WOODBRIDGE - Republican nominee for Governor Jack Ciattarelli campaigned here in Middlesex County at a coffee shop on an early August afternoon, trying to position himself as the pro-business candidate in his general election tilt with Democrat Mikie Sherrill.

While Sherrill has consistently tried to depict Ciattarelli as Donald Trump's New Jersey vassel, Ciattarelli, for his part, makes his case that no daylight separates departing Democratic Governor Phil Murphy from Sherrill.

If voters pick his rival, Ciattarelli maintains, they would be handing a third term to Murphy.

"The fact of the matter is no administration has been as anti-business as Phil Murphy and Mikie Sherrill hasn't shown any contradiction whatsoever with regard to those policies," Ciattarelli told InsiderNJ as he made the rounds in Legrand Coffee House.

Last week, Sherrill's running mate, Dale Caldwell, argued that the Democrats have more credibility as the pro-business ticket, especially with him in the contest.

"I ran the Rothman Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship... and so we have more experience with small business than the Ciattarelli ticket ever had," Caldwell said in Burlington County. "We are more of what Republicans are than they say they are when it comes to small businesses."

Ciattarelli expressed surprise by the remark and doubled down on his own argument.

"The Ciattarellis have been here for a hundred years," he said. "They have owned their own businesses right here in the state and I have very specific ideas about how to make New Jersey better for business, specifically small business, which truly is the backbone of our state economy."

InsiderNJ asked the Republican candidate how he believes Democrats in Trenton - and the Murphy Administration in particular - have most harmed small businesses.

"Right now, the issue with regard to independent contractors. Our economy is best served when there's balance. They want to make... every nonunion job a union job. Our business tax is the highest in the country, while Philadelphia is cutting their business tax from ten to five percent, Mikie Sherrill has said nothing while Democrats rose the business tax from 9 to 11.5 percent, the highest in the nation."

Ciattarelli also cited burdensome overregulation as the norm with Democrats.

Sherrill has made her case as an independent Democrat unafraid of bucking Trenton Democrats, which differentiates her from Ciattarelli, who has not identified a single issue on which he disagrees with Republican President Trump.

One thing was clear as Ciattarelli leapfrogged through Middlesex this afternoon: as the congresswoman tries to tie him to Trump, the Republican former assemblyman will try to tie her to Murphy.

As for this sprawling county, where Ciattarelli sought connectivity with voters, "We want to win Middlesex," he told InsiderNJ.