July 7, 2025 • 8 mins
Mike Kelly talks with Mendte in the Morning about the latest polls in the NJ Gubernatorial race that has Mikie Sherill way above Jack Ciattarelli.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's get to Mike Kelly, award winning columnist for North
Jersey dot Com and The Record. Good morning, Mike.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Good morning, Larry. How are you.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I'm doing well. I'm so glad you're dealing with this
because I know you're specifically talking about Seaside Heights and
the boardwalk there. Sure, but this is a problem that's
been happening up and down the coastline of New Jersey
and wild Wood and Ocean City and Seaside Heights about
police having to deal with fights on the boardwalk. I
(00:30):
don't remember that ever happening when I was growing up,
but for the last couple of years it's been a
real problem. First of all, as you've been writing about this,
do we know why this is all of a sudden
the problem.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I think it's a couple of things going on here.
I think it's I think it's you know, there is
some possibly gang related kind of stuff. People go down there,
they start in solving each other, and then you know,
as we saw on Memorial Day week, there was a
large fight and stabbings occurred. Now let me ask you
this question here, Larry. You're in your bathing suit. You're
(01:08):
in your bathing suit, Okay, maybe you got the flip
flops on. How do you carry a knife in your
bathing suit to the beach? How do you do that?
This to me is I guess only in New Jersey
do we bring knives to the beach in our bathing suits.
I'm not sure, you know. Listen, I don't want to
make light of it, but it's a really serious problem.
(01:29):
It's particularly serious for these small towns that have police
departments that are not that large.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
No, I understand most of these fights do happen at night,
right on the boardwalks. Now, I mean, I know there's
some altercations on the beach, but most of these are
happening on the boardwalk late at night, and they are
they're horrible. I mean, I've had kids that I know
are friends of my sons that have seen these and
(01:55):
they're they're awful. And you're right, there are weapons, and
and most of these police officers, as you pointed out,
are just like rennekops. They're kids that are police officers
just for the summer. So how do you deal with this?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Well, Seaside Heights has enacted some fairly stringent rules. They're
closing the boardwalk at midnight. There's a curfew for anybody
under eighteen at ten pm. And then they're doing some
other stuff like you know, they're they're prohibiting electric bicycles
on the boardwalk and that sort of thing, all of
(02:30):
which can get, you know, get people into trouble. But
what I think is what I think is going on
there is just the crowds are too big, and people
start pushing each other, and then there's some music going on,
and one person gets a little drunk, and one thing
leads to another, and pretty soon you have this this
this you know, it's basically like somebody lit a spark
on one end and all of a sudden it becomes
(02:52):
a major bobfire.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
We had Jack Jennarelli on a couple of weeks ago,
and I asked them, right now, what are you centering on.
What's the what's the big issue? And he said these
fights at the boardwalk. First thing he said, he said,
we have to see these. Yeah, I'm sure it just
one just happened. I'm sure he has other things he's
concerned about, like, uh, you know, property taxes and all
that kind of stuff. But he decided at that moment,
(03:16):
which I thought was smart to focus on that, and
I said, what would you do about it? And one
of the things he said, I don't remember everything he said,
but one of the things he said is to charge
these kids as adults if they get into a fight
on the boardwalk.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
I know he's got he's got a point. I think
his his base of support if he runs strong in
this election, is going to be the shore communities. Uh,
he's you know that that is that is where you
get some of your more conservative voters. Uh. When we
(03:53):
talk about Trump nearly winning New Jersey in the election
last November, he got enormous support in Ocean County, and
that's that those areas down on the shore. So I'm
not surprised that Jack Cheddarelli is, you know, trying to
appeal to voters down there. What I think is interesting
(04:13):
on his part, however, is that he's taking a real
roll up your sleeves, hands on approach. That seems to
be his approach to his campaign, and I think it's
going to be interesting to see how that works as
we play through the coming months, you know, into November.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, the new poll that's out. When I saw that
at first, I was stunned by it. And I want
you to comment on it before I get because because
I was stunned by it at first, and then I thought, well,
maybe this makes sense, but what did you think of it?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
So I was stunned, quite frankly, Larry, I mean, Mikey
Cheryl at fifty one percent and Jack Chitarelli at thirty
one percent, you know, and this is from the Rutgers
Eagleton Poles, pretty respected polling organization. To their credit, in
the head of the poll, Ashley Cooning, who is very respected,
(05:06):
said listen, this is just a barometer right now. It's
not an indication of how things are going to be
in November. And of course history has shown us that
things do change, you know, come as we get closer
to the election. You know, just to remind everyone everyone,
Phil Murphy had a get this seventy two percent to
(05:28):
twenty eight percent lead over Jack Chittarelli in his own
internal polls. In the last election. Of course, Chaddarelli lost
by only three percentage points, fifty one to forty eight.
So I think things are going to tighten up. But
what I think Chattarelli has to worry about is that
(05:49):
Mikey Cheryl polled above him on such things as the economy,
how she would handle the economy, jobs, the state budget,
that sort of thing. And I think he has a
lot of work to do to convince voters that he's
the guy I mean, Mikey Cheryl has. She's sort of
the flavor of the week right now. She's got a
(06:10):
lot going for her. She's a very she's a very
good speaker, she has a fascinating background. She was a
Navy helicopter pilot. She was a federal prosecutor. So she's
not This isn't Zohan Mandami running in New Jersey, Okay
as a Democrat. This is a fairly moderate Democrat running
(06:30):
with her feet on the ground, and she has a
big lead right now, very appealing to I think a
lot of voters. I think Chattarelli has his work cut
out for him.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, I do too. But it's funny that I was
going to say almost the exact same thing about the
polling last time, but I didn't want to steal your thunder.
But you're absolutely right. The polling was way off last time.
He was twelve points down pretty close to the election,
and it was only three points. So I think I
think for some reason the polling is off a lot
(07:01):
in New Jersey. And I don't know why. I don't
know why New Jersey is so difficult to pull because
this has happened a couple of times.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Now. Yeah, I think you know, Larry, I think voters
are tired. This is just my purely gut reaction to this,
so you can take it or leave it. I think
voters are tired of polls. I really do. And and
if you've ever been called by a polling organization, you
get these strange questions, and I think the people who
(07:30):
have the patience to put up with that perhaps don't
really reflect average life in New Jersey. And I know
pollsters will say, oh, we we use techniques which try
to get, you know, your average person and that sort
of thing and weed out some of the cranks. But
I think I think people are tired of this and
(07:53):
and and as time goes on, I think we're going
to see, first of all, we're going to see these
polls narrow, but secondary I think we're going to be
surprised at the results are. I don't know if Jack
Cheddarelli will win, but I think things are going to
tighten up quite a bit.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Unfortunately, a lot depends on what Donald Trump does because
he's now tied to him. Mike Kelly is an award
winning columnist for North Jersey dot Com and The Record.
Thanks a lot, Mike will talk again next week.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Thank you, Larry. Take care,
Let's get to Mike Kelly, award winning columnist for North
Jersey dot Com and The Record. Good morning, Mike.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Good morning, Larry. How are you.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I'm doing well. I'm so glad you're dealing with this
because I know you're specifically talking about Seaside Heights and
the boardwalk there. Sure, but this is a problem that's
been happening up and down the coastline of New Jersey
and wild Wood and Ocean City and Seaside Heights about
police having to deal with fights on the boardwalk. I
(00:30):
don't remember that ever happening when I was growing up,
but for the last couple of years it's been a
real problem. First of all, as you've been writing about this,
do we know why this is all of a sudden
the problem.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I think it's a couple of things going on here.
I think it's I think it's you know, there is
some possibly gang related kind of stuff. People go down there,
they start in solving each other, and then you know,
as we saw on Memorial Day week, there was a
large fight and stabbings occurred. Now let me ask you
this question here, Larry. You're in your bathing suit. You're
(01:08):
in your bathing suit, Okay, maybe you got the flip
flops on. How do you carry a knife in your
bathing suit to the beach? How do you do that?
This to me is I guess only in New Jersey
do we bring knives to the beach in our bathing suits.
I'm not sure, you know. Listen, I don't want to
make light of it, but it's a really serious problem.
(01:29):
It's particularly serious for these small towns that have police
departments that are not that large.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
No, I understand most of these fights do happen at night,
right on the boardwalks. Now, I mean, I know there's
some altercations on the beach, but most of these are
happening on the boardwalk late at night, and they are
they're horrible. I mean, I've had kids that I know
are friends of my sons that have seen these and
(01:55):
they're they're awful. And you're right, there are weapons, and
and most of these police officers, as you pointed out,
are just like rennekops. They're kids that are police officers
just for the summer. So how do you deal with this?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Well, Seaside Heights has enacted some fairly stringent rules. They're
closing the boardwalk at midnight. There's a curfew for anybody
under eighteen at ten pm. And then they're doing some
other stuff like you know, they're they're prohibiting electric bicycles
on the boardwalk and that sort of thing, all of
(02:30):
which can get, you know, get people into trouble. But
what I think is what I think is going on
there is just the crowds are too big, and people
start pushing each other, and then there's some music going on,
and one person gets a little drunk, and one thing
leads to another, and pretty soon you have this this
this you know, it's basically like somebody lit a spark
on one end and all of a sudden it becomes
(02:52):
a major bobfire.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
We had Jack Jennarelli on a couple of weeks ago,
and I asked them, right now, what are you centering on.
What's the what's the big issue? And he said these
fights at the boardwalk. First thing he said, he said,
we have to see these. Yeah, I'm sure it just
one just happened. I'm sure he has other things he's
concerned about, like, uh, you know, property taxes and all
that kind of stuff. But he decided at that moment,
(03:16):
which I thought was smart to focus on that, and
I said, what would you do about it? And one
of the things he said, I don't remember everything he said,
but one of the things he said is to charge
these kids as adults if they get into a fight
on the boardwalk.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
I know he's got he's got a point. I think
his his base of support if he runs strong in
this election, is going to be the shore communities. Uh,
he's you know that that is that is where you
get some of your more conservative voters. Uh. When we
(03:53):
talk about Trump nearly winning New Jersey in the election
last November, he got enormous support in Ocean County, and
that's that those areas down on the shore. So I'm
not surprised that Jack Cheddarelli is, you know, trying to
appeal to voters down there. What I think is interesting
(04:13):
on his part, however, is that he's taking a real
roll up your sleeves, hands on approach. That seems to
be his approach to his campaign, and I think it's
going to be interesting to see how that works as
we play through the coming months, you know, into November.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, the new poll that's out. When I saw that
at first, I was stunned by it. And I want
you to comment on it before I get because because
I was stunned by it at first, and then I thought, well,
maybe this makes sense, but what did you think of it?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
So I was stunned, quite frankly, Larry, I mean, Mikey
Cheryl at fifty one percent and Jack Chitarelli at thirty
one percent, you know, and this is from the Rutgers
Eagleton Poles, pretty respected polling organization. To their credit, in
the head of the poll, Ashley Cooning, who is very respected,
(05:06):
said listen, this is just a barometer right now. It's
not an indication of how things are going to be
in November. And of course history has shown us that
things do change, you know, come as we get closer
to the election. You know, just to remind everyone everyone,
Phil Murphy had a get this seventy two percent to
(05:28):
twenty eight percent lead over Jack Chittarelli in his own
internal polls. In the last election. Of course, Chaddarelli lost
by only three percentage points, fifty one to forty eight.
So I think things are going to tighten up. But
what I think Chattarelli has to worry about is that
(05:49):
Mikey Cheryl polled above him on such things as the economy,
how she would handle the economy, jobs, the state budget,
that sort of thing. And I think he has a
lot of work to do to convince voters that he's
the guy I mean, Mikey Cheryl has. She's sort of
the flavor of the week right now. She's got a
(06:10):
lot going for her. She's a very she's a very
good speaker, she has a fascinating background. She was a
Navy helicopter pilot. She was a federal prosecutor. So she's
not This isn't Zohan Mandami running in New Jersey, Okay
as a Democrat. This is a fairly moderate Democrat running
(06:30):
with her feet on the ground, and she has a
big lead right now, very appealing to I think a
lot of voters. I think Chattarelli has his work cut
out for him.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, I do too. But it's funny that I was
going to say almost the exact same thing about the
polling last time, but I didn't want to steal your thunder.
But you're absolutely right. The polling was way off last time.
He was twelve points down pretty close to the election,
and it was only three points. So I think I
think for some reason the polling is off a lot
(07:01):
in New Jersey. And I don't know why. I don't
know why New Jersey is so difficult to pull because
this has happened a couple of times.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Now. Yeah, I think you know, Larry, I think voters
are tired. This is just my purely gut reaction to this,
so you can take it or leave it. I think
voters are tired of polls. I really do. And and
if you've ever been called by a polling organization, you
get these strange questions, and I think the people who
(07:30):
have the patience to put up with that perhaps don't
really reflect average life in New Jersey. And I know
pollsters will say, oh, we we use techniques which try
to get, you know, your average person and that sort
of thing and weed out some of the cranks. But
I think I think people are tired of this and
(07:53):
and and as time goes on, I think we're going
to see, first of all, we're going to see these
polls narrow, but secondary I think we're going to be
surprised at the results are. I don't know if Jack
Cheddarelli will win, but I think things are going to
tighten up quite a bit.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Unfortunately, a lot depends on what Donald Trump does because
he's now tied to him. Mike Kelly is an award
winning columnist for North Jersey dot Com and The Record.
Thanks a lot, Mike will talk again next week.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Thank you, Larry. Take care,
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