October 20, 2025
Brian Johnston/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Republican Jack Ciattarelli is making his third run for New Jersey governor and will face Democrat Mikie Sherrill in the Nov. 4 election. Above, Ciattarelli is shown at his second debate with Sherrill in New Brunswick on Oct. 8.
Republican businessman and former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is making his third run for New Jersey governor in a heated race that has centered on issues of affordability and government reform.
Ciattarelli, who narrowly lost to two-term Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, hopes to capitalize on changing political winds in New Jersey as he takes on U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the Nov. 4 election.
RELATED: In bid for N.J. governor, Democrat Mikie Sherrill targets rising costs
Ciattarelli is backed by President Donald Trump, who outperformed expectations in New Jersey in last year's presidential election. Trump didn't carry the state, but in reducing his margin of defeat from 16 points in 2020 to six points last November, his showing gave Republicans momentum heading into this year's gubernatorial race.
Ciattarelli, who grew up in Raritan, is the founder of a medical publishing company and served in the General Assembly representing New Jersey's 16th District from 2011 to 2018 before his first run for governor. Despite his failed 2021 bid against Murphy, who is term limited, Ciattarelli easily defeated four other Republicans who ran in the GOP primary in May. His campaign is focused on reducing taxes, cracking down on illegal immigration and increasing government efficiency.
Relief for New Jersey home owners, who face some of the highest property taxes in the country, headlines Ciattarelli's 10-point affordability plan. His platform calls for capping property taxes at 1% of a home's assessed value for first-time buyers during their first five years of ownership and freezing property taxes for people over 70. Older residents also would be allowed to deduct 100% of their property taxes on their state tax returns, and property owners in New Jersey would no longer have their home values reassessed after renovations.
A Harvard study found last year that about 1 in 5 New Jersey residents spend at least half of their earnings on rent or homeownership costs, with greater levels of income tied up in housing for renters. Unlike Sherrill, who has called for more affordable housing in communities throughout the state, Ciattarelli believes the state's suburbs have been overrun with development.
“We’re taking the ‘garden’ right out of the Garden State,” Ciattarelli, 63, said during his first debate with Sherrill in September.
Ciattarelli has taken aim at a state affordable housing law – upheld this month in New Jersey Superior Court – that requires all municipalities to contribute a "fair share" of affordable housing through supportive zoning for development. Ciattarelli has argued instead that more housing should be built in New Jersey's cities.
Ciattarelli also has questioned Sherrill's promise to freeze New Jersey's fast-rising electricity rates for a year, a move she claims will provide immediate relief while connecting cheaper and cleaner energy projects to the grid. While both candidates have called for new investments in solar and nuclear energy, Ciattarelli seeks to pull New Jersey out of the 10-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that requires members to purchase carbon allowances. The move could bring cost savings to New Jersey residents and businesses, but it would also cut off a revenue supply that supports long-term energy investments.
More so than during his past runs for governor, Ciattarelli has echoed major planks of the Trump administration. He's called for ending sanctuary policies that protect undocumented immigrants in New Jersey and championed a "law and order" approach to policing, including limiting access to law enforcement records and pursuing stricter bail policies for offenders. At some of his campaign stops, Ciattarelli has even given out red "Make NJ Great Again" hats to court Trump's base and drive Republican turnout.
“I think he’s right about everything that he’s doing," Ciattarelli said of Trump during his second debate with Sherrill earlier this month.
In late September, when Sherrill's military service records from her time in the U.S. Navy were released from the National Archives, Ciattarelli pounced on unredacted documents showing that his opponent was barred from walking at her 1994 graduation because of her refusal to turn in midshipmen who had cheated on an exam two years earlier. Sherrill claims Ciattarelli and his allies lobbied the Trump administration to release the documents, and some House Democrats have called for an investigation into whether the disclosure was politically motivated.
Tensions flared during the October debate when Sherrill accused Ciattarelli's medical publishing company of taking grants from pharmaceutical companies and sharing "misinformation" that led to "tens of thousands" of opioid-related deaths in New Jersey. Ciattarelli vowed to sue Sherrill for defamation over her debate remarks.
Ciattarelli has New Jersey history working in his favor. Since 1961, neither political party has won three consecutive gubernatorial elections. In 2021, despite Ciattarelli entering Election Day down about 8 percentage points in the polls against Murphy, he ended up losing by only 3.2 percentage points. With about two weeks remaining before election, Sherrill held a projected 4-point advantage over Ciattarelli in an average of polls tracked by RealClearPolitics.
