Van Drew, Mullock to Debate in October

A debate date in October sounds like the political version of “we’ll circle back,” but in a district as big and varied as New Jersey’s 2nd, it still matters. Jeff Van Drew and Cape May Mayor Mike Mullock are set to meet at Stockton University on Oct. 22, and good. Put the two men on the same stage and let voters see the contrast. Too many races get waged through mailers, attack ads, and carefully edited clips that tell you more about a consultant’s mood than a candidate’s spine.

Van Drew has the advantage of actually doing the job. He has a record to defend, and he should not shy away from it. We want to hear clear answers on what he’s delivered for the shore towns, the farm country, and the working families who get crushed when Washington plays games with energy prices and inflation. Incumbency is not a free pass. It’s a receipt. If you’ve been in Congress, you should be able to point to results without talking in riddles.

For Mullock, the question is simple: what does “change” mean when your party is the one running the national show? Cape May is not Washington. Being mayor is not voting on border policy, crime, and spending sprees. If he’s going to ask NJ-2 to fire Van Drew, he should explain where he’d break from Democrats who keep pretending the border is “secure” and that families can just absorb higher costs. Voters deserve specifics, not vibes.

Stockton is a fine venue, but the format matters. No gimmicks, no gotcha moderators, no audience theater. Give them time to answer. Let them go back and forth. And for the love of sanity, talk about the things people in this district actually live with every day, not whatever is trending on cable that week. If Oct. 22 is going to mean anything, it has to feel like the race is about NJ-2, not a script imported from somewhere else.