Jack Ciattarelli will join the race for the Republican nomination for governor on April 9, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.
He’ll announce from the historic American Hotel on Main Street in Freehold at 6:30 PM.
Ciattarelli came within three percentage points of defeating the Democratic incumbent, Phil Murphy, in 2021.
His 2025 candidacy comes as no surprise; he announced during his concession speech nearly three years ago that he intended to run again.
Ciattarelli will become 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.
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.
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.
Abraham Lincoln stayed at the American Hotel in February 1861 on his way to Washington to take the oath of office as President.
It’s also in the Monmouth County-based 11th legislative district, which Ciattarelli carried over Murphy.