Jack Ciattarelli

Jack Michael Ciattarelli (/tʃɪtəˈrɛli/ chi-tə-RELL-ee; born December 12, 1961)[1] is an American politician and businessman. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2011 to 2018, representing the 16th legislative district. He was also the Republican nominee in the 2021 New Jersey gubernatorial election, which he narrowly lost to incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy.

Jack Ciattarelli
Ciattarelli in 2021
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
from the 16th district
In office
December 5, 2011 – January 9, 2018
Preceded byPeter J. Biondi
Succeeded byRoy Freiman
Member of the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders
In office
January 1, 2007 – November 23, 2011
Preceded byKen Scherer
Succeeded byMark Caliguire
Personal details
Born (1961-12-12) December 12, 1961
Somerville, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Melinda Castro (separated)
​
​
(m. 1995)​
Children4
Residence(s)Hillsborough, New Jersey and Surf City, New Jersey
EducationSeton Hall University (BS, MBA)
WebsiteOfficial website

Ciattarelli is running again for the Republican nomination in the 2025 New Jersey gubernatorial election.[2]

Early life and education

Ciattarelli was born in Somerville, New Jersey, on December 12, 1961, and was raised in neighboring Raritan. His paternal grandparents had immigrated to Raritan borough in the 1900s from Italy. He graduated from Seton Hall University with a B.S. degree in accounting and an MBA degree in finance.[1][3]

Raritan Borough Council (1990-1995)

Ciattarelli served on the Raritan Borough Council from 1990 to 1995 and was the council president from 1991 until 1995. He was elected to the Somerset County Board of County Commissioners from 2007 to November 2011.[3][4]

New Jersey General Assembly (2011-2018)
Ciattarelli in 2016

In 2011, Ciattarelli ran for the open General Assembly seat in the 16th legislative district, vacated by Denise Coyle, who chose not to run for re-election due to redistricting. On November 8, 2011, he and his running mate Peter J. Biondi defeated the Democratic candidates, Marie Corfield and Joe Camarota. (Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly.)[5] Biondi died two days after the election. After stepping down from his freeholder position, he was sworn in on December 5, 2011. He was sworn into his full term on January 10, 2012.[6]

Ciattarelli served on the Financial Institutions and Insurance and the Regulated Professions committees in the Assembly. He had previously served as an Assistant Republican Whip.[1]

Gubernatorial campaigns of 2017 and 2021

In the 2017 Republican Party gubernatorial primary, Ciatterelli came in second, with 31% of the vote, behind eventual nominee Kim Guadagno, who had 47%.[7][8]

In 2021, Ciattarelli ran again for Governor and won the 2021 Republican Party gubernatorial primary with 49% of the vote.[9] Although Ciattarelli pulled higher numbers than expected, he lost in the general election to incumbent Governor Phil Murphy, receiving 48.0% of the vote to Murphy's 51.2%.[10] Ciattarelli conceded the race to Murphy on November 12, 2021.[11][12][13] He plans to run again in 2025.[14]

Political positions
Ciattarelli speaks to the press following the second gubernatorial debate at Rowan University on October 12, 2021

On The Issues, a non-partisan organization that tracks candidates' positions, and is owned by Snopes, has considered Ciattarelli to be a "moderate conservative" Republican.[15]

Abortion

Ciattarelli has said he is in favor of abortion rights prior to 20 weeks of pregnancy but supports banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy (except in cases where the patient's life is in danger), and did not support overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling which conferred the constitutional right to abortion.[16][17] Planned Parenthood Action Fund, an abortion rights organization, gives him a 20% rating, indicating how often he voted with their positions, and New Jersey Right to Life, an anti-abortion organization, gave him a 0% score, indicating how often he voted with their positions.[18]

Donald Trump

He supported Donald Trump for reelection as president and headlined a "Stop the Steal" rally, an event where speakers incorrectly claimed that the 2020 U.S. presidential election had been stolen from then-President Trump, although Ciattarelli claims he was unaware it was a Stop the Steal rally until after the fact.[19][20][21]

Immigration

On immigration, he reversed his opposition to drivers' licenses being issued to undocumented immigrants, saying he now supports access to drivers' licenses.[22] From his time in the legislature, he has a 75% rating from the American Conservative Union, a conservative political action committee (PAC), and a 44% rating from the American Civil Liberties Union.[18]

LGBT rights

He did not support the legalization of same-sex marriage, but did support civil unions as being "adequate" for same-sex couples.[15] Ciattarelli voted against same-sex marriage, but voted to ban conversion therapy for minors.[23]

He opposes New Jersey's current laws regarding curricula that include LGBT education, saying "We're not teaching sodomy in sixth grade. And we're going to roll back the LGBTQ curriculum."[24] He was criticized for allegedly applying the term "sodomy" to refer to LGBTQ education and people,[25] although Ciattarelli clarified he had not meant the word in regards to "someone's sexual orientation", instead he was generally referring to "mature content being taught to young children", and reinforced that "all schools should be promoting diversity, inclusivity, tolerance, and respect for others, but that doesn't mean pushing explicit subjects in elementary school classrooms".[24][26] In his platform, he wants to "reform requirements for sexual and social education to make content less dogmatic and more age-appropriate for elementary and middle school-aged children."[27] His comments were denounced by Garden State Equality, the state's largest LGBTQ advocacy group, but he has received the endorsement of Log Cabin Republicans, a PAC for Republicans who support LGBTQ rights.[28]

Personal life

In addition to his legislative work, Ciattarelli also was the owner and publisher of Galen Publishing, L.L.C., a medical publishing company. He has formerly worked as a certified public accountant and was the co-founder of several medical journal publishing companies.[1][29] He was also an adjunct professor at Seton Hall from 1998 to 2001.[29]

He has resided in Hillsborough Township since 1998.[29] He is married to Melinda Ciattarelli and has four adult children.[30] He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2016 and revealed that he was cancer-free in March 2017.[31] In June 2023, Ciattarelli announced that he and his wife Melinda had separated earlier in the year.[32]

References
  1. "Assemblyman Jack M. Ciattarelli". New Jersey Legislature. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  2. "After Conceding, Jack Ciattarelli Says He Will Run Again for NJ Governor in 2025". WNBC. November 12, 2021.
  3. "Assistant Republican Whip Jack M. Ciattarelli". New Jersey Assembly Republicans. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  4. Paik, Eugene (November 23, 2011). "Somerset County freeholder resigns seat to focus on new role in N.J. Assembly". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  5. Brill, Douglas B. (November 9, 2011). "New Jersey 16th District election results: Republican sweep closer than expected". The Express-Times. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  6. "Turnover in N.J. Legislature is slight". Asbury Park Press. January 10, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  7. Nieto-Munoz, Sophie. "Despite strong run, Ciattarelli falls short of Republican nomination", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 14, 2017. Accessed November 12, 2017. "Many Democrats privately feared running a gubernatorial race against state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli.... But he was no match for Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who parlayed nearly eight years as Christie's second-in-command into an easy victory in the GOP primary Tuesday night.... The unofficial tallies with 98 percent of the vote in had Ciattarelli taking 31 percent of the vote and Guadagno with 47 percent."
  8. Official List Candidates for Governor For Primary Election 06/06/2017 Election Archived 2017-11-13 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of State, June 28, 2017. Accessed November 12, 2017.
  9. Johnson, Brent (June 10, 2021). "Ciattarelli wins Republican nomination to challenge Murphy for N.J. governor". NJ.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  10. "New Jersey Election Results". The New York Times. December 1, 2021. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  11. Sherman, Ted (November 4, 2021). "'This race is far from over,' Ciattarelli campaign says, as it seeks contributions to continue the fight". NJ.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  12. Steinberg, Alan (March 20, 2017). "Governor Jack Ciattarelli in 2021?". NJ.com. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  13. Vielkind, Jimmy (2021-11-03). "Phil Murphy Wins Tight New Jersey Governor Race". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  14. "Ciattarelli concedes in New Jersey governor's race, vows to run again in 2025". Politico. 12 November 2021.
  15. "Jack Ciattarelli on the Issues". www.ontheissues.org. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  16. "Abortion issues muddied in first debate". NJ Spotlight News. 2021-09-30. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  17. Board, Tom Moran | Star-Ledger Editorial (2021-09-05). "Texas abortion ruling will hurt Ciattarelli | Moran". nj. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  18. "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  19. "Eight Times Jack Ciattarelli Lied About Headlining a Trump "Stop the Steal" Rally". Insider NJ. 2021-09-16. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  20. "NJ governor's race gets heated, with attacks on Trump, taxes". AP NEWS. 2021-09-29. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  21. "User Clip: Ciattarelli slammed for Trump Stop the Steal Rally | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  22. Symons, Michael (29 September 2021). "In reversal, Ciattarelli backs licenses for undocumented in NJ". New Jersey 101.5. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  23. "Ciattarelli faces fire after promising to roll back LGBT curricula". New Jersey Globe. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  24. Racioppi, Dustin. "Jack Ciattarelli, GOP nominee for NJ governor, knocked for LGBTQ remarks. What he said". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  25. "Ciattarelli faces fire after promising to roll back LGBT curricula". New Jersey Globe. 2021-07-14. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  26. "'We're Not Teaching Sodomy In 6th Grade': GOP Nominee For N.J. Governor Wants To End LGBTQ Curriculum". Gothamist. July 13, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  27. "What do Phil Murphy and Jack Ciattarelli want to do if elected? Neither offer much detail". The Hill. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  28. "NJ Spotlight Segment Discussing Jack Ciattarelli and the Log Cabin Republicans". grabien.com. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  29. "Jack Ciattarelli's Assembly campaign website". Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  30. "About Me". jack4gov.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  31. Johnson, Brent (March 1, 2017). "N.J. governor candidate Ciatarelli says he's cancer-free in attack on his foes". NJ.com. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  32. Johnson, Brent (June 24, 2023). "Republican N.J. governor hopeful Ciattarelli splits with wife". NJ.com. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
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