All the ads I have seen about the New Jersey Governor election are about Phil Murphy (Democratic candidate). The Republican ads attack him for wanting to raise taxes. The Democratic ads describes what he feels needs fixing (schools, infrastructure, etc.). The Republican candidate is almost completely out of sight. The Republican ads don't mention her at all, while the Democratic ads barely mention her as Gov. Christie's Lt. Gov., while denouncing Christie's failures. The Republicans seem to be trying to make it a referendum on Murphy, rather than an election.
According to this, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_gubernatorial_election,_2017 the role of money in New jersey politics is bluntly overt: it costs 430,000 dollars to buy a seat in the official State-sponsored debates.
The reason for this is simple - Republicans know their voters will, most often, vote Republican regardless who is running. Democrats, on the other hand, tend to abstain from voting if they do not have a desirable candidate. Thus, attacking the Democratic candidate has higher returns than promoting the Republican one.
New development (maybe the Republicans noticed this post): Last night I saw an attack on Murphy for possibly raising taxes included with a note that Guardano (Rep. candidate) would reduce property taxes. My impression is that Murphy would raise income tax on rich people, not property tax.
Personal observation over the years as well as exposure to people of both parties,primarily. Supported by medical findings: Political Orientations Are Correlated with Brain Structure in Young Adults