Latest news with #JackCiattarelli
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How are candidates for NJ governor spending in the last days of the primary campaign?
As early, in-person voting starts in the New Jersey primary election and gubernatorial candidates from both parties spend their days criss-crossing the state, some have a bit more money in the bank for the last minute push than others. All nine major candidates for New Jersey governor — six Democrats and three Republicans — filed their 11-day pre-election contribution and expenditure report with the state's Election Law Enforcement Commission, or ELEC. Some candidates are still actively spending, while others are sitting on campaign contributions, disclosure reports show. On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill has spent the most since the candidates filed their 29-day preelection contribution and expenditure report in May. She's spent $4.1 million. For the Republicans, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is still the highest spender at $1.4 million. As for who still has the most money to work with, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democratic candidate, has about $1.3 million left while Ciattarelli leads the Republicans with $1.285 million. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka raised the most money in the last few weeks of the campaign at $961,957. That's more than double former state Senate President Sweeney, who was second with $432,352. Sherrill raised $273,077, Gottheimer raised $126,840, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop raised $124, 781 and teachers' union president Sean Spiller raised just $7,338. The congresswoman led spending at $4.1 million, followed by Sweeney at $1.78 million, Baraka at $1.25 million, Gottheimer at $823,683, Fulop at $484,273 and Spiller at $361,683. And while there's less than a week left until Election Day, every little bit helps, so having cash in the coffer matters. Gottheimer has the most at $1.3 million, followed by Sherrill at $902,507, Sweeney at $875,608, Fulop at $427,676, Baraka at $376,006 and Spiller at $96,758 Ciattarelli spent the most among the Republicans at $1.4 million but former radio personality Bill Spadea was not too far behind at $1.395 million while state Sen. Jon Bramnick spent $414,346. Spadea held the lead in fundraising at $370,249 compared to $105,903 for Ciattarelli and just $37,900 for Bramnick. In terms of cash in hand, Ciattarelli holds the advantage at $1.2 million compared to $887,010 for Spadea and $518,687 for Bramnick. NJ Primary Election 2025: Our complete guide to voting, governor candidates, local races Candidates also received funding and support from independent groups and PACs, or political action committees, during this cycle. These groups typically contribute support to candidates based on ideology or party. Spiller received close to $37.5 million during the campaign from an independent expenditure committee called Working New Jersey, which received all $40 million of its contributions this cycle from Garden State Forward, a PAC aligned with the teachers union. There were two groups supporting Gottheimer for a total of more than $11 million this year. They were Affordable New Jersey and No Surrender, both of which bought TV ads for the congressman. Another group known as One Giant Leap contributed about $3.7 million for Sherrill, and the Coalition for Progress backed Fulop as well as the slew of Assembly candidates he endorsed with $6.8 million. Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@ This article originally appeared on NJ governor race 2025: Candidates spending before primary
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Trump, pushing for Ciattarelli, says New Jersey 'ready to pop out of blue horror show'
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday implored voters in New Jersey's primary for governor to support Republican Jack Ciattarelli when early in-person voting begins Tuesday and said the state was ready for a change after years of Democratic control. The president, who has golf clubs around the state and frequently stays at his Bedminster property, announced his endorsement for Ciattarelli last month. On Monday, Trump held a telephone rally for the candidate, a former state lawmaker who transformed from a critic to vocal backer of the president. The phone call lasted about 10 minutes, with the president saying that voters will decide whether New Jersey remains a 'high-tax, high-crime sanctuary state.' 'New Jersey is ready to pop out of that blue horror show and really get in there and vote for somebody that's going to make things happen,' the president said. Trump's call for early voting echoed the pitch he made to voters in the 2024 presidential election. Ciattarelli said his first executive order if elected would be to end any sanctuary policies for immigrants in the country illegally. Currently, the state attorney general has directed local law enforcement not to assist federal agents in civil immigration matters. There is no legal definition for sanctuary city policies, but they generally limit cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers. Ciattarelli also said the attorney general he appoints if he wins won't be bringing lawsuits against the White House. New Jersey's current attorney general has pursued several high-profile challenges to the president's agenda, including a case challenging Trump's order calling for the end of birthright citizenship. Ciattarelli is running against former radio talk host Bill Spadea, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac and a southern New Jersey contractor named Justin Barbera. Early in-person voting begins Tuesday and goes through Sunday. Primary day is June 10, though voters have been sending mail-in ballots in since late April. Though the primary isn't over, Ciattarelli hinted at what attacks against his eventual Democratic challenger in the general election might be, saying the party's eight years in the governorship and more than two decades of power in the legislature have been a failure. The Democratic field isn't set. There's a six-way contest between Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Mikie Sherrill; Mayors Ras Baraka of Newark and Steven Fulop of Jersey City; former state Senate President Steve Sweeney; and teacher's union president Sean Spiller. New Jersey tilts Democratic in presidential and Senate elections in particular, and the party has a roughly 800,000 voter registration advantage over Republicans. But independents make up a significant bloc as well, and voters have tended to alternate between Democratic and Republican administrations for governor.
CBS News
2 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
At diners across N.J., voters sound off on gubernatorial primary election. What's on their minds is consistent.
At diners across New Jersey, voters sound off on primary races At diners across New Jersey, voters sound off on primary races At diners across New Jersey, voters sound off on primary races Early voting begins Wednesday in New Jersey's primary election. Eleven candidates are running for governor, including six Democrats and five Republicans. The two winners will face off against each other in the November election. An Emerson University poll finds that the economy remains the top issue for voters at 45%, followed by housing affordability at 12%, threats to democracy with 11% and immigration policy at 9%. In order to vote in New Jersey's primary, you have to be registered as a Republican or Democrat. CBS News New York visited three diners in three counties across the state to ask voters about the issues important to them. What we found was quite consistent -- affordability in the Garden State was top of mind. First stop, Bergen County At the Candlewyck Diner in East Rutherford, Max Zaccone said the most important issue to him is the economy. "We're feeling the squeeze, you know, and we need somebody that's going to lower the gas prices, try to lower some of these food prices, because there's a lot of struggling Americans," Zaccone said. "I feel that we need somebody that is for the people and not for the agenda, somebody that's basically going to take both the Republican and Democratic side." Zaccone said his choice is Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican candidate endorsed by President Trump. Ciattarelli is the leading GOP contender in several polls, including the Emerson College poll previously mentioned. Simon Santa Maria, a member of Gen Z, said protecting immigrants and the environment is high on his list, and he's leaning toward progressive Democrat Ras Baraka, Newark's mayor. Baraka gained the national spotlight after he was arrested while trying to see the conditions at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Newark. "He's obviously very adamant about protecting immigrants," Santa Maria said. "He's done a lot of things for the environment of Newark. He's planted a lot of trees. He's done a lot of things against, like. urbanization, the rapid urbanization, the gentrification that's affecting Newark." Myrna Kamel, 25, said she doesn't know much about the candidates, including Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who is leading Democrats in that same Emerson College poll. However, Kamel said the state's high property taxes are preventing her generation from becoming homeowners. "I find New Jersey a little bit hard to live in, just given the fact that, you know, it's very hard to buy a home in our generation now. And then the property taxes are another problem that we, you know, if you can afford a mortgage, you can't afford the taxes on the home, and so on and so forth," Kamel said. The owner of the Candlewyck Diner said what he is concerned about is New Jersey's business climate. "My concerns as a business owner, I think the last eight years ... everything that New Jersey has done from the pandemic, even before that, has been anti-small business," Emanuel Logothetis said. "It's almost like they have us in a chokehold at times and we're on our own left to fight by ourselves." Gov. Phil Murphy is a Democrat, and his party has controlled the state Legislature for decades. Voter Tom Drexler had a message for them. "I think the Democratic Party has to figure out what they're really standing for in such a way that they can show the public what they are about now, because I think there are some questions about that given how things have moved politically since the last election cycle," Drexler said. Second stop, Morris County At the Roxbury Diner in Succasunna, voters were not holding back. "Anybody but a Republican because Republicans do not care about people," Brian Malcolm of Mount Olive Township said. Malcolm said he's worried about benefits he's paid into for 45 years. "Potentially the loss of benefits -- Social Security, Medicare," he said. "According to the Congressional Budget Office, it's going to pull $550 billion from Medicaid … That's going kick about 8 million people off health care altogether." "I voted for Trump, and I won't feel bad about that or deny it to anybody," Lisa Dolan of Stanhope said. So does a candidate stand out to her? "No, because the things that are important to me, nobody's fixed," Dolan said. "I think that the property taxes are very high here. It's forcing a lot of people out." At the Roxbury Diner, where so many people have been affected by the I-80 sinkhole, we found that voters are more concerned about the economy and affordability. "Other than the things that are going on currently in New Jersey, the airport, the 80 sinkhole, because I have children, I have boys, I have millennials … it's property … property taxes, being able to buy things," Dover resident Paris McDaniel said. McDaniel said she's disillusioned by both Republicans and Democrats that she holds responsible for residents fleeing the state. "We love New Jersey. We don't want to leave New Jersey. People have to migrate to the South to be able to afford a home and to get a yard and bring up their children," McDaniel said. "On the Republican side, I'd like someone that can actually distance themselves as the clear winner," Succasunna resident Steve Alford said. He's betting on Ciattarelli. Third stop, Monmouth County Political experts say while big counties like Bergen are crucial in the primaries, the southern part of the state that's been leaning red in some districts is just as important. Voters spoke out at the New Monmouth Diner in Middletown. "Property taxes are always at the forefront, especially living in New Jersey. We are one of the highest taxed in this country," Middletown resident Jim Davis said. Davis also said crime is a big issue for him in the primary election, and suggested Democrats haven't done enough to make the streets safe. "Bail reform, when someone commits a crime, and they pay a couple hundred in cash and they're back on the street, that's a problem," Davis said. Some senior citizens said another big problem is it is getting too expensive to live in New Jersey. "I really don't believe that the seniors should have to pay full price for school taxes. We put all our children through school," one resident named Judy said. "Now we are paying for everybody else." "School choice would be on my list and the voucher system … maybe consolidation." Union Beach resident Glenn Cottrell said. Affordability was not just a big issue with older voters, but younger ones as well. "You pay to go to school and now you are strapped with student loans. You can't get a job and to pay back those student loans and you can never move out and you can't pay for your groceries," Hazlet resident Sheri O'Hea said. "I would like Democrats to lean more left," Hackensack resident Alexa Zamora said. Zamora said she's leaning toward Baraka, and is convinced he'll tackle high housing costs as well. "My fiancé and I have like what would be considered a good job and we can't afford anything between interest rates, tax, property taxes," Zamora said. "Houses that were probably a starter home are now million dollar homes." At the New Monmouth Diner, many Republicans told CBS News New York off camera it's a choice between Ciattarelli and Bill Spadea for them. Political experts say voters in Monmouth County and those in southern towns could be the ones who determine the winner of the Republican primary.
New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
In the Age of Trump, National Politics Dominate a Republican Primary
When Donald J. Trump was in the thick of his first campaign for the White House, Jack Ciattarelli, then a Republican state assemblyman mulling a run for governor of New Jersey, called the soon-to-be commander in chief a 'charlatan' who was 'out of step with American values.' 'Sitting silently and allowing him to embarrass our country is unacceptable,' Mr. Ciattarelli said in a 2015 statement. 'He is not fit to be president of the United States.' Ten years later, Mr. Ciattarelli, the front-runner in the June 10 Republican primary for governor, has pivoted. He has praised Mr. Trump during the campaign and last month earned the president's coveted endorsement. Like many other Republican politicians across the country, including the vice president, JD Vance, Mr. Ciattarelli has worked to paper over his past criticism of the president as Mr. Trump has grown in popularity. That effort to appeal to the G.O.P.'s conservative base is seen more as a reflection of the realities of party primaries at a polarized moment in history than as a fundamental realignment of the Republican Party in New Jersey, a left-leaning state with a high percentage of affluent suburban voters. 'It's indicative of where Republicans are, but it's also indicative of where a lot of voters are,' said Peter J. McDonough Jr., a retired political strategist and former aide to Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican who was governor of New Jersey in the 1990s. 'People are mad. People are dissatisfied — whether they're Bernie Sanders or Trump voters.' Where Do the Candidates for New Jersey Governor Stand on the Issues? The New York Times sent a wide-ranging survey to candidates for governor of New Jersey about housing, immigration, abortion, transit, affordability, schools and climate. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
GOP lawmaker says the House is ‘desperately seeking' accountability for alleged Biden cover-up
All times eastern FOX News Radio Live Channel Coverage WATCH LIVE: New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli holds rally
