Jack, Jon and Don

Apr 10, 2024

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Good Wednesday morning!

Jack’s back — not like he ever left.

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican who nearly defeated Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021, told reporters the day he conceded that he’d run for governor again in 2025. He formally announced Tuesday night.

Now the question is whether he can still claim the centrist role, which appeals to an electorate with a tendency to elect Republican governors after Democratic rule. He argued he will in his campaign speech, saying he’s “a candidate who can unite our party — not one who calls moderate Republicans ‘RINOS’ or calls Trump supporters ‘crazies.’”

But he’ll have to prove it against state Sen. Jon Bramnick, Ciattarelli’s former colleague in the Assembly and the only other declared Republican running in 2025.

Bramnick and Ciattarelli are both typical moderate New Jersey Republicans on policy. But here is one distinct difference between them, and that is Donald Trump.

Bramnick has been anti-Trump from the start, whereas Jack’s been … well, you decide.

When Trump was a presidential candidate in 2015, Ciattarelli called him a “charlatan” who is “not fit to be president of the United States.”

In 2020, when Ciattarelli was running for governor and soon-to-be-ex President Trump was peddling lies that the election was stolen, Ciattarelli attended a “Stop the Steal” rally. He said at the time he didn’t realize the purpose of the event, but he was also silent on Joe Biden winning the election after it was clear he had.

Ciattarelli has been much clearer on Biden and Trump since then. He’s acknowledged that Biden won in 2020. And last month, he did what most Republicans do — bowed down and endorsed Trump for president.

That may help Ciattarelli become the Republican nominee for governor next June. But it probably won’t do him any favors in a state Trump has now lost twice, bigly.

Bramnick alluded to that in a video before Ciattarelli’s announcement, saying he’s won in a Democratic district which Biden won in 2020. “We should never be the party of one man, and you know who I’m talking about,” he said.

Then again, Murphy cut negative ads against Ciattarelli over his “Stop the Steal” attendance and won reelection by just 3 points, much less than expected. Trump trails Biden in one recent poll by just 7 percentage points. And Republicans have gained in registrations since 2021, whittling a roughly million-voter advantage for Democrats down to about 940,000.

Ciattarelli projected confidence Tuesday night that his endorsement of Trump won’t hinder him should he become the nominee. “We ran this campaign the last time with this issue the very same way and we came very close,” he told reporters. “I believe this time we can pick up the extra points we need to deliver a win.”

If that happens, then his tortuous — some might say torturous — journey to embracing Trump would seem worth it.

Read more on Ciattarelli’s campaign launch here.

TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at dracioppi@politico.com.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I recently received a courtesy call from a journalist informing me of my illogical exclusion from an upcoming debate that will only include the two establishment candidates in the race for New Jersey’s Third Congressional District, one of whom I decisively beat in the Mercer County Convention. Doing this is a lazy and blatant attempt to undercut my serious candidacy and pigeonhole me as a political outsider.” — Sarah Schoengood, House candidate and plaintiff against the “county line,” in an op-ed for InsiderNJ.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Roy Cho, Anthony DeNova, Kareem Pritchet, Eileen Kean, Rudy Orozco

WHERE’S MURPHY? — Speaking at the National Action Network’s annual convention in New York, then appearing on “Ask Governor Murphy.”

PROGRAMMING NOTE — Matt’s off this week, so save any news dumps for Sunday afternoon.

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WHAT TRENTON MADE

GET WELL SOON, PART ONE — Sen. Bob Menendez's wife and co-defendant seeks delay in corruption trial, citing health issues, by POLITICO’s Daniel Han: Nadine Menenedez, the wife of Sen. Bob Menendez, wants to postpone their upcoming corruption trial because of health issues. Attorneys for Nadine Menendez asked Judge Sidney Stein in a court filing Tuesday to delay the May 6 trial, citing an unspecified “serious medical condition.” Menendez, who is a co-defendant in the case, will need a “surgical procedure” and follow-up treatment, her attorneys wrote.

GET WELL SOON, PART TWO — Democratic Rep. Donald Payne Jr. suffered a “cardiac episode” last weekend related to complications to diabetes, his office announced Tuesday night. He is recovering in the hospital.

“The Congressman’s prognosis is good and he is expected to make a full recovery,” his office said. It provided no other details.

Payne succeeded his father, Donald Payne Sr., the first African American to represent New Jersey in Congress, after his death in 2012.

— Dustin Racioppi

A message from Alibaba:

2017 MYSTERY SOLVED — Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop’s gubernatorial campaign Tuesday gave a scathing rebuke of political bossism in New Jersey, saying that the state’s controversial primary ballot design is used to keep machine politics alive.

The campaign submitted an amicus brief before the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which could determine whether the county line primary ballot design is used in this June’s elections. A federal district court judge issued a preliminary injunction in late March abolishing the line for the June primary, although the judge later clarified that it only applies to the Democratic primary and not Republicans’.

In the filings, Scott Salmon — an election attorney who is working for Fulop’s 2025 gubernatorial bid — wrote that the county line places a “significant burden on voting rights” and that it is wielded by political machines in the state to maintain power. He referenced Tammany Hall in New York and famed New Jersey bosses Nucky Johnson in Atlantic City and Frank Hague in Jersey City as examples of political machines.

“The current county line system that is in place is just its latest version,” Salmon wrote. “Each of the various county parties (on both sides of the spectrum) serves as its steward and helps propagate its inequities.”

Fulop’s legal brief said that he decided to not run for governor in 2017 in large part because he didn’t have county lines that were necessary to win and pushed pushed back on claims made by the Camden and Middlesex County Democratic committees that changing from the county line ballot design to an office-block ballot would “confuse” voters.

The filing likely complicates Fulop's relationship with party leaders that are typically needed for a statewide run, but also adds to Fulop’s message of being an anti-establishment candidate.

“[H]e who controls the nomination process controls the electorate,” Salmon wrote. “It is long past time for the nomination process to be returned to the people, where it belongs, and the age of Boss Tweed, Frank Hague, and all other political machines put to rest.”

Read the legal filing here.

— Daniel Han

A message from Alibaba:

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“As a small business, none of this would have been possible without Alibaba. From day one, Alibaba supported our entry into the Chinese market by providing data-driven consumer insights that helped shape our marketing strategy and proactive guidance on supply chain and logistical hurdles,” said Dr. Eddie Omar, CEO of Phyto-C.

Learn more.

OPRAHAUL — Bucco signs on to OPRA overhaul as bill stalls, by POLITICO’s Daniel Han: The state Senate’s top GOP lawmaker is officially backing an overhaul of the state’s public records laws as the legislation’s future remains in limbo. Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco signed on as a prime sponsor of the bill, NJ S2930, during Monday’s quorum. It is unclear what, if any, agreements were made for Bucco’s support, although Bucco had been in discussions with his Democratic counterpart, Senate President Nick Scutari, on possible amendments, lawmakers have said.

HOW WILL VOTERS EVER FIGURE IT OUT? — “County clerks forge ahead with new ballot design,” by NJ Spotlight News’ Colleen O’Dea: “New Jersey Democratic primary voters will see ballots that look very different from what they are used to and also different from the ones Republican voters will see. County clerks are designing ballots for the June election to comply with the recent federal court ruling that ends the state’s unique “county-line” balloting, though only for the Democratic primary. Clerks have been working with vendors Dominion Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software to design the new ballots and meet the April 20 deadline for sending out mail-in ballots.”

THE HEARINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL JUDICIARY IMPROVES — “Judicial confirmations must continue, top court official says,” by New Jersey Monitor’s Nikita Biryukov: “Lawmakers must continue to nominate and confirm new judges as New Jersey nears the end of its judicial vacancy crisis, the Judiciary’s chief administrator told an Assembly panel Monday. Judge Glenn Grant, the acting administrative director of the courts, told the Assembly Budget Committee that failing to add more jurists to the bench would risk derailing the Judiciary’s plan to bring its case backlog down to prepandemic levels. … “This is not a point-in-time kind of completion project. You’ve got to have ongoing, consistent introduction of new candidates, review and evaluation by the governor’s office, and then presented to the Senate,” he said.”

THIS IS YOUR HOMETOWN — ”Fulop Eyes Edison,” by Insider NJ’s Max Pizarro: “And so the jockeying begins in this Aldous Huxleyan world of Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, whose aesthetic preference – blocks not lines – also happens to correspond more faithfully to the U.S. Constitution. In this brave new environment resides Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who still has a hankering for support in the county where he grew up, specifically Edison. The 2025 gubernatorial candidate will serve as the star attraction on May 2nd at an event at the American Legion in Edison hosted by the vice chair of the Edison Democratic Organization.”

— “Hoboken mayor launches 1st TV ads for Congress”

— “Fulop holds virtual Town Hall on statewide Health and Human Services proposal”

— “RetireReady NJ, which aims to help private employers help their employees, seeks companies for pilot program this spring”

Access New York bill updates and Congressional activity in areas that matter to you, and use our exclusive insights to see what’s on the Albany agenda. Learn more.

BIDEN TIME

ISN’T IT IRONIC, DON’T YOU THINK? “Sen. Bob Menendez grills Treasury official on curbing illicit finance a month before bribery trial,” by CNBC’s Ryan Anastasio: “Sen. Bob Menendez questioned a Treasury Department official Tuesday on curbing illegal finance as he prepares to stand trial in a month with his wife and two other men on federal bribery charges. “I’m concerned about the exploitation of our litigation finance industry by foreign actors,” the New Jersey Democrat told Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo at a Senate Banking Committee hearing.”

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LOCAL

— “Newark OKs $1.5B School Budget, Raising Taxes For First Time in 3 Years”

— “Jackie Robinson’s Granddaughter Echoes Fireman-Funded Group’s Talking Points”

— “New report sheds light on misconduct probe of Warren County Prosecutor's Office, after county prosecutor resigns”

— “New Jersey protesters say 'No Eid while Gaza has no Eid'”

EVERYTHING ELSE

NANNY STATES — “ALA raises alarm after 2023's top challenged books target mostly LGBTQ, people of color,” by the Asbury Park Press’ Ilana Keller: “More books than ever are being targeted for censorship. In fact, according to the American Library Association, the number of unique titles targeted for censorship across school and public libraries surged 65 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, the highest levels ever documented.”

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