Ciattarelli Will Officially Kick Off Gubernatorial Campaign Oct. 4

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Ciattarelli

State Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-Hillsborough) will formally kick off his campaign for governor of the State of New Jersey at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at Manville High School.

Ciattarelli, a small business owner and entrepreneur, said he plans to run a campaign that appeals to Republican, Democratic and unaffiliated voters across the state by promoting solutions to the economic and fiscal crises facing New Jersey.

“New Jersey has been heading in the wrong direction for decades. Under both Democratic and Republican administrations and state legislatures, we’ve reached the tipping point,” he said. “We are last in economic growth, drowning in debt, unable to fund core priorities
like infrastructure and pensions, crippled by rising property taxes and paralyzed by an unfair school funding formula that cheats children, taxpayers and school employees.”

Ciattarelli said that instead of real solutions, citizens are stuck with commissions and task forces that talk about problems instead of
solving them.

“Special interests that spend tens of millions each election to preserve the failed status quo,” he said. “I have seen Trenton from the inside – it isn’t working…Next week I will commence a campaign intended to challenge conventional wisdom and chart a new direction for New Jersey that brings opportunity and optimism back to our great State.”

Ciattarelli is considered by many to be the Republican favorite for the gubernatorial nomination. He has a reputation for being responsive to constituents and working well with Democrats, and has distanced himself from Gov. Chris Christie in recent months, calling on the state to re-start transportation projects like the Route 518 bridge project. He helped broker a deal that allows Somerset County to move forward with the bridge replacement.

Ciattarelli has been a New Jersey Assemblyman representing the 16th District since 2012. The district includes Princeton, South Brunswick, and portions of Somerset and Hunterdon counties.

Joseph Rudy Rullo has announced he will seek the Republican nomination. Other potential Republican candidates for governor include: Jon Bramnick, minority leader of the New Jersey General Assembly; Randy Brown, mayor of Evesham Township; Senator Michael J. Doherty; Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno; and New Jersey Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean Jr.

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who has closed ties to former Gov. Jim McGreevey, announced yesterday that he will not seek the Democratic nomination for governor. He was considered a favorite to win the Democratic nomination. Instead he endorsed former Goldman Sachs executive Phil Murphy, who has strong ties to former Gov. Jon Corzine. Other potential candidates include Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester), Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), and Princeton resident Tom Byrne, Jr.