New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli told Newsmax on Thursday that the dynamics of this year’s race are dramatically different from 2021, when he came within 3.2 points of unseating Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in one of the closest statewide races in decades.
“Rob, there are three things that got in the way last time that don’t exist this time,” Ciattarelli told “Finnerty.” “The first is the pandemic. It wasn’t easy running for governor during a shelter-in-place order.”
Ciattarelli said the second major difference is his opponent.
“Number two, I was running against an incumbent. My opponent’s no incumbent — and she’s not from New Jersey,” he said, a clear jab at Democratic nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who has been criticized by Republicans as out of touch with state voters.
The third factor, Ciattarelli said, is what he called “indifference” — a lack of belief among voters and political observers in 2021 that a Republican could actually win in deep-blue New Jersey.
“Last time around, there were just too many people inside New Jersey and around the country who didn’t think we could win,” he said. “The closeness of my race was a real eye-opening experience. That’s not the case now. People understand, inside and outside New Jersey, that this is in play — and that we’ve got a real shot to win.”
Ciattarelli said his campaign is now seeing stronger momentum, higher enthusiasm, and better turnout potential than four years ago.
“If you look at the polls, there’s another tab called the enthusiasm factor — and in that case, I beat her by 10 points,” he said. “So we really like our position. We’ll finish strong over the last four days of campaigning here, and I think we’re going to deliver a win on Tuesday.”
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