Democratic mayor endorsing Ciattarelli, switching parties

Garfield Mayor Everett E. Garnto, Jr., a Democrat, will endorse Republican Jack Ciattarelli for governor tomorrow and is expected to announce he’s switching parties.

Now the mayor of the fifth-largest municipality in Bergen County will be a Republican.

Four years ago, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy carried Garfield by 151 votes, 51%-48%.  In 2024, Garfield voters backed Donald Trump by almost nine percentage points.   Garfield is 77% White, with 32% saying they were Hispanic in a tally where some responded to more than one choice.

Garnto, a former school board member who served twelve years as president of the Garfield Police Benevolent Association Local 46, was elected to the council in 2024 in a fourteen-candidate field for five seats.   By local tradition, the candidate with the most votes becomes mayor, but his colleagues chose to ignore that and pick Garnto.

The Democratic nominee, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, finished third in Garfield in the June primary with 22.2%; Newark Mayor Ras Baraka led Rep. Josh Gottheimer, 28.9% to 22.4%.

Ciattarelli has the endorsement of Dover Mayor James P. Dodd, a Democrat.  Dodd and Garfield Deputy Mayor Tana Raymond were among the Democratic local officeholders who backed Republican Gov. Chris Christie for re-election in 2013; Raymond, a former Garfield Democratic municipal chair, backed Christie against Gov. Jon Corzine in 2009.

Also backing Ciattarelli is Jamel Holley, a Democrat who served in the State Assembly and as mayor of Roselle.