Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli will formally launch his bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination at 6:30 PM.
The announcement is no surprise: Ciattarelli made it clear on November 12, 2021 – the day he conceded his three-point loss to Gov. Phil Murphy – that he intended to run again. The New Jersey Globe first reported last month that he would make his entry into the 2025 race tonight.
Ciattarelli becomes the second announced GOP candidate, joining State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) in the race. NJ 101.5 radio personality Bill Spadea is also widely expected to run for governor, and former State Sen. Edward Durr (R-Logan) said yesterday that he has not ruled out a campaign for governor.
He’ll announce from the historic American Hotel on Main Street in Freehold at 6:30 PM. Abraham Lincoln may have stayed at the American Hotel in February 1861 on his way to Washington to take the oath of office as President, but some historians differ on that.
Unlike his 2017 and 2021 runs, Ciattarelli starts his campaign this time as a supporter of Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency.
A former three-term assemblyman, Somerset County freeholder, and Raritan councilman, Ciattarelli is making his third run for governor. He lost the Republican primary in 2017 to Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno.
Ciattarelli would not be the first governor to win on his third try. Jim Florio lost a 1977 Democratic primary, was narrowly beaten in the 1981 general election, and then coasted to a 61% victory in 1989.
Democrats have not won three consecutive gubernatorial elections since 1961, when Superior Court Judge Richard J. Hughes staged a come-from-behind upset against Republican James Mitchell, who served as U.S. Secretary of Labor in the Eisenhower administration. Hughes was able to make up ground when Mitchell was sidelined for a month in the fall after breaking his leg.