Moving closer to a formal declaration of candidacy, Melinda Ciattarelli has filed letters of intent to compete at Republican conventions in Hunterdon and Somerset counties as a candidate for the U.S. Senate currently held by indicted three-term Democrat Bob Menendez.
Both counties have early deadlines to participate in votes of Republican county committee members to award organization lines. Ciattarelli, who owned a small business, lives in Hunterdon County.
Since last year, Ciattarelli has been separated from her husband, former GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli. She stepped up her attendance at political events last spring and has been mulling a Senate run since December.
While little is known about Ciattarelli, some of her friends say she is more conservative than her husband and a fan of former President Donald Trump. She has a feisty side, tearing into the campaign manager for Jack Ciattarelli’s 2021 primary opponent when he recorded a staged confrontation with her during a TV debate.
If she wins the Republican primary, she could face First Lady Tammy Murphy, if she wins the Democratic primary. Jack Ciattarelli came within three percentage points of unseating Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021.
In December, Ciattarelli took a shot at the “political buddy system” that picks candidates from both parties.
“For 20-plus years, I’ve had a front-row seat and watched the buddy system in action. It’s broken and needs to be fixed,” she said. “Whether or not I decide to run for office, I will work to remove bullies from our state politics. New Jerseyans deserve better.”
The early front-runner for the GOP Senate nomination is Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, a former Bush administration appointee with close ties to Trump. Curtis Bashaw, a real estate developer and hotelier from Cape May County, filed with the Federal Election Commission this week but has not yet made a formal announcement. Both have filed to compete at the Hunterson and Somerset conventions.
Former News 12 New Jersey reporter Alex Zdan and Justin Michael Murphy, a former Tabernacle deputy mayor, are also considering Senate bids. Assemblywoman Aura Dunn (R-Mendham) said she would not become a candidate last night.
The race for the Republican nomination also has a bottom tier: former Andover Regional School District Board of Education member Daniel Cruz; perennial candidate Gregg Mele, the 2021 Libertarian nominee for governor; small business owner Michael Estrada, who won 1% of the vote in an independent State Assembly bid six years ago; Patrick James Merrill, and former presidential candidate Albert Harshaw.
Mele has filed letters of intent in Hunterdon and Somerset counties; Estrada filed one in Hunterdon.
Other candidates still have until later today.