Jack Ciattarelli wins Trump-colored Republican primary for N.J. governor

Former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli easily won Tuesday’s bitter primary election for the Republican nomination to become New Jersey’s next governor, four years after nearly unseating Gov. Phil Murphy and boosted this time by the endorsement of President Donald Trump.

The Associated Press called the five-candidate GOP primary for Ciattarelli 17 minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m.

With 96% of votes counted statewide as of 2 a.m., the 63-year-old Somerville resident had a huge lead, with 67.8% of the vote. Behind him was former radio host Bill Spadea at 21.9%, state Sen. Jon Bramnick at 6.2%, former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac at 2.7%, and contractor Justin Barbera at 1.4%.

It marks the second straight gubernatorial election in the Garden State where Ciattarelli is the GOP nominee. This one comes as Republicans looks to win back the governor’s office after eight years Democratic control under term-limited Murphy.

Ciattarelli will now face U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the Nov. 4 general election to succeed Murphy. Sherrill, a four-term member of Congress seeking to become only the second woman governor in state history, won a heated, six-candidate primary for the Democratic nod Tuesday.

In a victory speech at Bell Works in Holmdel, Ciattarelli said his campaign has one goal: “fixing and saving our great state.”

“Tonight, we took the next step in achieving our mission with a clear and convincing primary victory.” he told supporters.

Ciattarelli also called upon independents “who have lost faith,” moderate Democrats who “feel abandoned and ignored,” and voters who supported his opponents to unite behind him.

“It’s time for change!” he exclaimed.

N.J. governor primary election results 2025. Live updates.

Live results of the hotly contested primary election battles for nominations in the New Jersey governor's race.

November’s contest is sure to be watched across the nation — and will be highly competitive. New Jersey is one of only two states with gubernatorial elections this year, along with Virginia. And it’ll be seen as an early test on how voters are reacting to Trump’s return to the presidency.

Republicans are trying to secure the top job in a state that often goes back and forth between parties when choosing a governor. History is against Democrats: The last time one party won three straight governor’s races in New Jersey was 1961. Republicans also have made voter registration gains in recent years and Trump finished much better in the state last year than the past. But registered Democrats still outnumber registered Republicans here by about 800,000 voters.

The GOP primary was sour — even nasty.

This was the third straight time Ciattarelli ran for governor, after he lost the 2017 primary and the 2021 general election. He fell to Murphy by about only 3 percentage points four years ago and quickly announced he would run again.

All of that boosted his name recognition. Ciattarelli, also the former owner of a medical publishing company and certified public accountant, led his closest rival, Spadea, by double digits in all polls and had a hefty lead in fundraising.

This is already the most expensive state election in Jersey history, with candidates and outside groups on both sides pouring in $122 million combined so far.

But Spadea, a conservative boosted by the name ID of his longtime morning radio show on New Jersey 101.5, ran as an outsider trying to upend the state’s Republican establishment at a time when grassroots, populist politics is at a high.

This was Jersey’s first gubernatorial election without the “county line,” a controversial system in which party-backed candidates received prime placement on primary ballots and often cruised to victory. A judge tossed the setup last year and state leaders installed a new ballot.

Another huge factor in the primary was Trump, a part-time Jersey resident. It wasn’t just about the Republican candidates trying to convince voters who is most aligned with the president. Ciattarelli, Spadea, and their allies fought behind the scenes over the Trump’s endorsement. Though Jersey leans blue, Trump is popular with GOP primary voters.

Ciattarelli, a moderate during his time in Trenton, called Trump a “charlatan” who wasn’t suited to be president in 2015 and walked a tight rope on Trump in the 2021 race. He has gradually come to embrace the president — like many Trump critics turned allies in the GOP — though Spadea’s camp drew attention to those past remarks.

Spadea ran a MAGA-inspired campaign and painted himself as a longtime Trump supporter, noting he was praised by the president during an interview on his show last year. But Ciattarelli’s team pointed out how Spadea also criticized Trump in the past.

Both Ciattarelli and Spadea met with Trump in person at his Bedminster golf club in April. Ultimately, Trump sided with Ciattarelli, calling him a “true champion” for the state.

Meanwhile, Bramnick, a veteran state lawmaker — who moonlights as a standup comedian — ran as a moderate choice, calling for more civility in politics and being willing to criticize Trump. Bramnick’s argument was that he has the best chance to win over independents in a blue-leaning state this fall. But his campaign never took off.

Kranjac portrayed himself as the state’s “Trumpiest mayor” and vowed a Trump-like agenda. Barbera, a contractor with little name ID and fundraising, was also pro-Trump. Neither had much backing and they didn’t qualify for state-sponsored debates.

Ciattarelli has campaigned on pushing Jersey in a more conservative direction, promising to cut taxes and government spending, rework the state’s school funding formula, curb LGTBQ curriculum in schools, repeal “sanctuary” policies that protect undocumented immigrants, and install a government efficiency department similar to DOGE.

During his speech Tuesday night, Ciattarelli vowed to appoint a state attorney general who supports the police, to lower taxes, to create a more equitable school funding formula, and to “save our suburbs by stopping overdevelopment.” He said he would support school vouchers “so children are not locked into failing schools.”

The enthusiastic crowd cheered the loudest when Ciattarelli thanked ”New Jersey’s most famous part-time resident, Donald J. Trump."

Trump campaigned for Ciattarelli during a telephone rally toward the end of the primary, telling voters how critical the election is.

“It’s being watched, actually, all over the world, because New Jersey is ready to pop out of that blue horror show and vote for somebody that’s gonna make things happen,” the president said.

Now, the general election is likely to be a dual referendum — on both Murphy and Trump.

“A vote for Mikie Sherrill is a vote for four more years of Phil Murphy,” Ciattarelli said Tuesday.

In her own victory speech, Sherrill called Ciattarelli a “Trump lackey” and a “ghost of elections past.”

MORE: Mikie Sherrill wins heated and crazy Democratic primary for N.J. governor

The North Jersey congresswoman and former Navy pilot won a crowded and tense Democratic primary.

The question is whether Ciattarelli’s suddenly direct ties to the president will drag him down in a blue-leaning state where independents may still be leery of Trump.

“Jack Ciattarelli, over and over again, refuses to put a sliver of daylight between his plans for New Jersey and Donald Trump’s,” New Jersey Democratic State Committee spokesman Ryan Radulovacki said in a statement earlier this week. “If Jack Ciattarelli makes it to the general election he’ll have to fully own his ‘100% plus’ embrace of Donald Trump’s harmful, costly agenda, no matter what he says or how he tries to run from it.”

Jack alluded to that in his speech.

“If this campaign were a drinking game and you took a shot every time Mikie Sherrill says ‘Trump,’ you’d be drunk off your ass every day between now and Nov. 4,” he said.

There’s also a question of whether Spadea and his loyal supporters will now back Ciattarelli after a bitter primary. Spadea suggested during a recent podcast interview that he may not support Ciattarelli, whom they have dismissed as a “fake” Republican.

“It would be a hard, hard sell for any actual conservative to support Jack Ciattarelli,” Spadea said. “We have had enough of holding your nose and voting for the lesser of two evils.”

Five third-party or independent candidates also filed Tuesday to run in November’s election: Stephen Zielinski of the Green Party, Vic Kaplan of the Libertarian Party (who ran unsuccessfully for Congress last year), Joanne Kuniansky of the Socialist Workers Party (who ran unsuccessfully for governor, U.S. Senate, and state Senate in the past), Monica Brinson, and David Douglas Brown.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @johnsb01.

Susan K. Livio may be reached atslivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on X at @SusanKLivio.