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Giacchino "Jack" Michael Ciattarelli (/tʃɪtəˈrɛli/ chi-tə-RELL-ee; born December 12, 1961)[1][2] is an American politician and businessman. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2011 to 2018, representing the 16th legislative district. He was also the Republican nominee in the 2021 New Jersey gubernatorial election, which he narrowly lost to incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy.
Jack Ciattarelli | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Ciattarelli in 2021 | |
| Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 16th district | |
| In office December 5, 2011 – January 9, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Peter J. Biondi |
| Succeeded by | Roy Freiman |
| Member of the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders | |
| In office January 1, 2007 – November 23, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Ken Scherer |
| Succeeded by | Mark Caliguire |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 12, 1961 Somerville, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Melinda Castro (separated)
(m. 1995) |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | Seton Hall University (BS, MBA) |
| Website | Campaign website |
Ciattarelli announced that he is running for the Republican nomination in the 2025 New Jersey gubernatorial election.[3]
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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 MBA degree in finance.[1][4]
Ciattarelli 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 County Commissioners from 2007 to November 2011.[4][5]
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 New Jersey’s 40 state legislative districts has one Senator and two members in the General Assembly.[6] Biondi died 2 days after the election. After stepping down from his freeholder position, Ciattarelli was sworn in on December 5, 2011 to complete Biondi’s unexpired term, and was sworn in for his first full term on January 10, 2012.[7]
Ciattarelli served on the Financial Institutions and Insurance and the Regulated Professions committees in the Assembly. He had previously served as an Assistant Republican Whip.[1]
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In the 2017 Republican Party gubernatorial primary, Ciattarelli came in second, with 31% of the vote, behind eventual nominee Kim Guadagno, who had 47%.[8][9]
In 2021, Ciattarelli ran again for governor and won the 2021 Republican Party gubernatorial primary with 49% of the vote.[10] Although Ciattarelli pulled higher numbers than expected, he lost in the general election to incumbent governor Phil Murphy, receiving 48.0% of the vote to Murphy's 51.2%.[11] Ciattarelli conceded the race to Murphy on November 12, 2021.[12][13][14] He plans to run again in 2025.[15]
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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.[16]
Abortion
Ciattarelli has said he is in favor of abortion rights prior to 20 weeks of pregnancy but supports banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy (except in cases where the patient's life is in danger), and did not support overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling which conferred the constitutional right to abortion.[17][18] 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 75% score, indicating how often he voted with their positions.[19]
Donald Trump
Although he initially criticized Donald Trump as a charlatan in 2015,[20] he supported Donald Trump for reelection as president in 2020 and headlined a "Stop the Steal" rally, an event where speakers claimed that the 2020 U.S. presidential election had been stolen from then-President Trump; Ciattarelli claims he was unaware it was a Stop the Steal rally until after the fact.[21][22][23] Ciattarelli endorsed Donald Trump for reelection in 2024.[24]
Immigration
On immigration, he reversed his opposition to drivers' licenses being issued to illegal immigrants, saying he now supports access to drivers' licenses.[25] 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.[19]
LGBT rights
He did not support the legalization of same-sex marriage, but did support civil unions as being "adequate" for same-sex couples.[16] Ciattarelli voted against same-sex marriage, but voted to ban conversion therapy for minors.[26]
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."[27] He was criticized for allegedly applying the term "sodomy" to refer to LGBTQ education and people,[28] although Ciattarelli clarified he had not meant the word in regard to "someone's sexual orientation", instead he was generally referring to "mature content being taught to young children", and reinforced that "all schools should be promoting diversity, inclusivity, tolerance, and respect for others, but that doesn't mean pushing explicit subjects in elementary school classrooms".[27][29] In his platform, he wants to "reform requirements for sexual and social education to make content less dogmatic and more age-appropriate for elementary and middle school-aged children."[30] 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.[31]
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In addition to his legislative work, Ciattarelli also was 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.[1][32] He was also an adjunct professor at Seton Hall from 1998 to 2001.[32]
He has resided in Hillsborough Township from 1998 to 2023. He now resides in Somerville. He is married to Melinda Ciattarelli and has four adult children.[33] He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2016 and revealed that he was cancer-free in March 2017.[34] In June 2023, Ciattarelli announced that he and his wife Melinda had separated earlier in the year.[35]
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