{"id":2503588,"date":"2025-10-27T18:29:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T22:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nj-elec-votes-to-allow-ciattarelli-to-sue-sherrill-for-defamation\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T18:29:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T22:29:24","slug":"nj-elec-votes-to-allow-ciattarelli-to-sue-sherrill-for-defamation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nj-elec-votes-to-allow-ciattarelli-to-sue-sherrill-for-defamation\/","title":{"rendered":"NJ ELEC votes to allow Ciattarelli to sue Sherrill for defamation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnj-elec-votes-to-allow-ciattarelli-to-sue-sherrill-for-defamation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2503588&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli has been given the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-rep-chris-smith-says-new-jersey-governors-abortion-expansion-law-a-human-rights-abuse\/\" title=\"Exclusive - .... Chris Smith Says New ...&#039;s Abortion Expansion Law a \u2018Human Rights Abuse\u2019\">legal green light<\/a> by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement commission (NJ ELEC) to sue his Democratic opponent, Rep. Mikie Sherrill,for defamation during their race for New Jersey governor. The NJ ELEC ruled that Ciattarelli may file a defamation lawsuit using his personal funds without <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fec-drops-its-inquiry-into-trumps-payments-to-stormy-daniels\/\" title=\"FEC Drops Its Inquiry Into Trump\u2019s Payments To Stormy Daniels\">violating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/march-for-our-lives-issue-biden-1-billion-list-of-gun-control-policy-demands\/\" title=\"March For Our Lives Is... Biden  Billion List Of Gun Control Policy Demands\">campaign finance laws<\/a><\/a>, provided the expenses are not related to his campaign. Ciattarelli sought this opinion after Sherrill accused him during a debate of profiting from New Jersey&#8217;s opioid crisis through his medical publishing company, a claim he calls false and defamatory. Sherrill&#8217;s campaign dismissed Ciattarelli&#8217;s threatened lawsuit as desperate, maintaining her allegations and signaling readiness for legal discovery.With the election approaching on November 4,both candidates are intensifying their efforts with national support,including endorsements from former Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">NJ ELEC votes to allow Ciattarelli to sue Sherrill for defamation during campaign<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2385500\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Republican candidate <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jack-ciattarelli\/\">Jack Ciattarelli<\/a> can legally sue his opponent, Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mikie-sherrill\/\">Mikie Sherrill<\/a> (D-NJ), during their race to be <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/new-jersey\/\">New Jersey<\/a>&lsquo;s next governor, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-president-trump-and-gop-senator-thom-tillis-win-north-carolina-decision-desk-hq\/\" title=\"BREAKING: President Trump and GOP Senator Thom Tillis Win North Carolina: Decision Desk HQ\">state election board<\/a> said.<\/p>\n<p>The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission issued an advisory opinion Monday that, as long as Ciattarelli uses his own personal funds, the Republican can file a defamation lawsuit against Sherrill. Ciattarelli <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3852314\/jack-ciattarelli-defamation-lawsuit-mikie-sherrill\/\">sought an opinion<\/a> from NJ ELEC to ensure that a lawsuit before Election Day would not violate any campaign finance laws.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3865608\/earle-sears-virginia-redistricting-amendment-illegal\/\">Earle-Sears decries Virginia redistricting amendment push as illegal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3865006\/democrats-need-nj-va-victories-show-not-out-of-game-byron-york\/\">Democrats need NJ and VA victories to show they&#8217;re not &#8216;out of the game&#8217;: Byron York<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3863678\/zohran-mamdani-nyc-jewish-vote-split-cuomo-schumer-jeffries\/\">Mamdani&rsquo;s rise splits Jewish Democrats in NYC and stokes concern from mainstream groups<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Ciattarelli initially <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3845397\/nj-gop-gubernatorial-candidate-ciattarelli-plans-defamation-lawsuit-against-opponent\/\">threatened to sue<\/a> Sherrill in early October over her comments at the second gubernatorial debate. Sherrill alleged that Ciattarelli profited from New Jersey&rsquo;s opioid crisis through his medical&nbsp;publishing company and was subsequently responsible for the deaths of thousands who died from the opioid epidemic. She launched a webpage on the issue, calling him<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3849639\/mikie-sherrill-opioid-jack-ciattarelli-website\/\"> &ldquo;Opioid Jack.&rdquo;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The New Jersey GOP candidate dismissed Sherrill&rsquo;s claims as lies and wrote a letter to NJ ELEC on Oct. 15, seeking the advisory opinion. Monday morning, the board voted unanimously to pass an advisory opinion giving Ciattarelli the go-ahead.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Mr. Ciattarelli may use his personal funds to pay for a defamation lawsuit initiated in his individual capacity against Mikie Sherrill, also in her individual capacity. So long as the expenses are not in aid of his gubernatorial candidacy, they will not be subject to the $25,000 contribution limit on personal contributions or the $18.5 million expenditure cap,&rdquo; NJ ELEC&rsquo;s legal director, Theresa J. Lelinski, said.<\/p>\n<p>The Ciattarelli campaign did not respond to the <em>Washington Examiner&rsquo;s<\/em> requests for comment on NJ ELEC&rsquo;s ruling.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Republican Jack Ciattarelli, left, and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) during the final New Jersey gubernatorial race debate on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (AP Photos\/Heather Khalifa)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sean Higgins, communications director for the Sherrill campaign, called Ciattarelli&rsquo;s threatened lawsuit &ldquo;desperate,&rdquo; echoing the statements of his previous <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3852314\/jack-ciattarelli-defamation-lawsuit-mikie-sherrill\/\">statement<\/a> from mid-October.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Jack has yet to deny his role in fueling the opioid epidemic, and if he actually follows through on his desperate and frivolous lawsuit, we look forward to obtaining legal discovery into Jack putting millions in profits over those dying in the opioid crisis,&rdquo; Higgins said Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The Ciattarelli campaign previously called Sherrill&rsquo;s allegations during the debate &ldquo;defamatory and false&rdquo; in a mid-October <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3852314\/jack-ciattarelli-defamation-lawsuit-mikie-sherrill\/\">statement<\/a> to the&nbsp;<em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In her desperation, Mikie Sherrill&nbsp;crossed a line and sunk to dangerous levels of unhinged rhetoric. New Jersey deserves better, and Jack looks forward to his day in court,&rdquo; the Ciattarelli campaign previously wrote to the&nbsp;<em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>During the candidate&rsquo;s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3843495\/new-jersey-governor-debate-sherrill-ciattarelli\/\">Oct. 8 debate<\/a>, the Garden State gubernatorial candidates turned up the heat as Sherrill and Ciattarelli traded barbs and personal attacks. Ciattarelli hit Sherrill on a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3825270\/jeffries-criminal-investigation-archives-illegal-release-mikie-sherrill-military-records\/\">cheating scandal<\/a> from her time at the Naval Academy, in which she was barred from graduation because she refused to turn in the names of her classmates involved in the scandal, though she herself did not cheat.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re trying to divert from the fact you killed tens of thousands of people by printing your misinformation, your propaganda,&rdquo; Sherrill said during the debate.<\/p>\n<p>Ciattarelli flagged that he intended to sue Sherrill for the claim after the debate. In Monday&rsquo;s meeting, Ciattarelli&rsquo;s lawyer, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3852314\/jack-ciattarelli-defamation-lawsuit-mikie-sherrill\/\">Mark Sheridan<\/a>, told NJ ELEC that his client would prefer to initiate the lawsuit &ldquo;now,&rdquo; before Election Day.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Mr. Ciattarelli believes that he was defamed during the gubernatorial debate. He seeks to pursue that claim for defamation against Mikey Cheryl. He intends to use his personal funds. He does not intend to use any campaign funds or any matching funds,&rdquo;  Sheridan said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3859506\/new-jersey-republican-request-election-monitors-swing-district\/\">NEW JERSEY REPUBLICANS REQUEST ELECTION MONITORS IN SWING DISTRICT AS GOVERNOR RACE TIGHTENS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ciattarelli has just over one week if he plans to file before Election Day, as voters take to the polls on Nov. 4. Just days out from the election, the two candidates are tapping into their heavyweight national supporters.<\/p>\n<p>President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3864108\/trump-sherill-double-energy-bills-ciattarelli-nj-voters\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> has picked up his momentum in favor of Ciattarelli, calling into a telephone rally Friday evening. Former President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3855230\/obama-mikie-sherrill-endorsement-power-foray-new-jersey-governors-race\/\">Barack Obama <\/a>has backed Sherrill in several statewide advertisements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NJ ELEC allows Ciattarelli to sue Sherrill for defamation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3976,"featured_media":2503589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25290711002701_d518b6.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[57259,9142,4585,65988,60820],"class_list":["post-2503588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-ciattarelli","tag-defamation","tag-lawsuit","tag-nj-elec","tag-sherrill"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25290711002701_d518b6.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2503588"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2503592,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503588\/revisions\/2503592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2503589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2503588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2503588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2503588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}