MONTVALE - Jack Ciattarelli got some out of state help today.

Mike Lawler, the Republican congressman from just over the border in New York state, dropped by a Ciattarelli "meet and greet" at the Hearth &Tap bar in this northern Bergen County town.

Lawler came ready to attack.

"Having served with Mikie Sherrill, she has done absolutely nothing,"

Lawler told about 200 people braving an intermittent drizzle in the bar's courtyard.

Harsh verbiage to be sure, but we are in the final month of the campaign.

Lawler chided Sherrill for voting against raising the federal income tax deduction cap for state and local taxes, or SALT, from $10,000 to $40,000.

The SALT cap of $10,000 dates back to the tax reform bill passed in 2017 during Donald Trump's first term. Sherrill and the Democrats had long tried to get rid of it, but were stymied by Republicans and even some in their own party.

The so-called Big Beautiful Bill raised the cap to $40,000, as Lawler mentioned. But that bill also included cuts to many programs Democrats support, including Medicaid and the SNAP program. That's why Sherrill voted against it.

Lawler also called on Sherrill to release all of her Naval Academy records in the wake of the mistaken release last month of some of them unredacted.

Republicans claim Sherrill's personal records would reveal damaging information, while she has concentrated on their improper release.

This story, which was termed explosive when it surfaced, seems to have run its course. Ciattarelli in his remarks at events does not highlight it.

More broadly, Lawler said Ciattarelli is running a great campaign and that he would replace the second worst governor in the country - Phil Murphy.

He, of course, said the worst governor in the nation is Democrat Kathy Hochul of New York. There's nothing like a hometown touch.

Ciattarelli gave his standard stump speech, proclaiming: "The future of the state hangs in the balance."

Today's event took place a few days after Ciattarelli said he plans to sue Sherrill for suggesting at a debate that he (Ciattarelli) was responsible for opioid deaths, This stems from Ciattarelli's ownership of a publishing company that ran stories downplaying the drug's negative possibilities. He did not mention the suit.

Late Friday brought another poll in the race - this one by Rasmussen.

It gave Sherrill a 6-point lead of 46 to 40.