Jack Ciattarelli, backed by President Trump, becomes the Republican nominee for N.J. governor

Jack Ciattarelli, a three-time candidate for New Jersey governor, won the Republican primary Tuesday with the backing of President Donald Trump.

The Associated Press called the race for the former Assembly member at 8:17 p.m., just minutes after polls closed in the state. Ciattarelli will now go on to face U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee, in November.

Ciattarelli, 63, lost the Republican primary in 2017. He went on to win the nomination in 2021 and came within about three points of Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021, a term-limited Democrat.

» READ MORE: Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli will face off in N.J. governor election

On Tuesday, he defeated former conservative radio host Bill Spadea, former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac, contractor Justin Barbera, and state Sen. Jon Bramnick, the only candidate critical of Trump.

Ciattarelli previously served in the state Assembly for a little over six years and lives in Somerville in Somerset County. His camapign celebrated at Bell Works in Holmdel in Monmouth County.

He benefited from name recognition in the state and an established base.

Trump’s endorsement this year gave Ciattarelli an edge in a race where the White House played an outsized role with the president coming up often in debates, candidate ads, and with conversations with voters. Ciattarelli and Spadea had a bitter rivalry throughout the race, and often bickered about who was more loyal to Trump. Both men had been critical of the president in the past.

Ciattarelli went from being a never-Trumper in 2015, to avoiding the subject during his 2021 run while trying to reach both moderates and Trump supporters, to full-on embracing the president this time around. Trump had criticized Ciattarelli on Spadea’s radio show last year for not seeking out his support in 2021, but said in his endorsement announcement that Ciattarelli “has gone ALL IN.” Trump said on a telerally for Ciattarelli last week that Jersey is “ready to pop out of that blue horror show” with Ciattarelli.

At the polls on Tuesday, Republican voter David Roy, 68, of Woolwich, had trouble pronouncing Ciattarelli’s name but said he voted for him because of the Trump endorsement.

“I voted for Trump, so voting for this guy made sense,” said Roy, a retired computer-science engineer. “Trump saved Republicans from extinction.”

Ciattarelli had support from political operative and former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, who was in Trump’s ear about Ciattarelli’s campaign and supported attack ads focused on discrediting Spadea.

Ciattarelli has said he will end the state’s Immigrant Trust Directive – known as the state’s sanctuary policy – on his first day in office and will threaten state funding for sanctuary cities.

Staff writer Al Lubrano contributed to this article.