Introduction
Jack M. Ciattarelli (born December 12, 1961) is an American politician and businessman who is the Republican nominee for governor in the 2021 New Jersey gubernatorial election. Ciattarelli served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2011 to 2018, representing the 16th legislative district. A Republican, he finished second in the primary race for governor in 2017, to Kim Guadagno, the lieutenant governor of New Jersey. Ciattarelli won the Republican gubernatorial nomination on June 8, 2021, and is facing incumbent Democratic Governor Phil Murphy in the general election on November 2.
Early life
Ciattarelli was born in Somerville, New Jersey, on December 12, 1961, and was raised in neighboring Raritan. His paternal grandparents had immigrated to Raritan borough in the 1900s from Italy. He graduated from Seton Hall University with a B.S. degree in accounting and an M.B.A. degree in finance.
Elected office
Ciatarelli served on the Raritan Borough Council from 1990 to 1995 and was the council president from 1991 until 1995. He was elected to the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 2007 to November 2011.
In 2011, Ciattarelli ran for the open General Assembly seat in the 16th legislative district, vacated by Denise Coyle, who chose not to run for re-election due to redistricting. On November 8, 2011, he and his running mate Peter J. Biondi defeated the Democratic candidates, Marie Corfield and Joe Camarota.(Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly.) Biondi died two days after the election, and Ciattarelli was selected to fill out the remainder of his term. After stepping down from his freeholder position, he was sworn in on December 5, 2011. He was sworn into his full term on January 10, 2012.
In the Assembly, Ciattarelli served on the Financial Institutions and Insurance and the Regulated Professions committees. He had previously served as an Assistant Republican Whip.
In the 2017 Republican Party gubernatorial primary, Ciatterelli came in second, with 31% of the vote, behind eventual nominee Kim Guadagno, who had 47%.
Political positions
On The Issues, a non-partisan organization that tracks candidates' positions, and is owned by Snopes, has considered Ciattarelli to be a "Moderate Conservative" Republican. He supported Donald Trump for reelection as president and headlined a "Stop the Steal" rally, an event where speakers stated that the 2020 U.S. presidential election had been stolen from then-President Trump, although Ciattarelli claims he was unaware it was a Stop the Steal rally until after the fact. On immigration, he reversed his opposition to drivers' licenses being issued to undocumented immigrants, saying he now supports access to drivers' licenses. From his time in the legislature, he has a 75% rating from the American Conservative Union, a conservative Political action committee (PAC), and a 44% rating from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Ciattarelli has said he is in favor of abortion rights prior to 20 weeks of pregnancy, supports banning abortion, except in cases where the patient's life is in danger, after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and does not support overturning the Roe v. Wade precedent which legalized the right to abortion. Planned Parenthood Action Fund, an abortion rights organization, gives him a 20% rating, indicating how often he voted with their positions, and New Jersey Right to Life, an anti-abortion organization, gave him a 0% score, indicating how often he voted with their positions.
He did not support the legalization of same-sex marriage, but did support civil unions as being "adequate" for same-sex couples. Ciattarelli voted against same-sex marriage, but voted to ban conversion therapy for minors. He opposes New Jersey's current laws regarding curricula that include LGBT education, saying "We're not teaching Sodomy in sixth grade. And we're going to roll back the LGBTQ curriculum." He was criticized for using the historic slur "Sodomy" to refer to LGBTQ education and people. His comments were denounced by Garden State Equality, the state's largest LGBTQ advocacy group, but he has received the endorsement of Log Cabin Republicans, a PAC for Republicans who support LGBTQ rights.
Personal life
In addition to his legislative work, Ciattarelli also is the owner and publisher of Galen Publishing, L.L.C., a medical publishing company. He has formerly worked as a certified public accountant and was the co-founder of several medical journal publishing companies. He was also an adjunct professor at Seton Hall from 1998 to 2001.
He has resided in Hillsborough Township since 1998. He is married to Melinda Ciattarelli and has four children. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2016 and revealed that he was cancer-free in March 2017.