GOP Nom Ciattarelli Heats Up With a Live On-Air Assist From Trump - and Famous Native NJ Voice Cuts Ad

NJ Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli seems to be gaining ground in his race, as strong national voices join him on the stump (well, in a virtual way, at least, in one case). That would be a town hall via telephone, which Ciattarelli held with supporters on Friday--and President Donald Trump was on the line too. Early voting begins Saturday.

 During his remarks to the supporters, the president raked the Democrat opponent, Rep. Mikie Sherill, but good over how badly Garden State citizens' quality of life would fare if she is allowed to become governor: 

“Mikie, as they call her — the only thing she’s got is an unusual name, other than that she’s terrible,” Trump said, according to Politico.

“Mikie Sherrill looks [like] such an innocent name, but her energy policies would send your prices soaring and make New Jersey even more expensive than it already is,” he added later.

The president said if the Democratic lawmaker is elected governor, New Jersey will go in a “death spiral.”

Pres. Trump also praised Ciattarelli, contrasting his conservative energy proposals with the liberal plans from Sherill, predicting the Republican will win and promising to "campaign" for him:

“Jack is going to be great and he’s going to cut your energy bills in half, and she’s going to double your energy bills so New Jersey, just on energy bills alone … on energy alone, I think Jack should win,” Trump said, per The Associated Press.

After he returns from his trip to Asia, the president said he will “be out campaigning for Jack.”

On Saturday, Ciattarelli told FNC's Fox & Friends that his campaign has "racked up at least 12" endorsements from Democrats in his state:

My colleague Adam Turner just dropped a new column, with his reading of the tea leaves - a week-and-a-half out from the off-year elections - has hopeful signs about the NJ gubernatorial election for the Republican candidate. Partly, he says, this is because of some wonky numbers favoring the Democrat being folded into the polling average in the home stretch:

The RCP average still has Democrat Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill leading Republican former state legislator Jack Ciattarelli, 48.1 percent to 44 percent. But Sherrill’s numbers are boosted by at least one poor polling outfit that has a bad habit of underestimating the GOP vote. 

Turner adds these other positive signs of a possible upset for Republicans--something that would have implications down-ballot:

Otherwise, Ciattarelli seems to have the BIG MO.  He has been endorsed by nearly a dozen prominent local and state Democrat officials.

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Labor unions that supported [former Dem Gov. Phil] Murphy before are switching to Ciattarelli.  The Democrats are increasingly concerned about the turnout in the black community, which in the 2024 races showed a willingness to vote Republican.

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READ MORE: The Big 3 Elections of 2025, With a Week-And-A-Half to Go

'A Big Deal': Labor Union That Endorsed Dem NJ Gov. Murphy in '21 Now Backing GOP Opponent's Campaign

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Do yourself a massive favor and read the whole thing, if you need to keep up on what's happening in the hotly contested NYC mayoral contest, as well as the Virginia races RedState has been covering throughout the cycle. He's a great analyst!

New Jerseyans are "sick and tired" of the decline caused by Democrats in the state, says Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ):

I'll leave you with one more small signal that the Jersey GOP candidate's campaign is doing the right things; putting out a great ad like this for Ciattarelli doesn't hurt one bit.

Oh yes, the voice over is by none other than NJ native son... Kelsey Grammer: 

Whenever Republicans can take advantage of bringing some Hollywood star power.- like has been done here, in an honest way, while conveying a conservative message - that's the way to win seats we might not win otherwise. Kudos to whomever made that call on his team.