County GOP holds election kickoff
AUGUSTA. Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor, throws first pitch at the Sussex County Miners game.
Augusta /
| 19 Aug 2025 | 03:56
Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor in the Nov. 4 election, talks to Donna Carey, president of the Hardyston school board, on Saturday, Aug. 16 at the Sussex County Republican Committee’s Election Kickoff Rally. (Photos by Maria Kovic)
Jack Ciattarelli, right, greets a supporter at the Election Kickoff Rally on Saturday, Aug. 16 at Skylands Stadium.
Jack Ciattarelli, center, shakes hands with the Miner Man at Skylands Stadium.
From left are Jack Ciattarelli, Republican candidate for New Jersey governor; Hopatcong Mayor Marie Galate; and state Assemblyman Mike Inganamort, R-24.
Dana Kalczuk of Hardyston, Jessica Scheper of Byram and Ellis Mareles of Hardyston.
Jack Ciattarelli, center, greets a supporter inside the ballpark.
Jack Ciattarelli and the Miner Man pose for photos at Skylands Stadium.
Jack Ciattarelli talks to residents at Skylands Stadium.
Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor, threw out the first pitch at the Sussex County Miners game Saturday, Aug. 16 as the county Republicans kicked off the fall campaign with a fundraiser at Skylands Stadium.
Ciattarelli faces Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-11, in the Nov. 4 election.
He also ran for governor in 2021, finishing with 48 percent of the vote, compared with 51 percent for Gov. Phil Murphy, the Democratic incumbent.
According to an FDU Poll released July 29, Sherrill has an eight-point lead over Ciattarelli among likely voters, 45 percent to 37 percent, with 16 percent undecided.
The poll shows that both Democrats and Republicans largely have lined up behind their candidates: 87 percent of Democrats say they’ll vote for Sherrill and 86 percent of Republicans for Ciattarelli.
His support among Republicans is a little softer than Sherrill’s among Democrats, with 23 percent of Republicans saying they’ll “probably,” rather than “definitely,” vote for their party’s nominee, compared with 15 percent of Democrats.
“Unless something goes horribly awry, partisans are going to vote for their party’s candidate,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of government and politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University and executive director of the FDU Poll. “While Republicans have been narrowing the gap, there are still more Democrats than Republicans in the state, and Ciattarelli needs to start pulling in more independents and Democrats if he wants to win.”