information Act request that was perfectly legal.

But later in the debate, the gloves really came off when Mikey accused Jack of being responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of New Jerseyans tied to his medical publishing company.

How he made his millions by working with some of the worst offenders and saying that opioids were safe, putting out propaganda, publishing their propaganda while tens of thousands of New Jerseyans died.

First of all, shame on you.

Shame on you, sir.

Shame on you.

With regard to everything she just said about my professional career, which provided my family, it's a lie.

I'm proud of my career.

I'm happy to publish the information and hear the facts.

I work because I think our kids deserve better.

I think the people you got addicted and died deserve better than you.

And I'll tell you, yeah, tens of thousands here as you published misinformation, as you got more people addicted, as you did work to develop, got paid to develop an app so that more people could get more opioids and die.

But here's the fact, even during, even, I got the walk at my college graduation.

And I'm so glad that you then went on to kill tens of thousands of people in New Jersey, including children, as they got, you just broke the law.

In fact, your campaign right now is under federal investigation for how you illegally got access to my records.

So to say that right now, and I think you're trying to divert from the fact that you killed tens of thousands of people by printing your misinformation, your propaganda.

So how much will the personal attacks resonate over their message of making the state better and more affordable?

That's a question the campaigns will have to ask in this final stretch of the race.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Joanna Gagas.

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