With less than two months until Election Day in New Jersey, Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli stopped in New Milford Wednesday as he vies for votes in the race against incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy.

"The governor is going to say a whole lot of things about Jack Ciattarelli: that I'm a bigot, that I'm a racist, that I'm anti-woman, anti-child, anti-public health, anti-environment, it's all a big lie," Ciattarelli said, who is set to unveil a tax reform plan Thursday.

With less than seven weeks to go before Election Day, Ciattarelli is behind in the polls, and fighting new negative advertising and the incumbent advantage of Murphy.

"He is the incumbent, we are right where we need to be, and I'm confident in the outcome come Nov. 2," Ciattarelli said during his stop at Roman Pizzeria.

Ciattarelli talked about property and payroll taxes and abortion.

"I do not support the new law in Texas and if you take a look at my public record, I've never been an advocate for overturning Roe v. Wade," Ciattarelli said.

He also spoke about what he called the governor's slow response to Tropical Storm Ida.

"New Jersey leads the nation in deaths from Tropical Storm Ida, 30 and counting," Ciattarelli said and stressed that he was not playing politics with the fatalities from Ida.

Meanwhile, Murphy said he is focused on Election Day.

"I'm in the category of I'd rather stay away from politics. I'm in the middle of running for reelection. I don't spend a lot of time and I never have looking at polls," Murphy said, but most polls show the governor comfortably ahead in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a million voters.

Murphy's reelection campaign has called Ciattarelli's policies "extreme" and criticized what it calls "plans to roll back the right to choose, affordable health care coverage, voting rights" and gun laws.