Jack Ciattarelli has a 44%-11% lead over Bill Spadea among likely Republican primary voters in next year’s governor’s race, according to an internal poll conducted by Kellyanne Conway’s polling firm, KAConsulting.
The poll, commissioned by Kitchen Table Conservatives, a pro-Ciattarelli super PAC, has State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) at 3% and former State Sen. Ed Durr (R-Logan) at 2%, with 38% of Republicans still undecided. The New Jersey Globe reviewed the full survey.
Ciattarelli, who came within three percentage points of ousting Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021, gets 40% of the vote among self-described MAGA Republicans, 48% from “traditional” Republicans, and 49% from fiscal and social Republicans.
Spadea, who entered the race on Monday, remains unknown to roughly half of the Republican primary voters, with an additional 22% having no opinion of him. While Ciattarelli has run statewide twice, 51% of GOP primary voters don’t listen to New Jersey 101.5, the radio station where Spadea has had a morning drive-time show for the last nine years.
The poll tested negatives on Spadea after the initial ballot test, with 81% of GOP voters less likely to back him when told he “has a history of not paying his bills – getting sued for not paying his mortgage, leaving his failed campaigns hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Leading failed businesses.” The poll also found that 78% of Republicans are less likely to back Spadea after being informed that he paid himself a salary out of his own political action committee Those themes were evident in an ad released by the Super PAC on Monday.
Kitchen Table Conservatives was formed by Conway and media consultant Larry Weitzner to halt Spadea’s path to the Republican nomination.
The group is touting Ciattarelli’s support of Donald Trump – the former assemblyman didn’t endorse him in 2016 and 2020 – and his sharing of Trump’s America First agenda, including “cutting taxes and regulations, promoting pro-growth policies, reducing government spending, promoting school choice and public school curriculum reform.”
The super PAC has spent early money on digital and radio ads suggesting that Spadea was anti-Trump, a position made less virtuous after the former president appeared on Spadea’s radio show and praised him.
His support of term limits for state legislators makes Republicans 83% more likely to support him, and 82% are more likely to back Ciattarelli when informed that he backs capping property taxes at 1% for homeowners and freezing them for New Jerseyans over age 70; 80% said they are more likely to vote for him after being told he promotes school choice and supports reforming school curriculum to guarantee age-appropriate lesson plans.
The KAConsulting poll was conducted from June 12-14 with a sample size of 606 likely Republican voters and a margin of error of +/- 4%.