President Trump inserted his considerable influence into the race for governor of New Jersey on Monday, announcing his endorsement of Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican who came within three points of defeating the state’s Democratic governor in 2021.
“Jack Ciattarelli is a terrific America First Candidate running to be the next Governor of a State that I love, NEW JERSEY!” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“He is strongly supported by the most Highly Respected Leaders in New Jersey and, as your next Governor, Jack Ciattarelli will work closely with me and the Trump Administration.”
The public support from Mr. Trump is likely to solidify Mr. Ciattarelli’s odds in the June 10 Republican primary. He is competing against two prominent opponents, Bill Spadea, a conservative talk show host who had been similarly vying for the president’s endorsement, and State Senator Jon Bramnick, a moderate who has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration.
Mr. Ciattarelli, 63, a former member of the State Assembly, said he was “truly humbled and honored to receive President Trump’s very strong endorsement.”
“It’s time to unite our party, win big in November and make New Jersey affordable and safe again,” Mr. Ciattarelli wrote on social media.
The endorsement could prove to be a liability, however, in November’s general election. New Jersey traditionally leans left, and Mr. Trump is seen as an increasingly polarizing figure in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 800,000 voters.
In 2021, as Mr. Ciattarelli competed against Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, he strained to avoid appearing overtly aligned with Mr. Trump, whom, years earlier, he had called a charlatan who was “not fit to be president.”
But after Mr. Trump’s stronger-than-expected-showing in New Jersey November, Mr. Ciattarelli has openly courted the president. In March, he visited Mr. Trump at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., and shared photos of the meeting on social media. “Tonight, my great honor and pleasure to share time with @POTUS,” Mr. Ciattarelli wrote.
Mr. Spadea, who took a leave of absence from his popular radio show to run for governor, was also working to win Mr. Trump’s support.
In one ad, Mr. Spadea featured a snippet from an interview in which Mr. Trump groused about Mr. Ciattarelli, suggesting that if he had asked for Mr. Trump’s endorsement in 2021, he might have won. “This guy never came to ask for my support,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Spadea in a radio interview. “When MAGA sees that, they don’t like it.”
On Monday, Mr. Trump seemed to acknowledge Mr. Ciattarelli’s initial reluctance to align himself squarely with the far-right base of the party.
“Jack, who after getting to know and understand MAGA, has gone ALL IN, and is now 100% (PLUS!),” the president wrote.
Democrats are also locked in a competitive primary for governor.
Mr. Trump’s endorsement came less than about an hour before a debate among five of the six prominent Democrats vying for the nomination.
After a campaign focused heavily on border security, Mr. Trump performed far better in New Jersey in the November election than he did in 2020, losing the state by just six points, down from 16 points four years earlier. In more than half of the state’s counties, he received more votes than former President Joseph R. Biden.
Still, he remains deeply unpopular in many of the state’s most populous regions.
A March poll by Stockton University found that 52 percent of New Jersey voters think the president is doing a poor job. Of those surveyed, 62 percent said they believed the economy was getting worse.
Even before Mr. Trump’s endorsement, Mr. Ciattarelli had already been gaining steam and had dominated the race for campaign donations. Mr. Ciattarelli has raised $3.5 million; Mr. Bramnick and Mr. Spadea have each raised about half as much.
In 2021, Republican voters angered by the state’s Covid-19 policies turned out in force. Mr. Ciattarelli came within three percentage points of beating Mr. Murphy, who is barred by term limits from running for re-election this year.
In that election, the Democrats’ registration advantage was greater than one million voters.
Since then, more than 100,000 residents have registered to vote as Republicans, narrowing the gap. The registration figures, and Mr. Trump’s showing in November, have given Republicans reason to hope that they are well positioned to retake the governor’s office for the first time since 2018, when Chris Christie left office with dismal approval ratings and a party in disarray.
