After losing Trump endorsement, GOP governor hopeful carries on
Republican governor hopefuls Jack Ciattarelli, left, and Bill Spadea have been fighting for the support of Donald Trump's voters. (Ciattarelli photo by Amanda Burns/Spadea photo by Hal Brown)
Bill Spadea, the Republican former radio host running to become New Jersey's next governor, said learning that he would not be getting President Donald Trump's endorsement was like a punch to the gut.
Spadea was walking into a campaign event Monday night when he received a phone call from Bill Stepien, who ran Trump's 2020 reelection campaign, telling him Trump would be endorsing Spadea's chief rival in the GOP primary, Jack Ciattarelli.
Spadea said he hadn't seen that coming. But, he said, by the next morning, he woke up to hundreds of texts of support, dozens of new volunteers signed up, and a flood of new, low-dollar donations.
'It exposed this incredible groundswell, thousands of people reaching out. I don't know that I would have heard from all those people if they didn't feel the need to say, 'Wait a minute. This is ridiculous — you're the Trump guy.' So I'm very pleased about that,' Spadea said Thursday following a lunch event with the Women's Republican Club Mantoloking-Bay Head.
Spadea and Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman who has twice before sought the governor's seat, have spent months dueling for the support of Trump and the president's supporters. Trump on Monday posted his endorsement of Ciattarelli on social media, calling Ciattarelli 'a terrific America First candidate.' Ciattarelli called himself 'truly humbled and honored' to receive Trump's endorsement.
Speaking to voters at Charlie's of Bay Head Thursday, Spadea compared Trump's endorsement of Ciattarelli to a priest at a funeral giving remarks for someone they didn't know. He said Trump endorsed 'a poll, not a person.'
Several polls have shown for much of the race that Ciattarelli is the clear front-runner in the five-man GOP primary. An Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill poll released Thursday puts Ciattarelli at 44% and Spadea in second place at 18%. The poll says 23% of respondents were undecided.
'The guys around the president want it easy. They're like, 'Oh, Mr. President, look at this, he's 20 points down. He can't win,'' Spadea said. 'Really? Because I remember 2016, when Hillary Clinton had a 98% chance of becoming the president.'
Asked to comment, Ciattarelli campaign strategist Chris Russell called Spadea's remarks 'just more BS.'
'The fact of the matter is that Spadea is losing this race by a landslide because of his harsh attacks on President Trump and his lying smears against Jack Ciattarelli. If Spadea thinks it's a good idea to double down on that failed strategy, more power to him. Jack is focused on uniting the party and working with President Trump to fix our state,' Russell said.
Ciattarelli was the Republican nominee for governor in 2021, losing to Gov. Phil Murphy in a close race.
Less than four weeks remain until June 10, when voters will decide who wins the Democratic and Republican nominations for governor in the fall. Murphy, a Democrat, will leave office in January and is barred from seeking a third consecutive term. In addition to the five-man GOP race to succeed him, six Democrats are vying for their party's nomination.
While Spadea said Thursday he's disappointed he wasn't endorsed by Trump, he believes it'll hurt Ciattarelli in the long run. He cited candidates with Trump's endorsement who lost their elections, including Christine Serrano Glassner in last year's U.S. Senate primary in New Jersey.
Candidates need to have a 'certain character, strength, principles in order to capitalize on making that endorsement something,' Spadea said.
'Our plan aligns with his plan, so it would have been a real match,' he said. 'So, it would've helped me. It's not going to help Jack the way he thinks.'
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