Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley to fundraise for Ciattarelli Sunday

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli is getting a boost from a GOP presidential hopeful, but not the one from New Jersey.

Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and onetime governor of South Carolina, will appear fundraiser for Ciattarelli this weekend, according to a report from the Bergen Record. She intends to endorse the former assemblyman at the event.

The backing from Haley, who has been laying the groundwork for a run at the presidency in 2024, comes as New Jersey lawmakers turn ever more of their attention to November’s elections.

Ciattarelli, with the party now coalesced behind him as their nominee for governor, is challenging Gov. Phil Murphy, who hopes to become the first Democrat to win a second term as New Jersey governor since Brendan Byrne won re-election in 1977.

But while most New Jersey Republicans have aligned behind the Somerset County native, one name is glaringly absent from Ciattarelli’s list of supporters.

That name belongs to former Gov. Chris Christie, who’s been putting his own feelers about another bid for the presidency.

The relationship between Ciattarelli and Christie was among the more strained intra-party connections under the former governor. Ciattarelli was among a small group of New Jersey Republicans who openly criticized Christie during his tenure.

He and others were dissatisfied with how much time the former governor was spending outside of the state during his presidential campaign and hi tenure as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

Christie hasn’t endorsed Ciattarelli, nor has he raised money for him despite doing so for other Republican candidates across the country.

The Haley visit is also a sign that Republicans nationally are no longer concerned about wading into Christie’s territory.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another 2024 presidential hopeful, attended a fundraiser boosting his gubernatorial campaign committee held at the Moorestown home of Vernon Hill, the wealthy founder of Commerce Bancorp and Metro Bank, last month.

Ciattarelli was there as well.