EXCLUSIVE: Jack Ciattarelli's Plan to Make New Jersey Great Again (Interview)

New Jersey's Republican candidate for governor vows to reverse policies that have made his state unaffordable, unsafe, and uncompetitive if he wins the state's hyper-competitive race in November. 

In an exclusive interview with Restoration News, Jack Ciattarelli—the businessman and former assemblyman who nearly unseated incumbent Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021—believes he's poised to withdraw the state from a carbon tax plan, alter an "unconstitutional school funding formula,” protect women’s sports, reassert free speech rights for teachers, and end sanctuary policies that give rise to criminal activity.

Fresh polls show the Republican challenger in a dead heat with Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democrat nominee. Restoration News reached out twice for an interview with Rep. Sherrill, but received no response from her campaign.

Although New Jersey is widely viewed as a deep-blue state where Democrats hold a significant registration advantage, recent trendlines suggest Republicans are gaining ground. Ciattarelli fell short by just three points in the state’s 2021 gubernatorial election while President Donald Trump came within six points of upsetting former Vice President Kamala Harris here in last year's presidential election. With affordability concerns foremost on voters' minds, Ciattarelli sees a unique opportunity to make a clean break with failed leftist policies. 

"I refuse to be governor of a state that ranks as one of the worst in the country to do business,” he told me. "The current administration is trying to tax their way out of a fiscal calamity in Trenton. But I'm going to reduce the size and cost of our state government so we can afford a tax cut for individuals and businesses. 

"We also need to grow our economy, and we can do that by making New Jersey a better place to do business." 

Ciattarelli pointed to the example of Pennsylvania, where lawmakers cut the corporate tax rate to increase business activity. He called for "a more dynamic relationship between the state's Department of Labor and Department of Education" to ensure New Jersey has "a ready, willing, and able labor pool for industry." 

Changing Direction on Energy

Specifically, Ciattarelli sees several factors in play that must be addressed before businesses will once more view New Jersey as an attractive investment. 

"In the old days, companies would just look at taxes and regulations," he observed. "Today they're looking at taxes, regulations, labor, and electricity, and we're sucking wind in all four areas."

Beginning in June, New Jersey residents experienced a 20 percent increase in electricity prices—a spike Ciattarelli blames on policies both Gov. Murphy has pursued in Trenton and Rep. Sherrill has pursued in Washington, D.C. 

As governor, Ciattarelli would reverse course by withdrawing from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, a highly controversial carbon tax plan. Studies show that RGGI leads to significantly higher electricity costs for residents in participating states. Under Murphy, New Jersey rejoined RGGI in 2021 after his predecessor, Republican Gov. Chris Christie pulled the state out. 

"I will pull us out of RGGI on day one," Ciattarelli said. "The Regional Greenhouse Gas initiative is a carbon tax policy that has failed New Jersey. Seven and half years later, our air is no cleaner, our electricity's only more expensive, and a half a billion dollars a year is going to other states. We need to keep that half billion here by lowering electricity rates for homeowners, tenants, and businesses." 

Ciattarelli also spelled out his vision for expanding New Jersey's energy capacity. These efforts include reopening the six power plants Murphy shut down while also lifting the moratorium on natural gas-fired power plants. 

"I'm looking to put the shovel in the ground on day one to build three or four new natural gas electricity generation plants," he explained. "We'll look to expand our nuclear capabilities in South Jersey, where we already have three nuclear reactors, and I'll accelerate solar on the rooftop of all the warehouses that have gone up all across New Jersey. Those rooftops are prime real estate for solar arrays."

At the same time, Ciattarelli made it clear he is opposed to wind farms off the coast of the Jersey Shore. The citizen activist group known as Save LBI (Long Beach Island) has pursued litigation at the state and federal level aimed blocking the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind project that had envisioned building up to 200 wind turbines positioned as close as eight miles off the coast of Long Beach Island (LBI), Brigantine, and Atlantic City in southern New Jersey. 

"There will be no wind farms off our Jersey Shore," Ciattarelli said. "They're not cost effective and it's not something the people want. These advocacy groups have been very successful, I've partnered with them and I'm most appreciative of their efforts. 

In a major new development, President Trump's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it intends to reconsider prior approvals for offshore wind projects. Ciattarelli credits Save LBI and other anti-wind activist groups for applying the right legal pressure points. 

Cutting Taxes & Winning Union Votes

New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation, with the average homeowner's bill now hovering around $10,000 a year. Since the state's public schools are heavily reliant on property taxes, Restoration News asked Ciattarelli how he would address the current funding challenges. 

"The current school funding formula is nefarious, it's arbitrary, and I believe it violates the equal benefit clause of our state constitution," the Republican candidate argued. "We'll have a new school funding formula that starts out with the state taking over the cost of special education."

Ciattarelli would then proceed to set a statewide standard on per-pupil spending that would allow the money to follow the student. Every school district would get a certain amount of state aid.

"Every school district must with within a reasonable range on a cost per pupil basis for the non-special ed students," he said. "If they're not, they will begin to lose state aid because this would strongly suggest they're wasting tax dollars."

Ciattarelli also made it clear he is willing to challenge the power and influence of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) while also reaching out to rank-and-file teachers. 

"Shame on the NJEA union leadership for lying about me to the union members telling them that I'm taking their pension away," Ciattarelli said. "First of all, it's illegal, and second of all, it's not true."

Ciattarelli also identified three reasons rank-and-file union members should vote Republican this year. He pointed to allegations the NJEA spent about $45 million in member dues on the failed gubernatorial campaign of Sean Spiller, its former president and former Montclair mayor. Spiller ran in the Democrat primary. 

"The hardworking middle-class teachers were never asked for permission to spend their dues in that manner," Ciattarelli said. 

Another reason for them to vote Republican, he continued, is that the Democrat majority in the state legislature is responsible for pushing an "unconstitutional school funding formula" that has resulted in layoffs for teachers.  

The third reason Ciattarelli cited for teachers to vote Republican concerns how the Murphy administration has mismanaged the state health plan to the point where it is, in Ciattarelli's words, "on the verge of collapse."

"Most teachers are in the state health plan, and despite receiving a two or three or four percent increase in pay are going home with less take home pay because of the higher required employee contributions," the gubernatorial candidate explained. Going home with less pay as result of the state's mismanagement of the health plan is "not an easy pill to swallow during this inflationary period," Ciattarelli added. 

Ciattarelli makes it a point to remind teachers that they do not have to pay that portion of their union dues that goes toward political activities thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME.

He estimates that teachers could on average save about $1,600 a year in union dues by exercising free speech rights the high court reestablished in its ruling. 

"What I think is wrong is that the NJEA leadership only allows teachers to opt out [from paying dues] once a year," he said. "But if something is being taken out of my paycheck every single month, I think I should have a right to opt out in any given month, but the NJEA leadership does not afford them that opportunity. 

"The union leaders only gives them one chance and it's usually in the summer when nobody's paying attention."

Ciattarelli is contemplating changes to state law that would enable teachers (and other government employees) to opt out in any given month. The Republican challenger has also put himself squarely on the side of parents who object to transgender policies that could put female students in jeopardy. He called out Sherrill for maintaining a "hypocritical" stance on the issue. 

"There's a large hypocrisy in Mikie Sherrill's rhetoric," Ciattarelli argues. "She'll say all the time that she supports women rights, but she voted twice to allow biological boys to participate in girls' sports. I think that's dangerous and I think it's wrong and it also undermines Title 9. The congresswoman is going to have to come clean at some point with the inconsistency in those positions. I don't believe that biological boys should be in girls' locker rooms or girls' bathrooms. I also don't believe we need LGBTQ curriculum in our public schools."

Abolishing Sanctuary Cities

There are other public safety concerns Ciattarelli intends to address forcefully. In one of his first executives moves, he will repeal the Immigrant Trust Directive (the formal name of the sanctuary state policy) and also ban municipalities from declaring themselves as sanctuary cities. Any localities that disobey could lose municipal aid, he said. 

Ciattarelli told Restoration News that he opposes sanctuary policies because they "encourage illegal immigration while putting handcuffs on the police." As governor, he would also target cashless bail for elimination. 

"We want safe communities in New Jersey," he said. "I will appoint an attorney general that will work with me to get rid of cashless bail, which has created a professional criminal who's learned how to game the system." Ciattarelli sees a strong correlation between cashless bail and the recent spike in criminal activity that includes "flash mobs" along the shore communities and in shopping malls.

Ciattarelli also expressed support for local officials who may want to get involved in the 287(g) program that enables them to partner with federal immigration enforcement officials. 

"If a local mayor and/or county prosecutor feel that a local police department needs to work in partnership with a federal agency to keep their community safe, I'm not going to get in the way of that," Ciattarelli said. Eliminating the "Immigrant Trust Directive" will empower local officials with the ability to do what is necessary to keep their communities safe, he argued. 

A Decisive Moment for the Garden State

Ciattarelli and Sherrill held their third and final debate at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in New Brunswick on Wednesday, Oct. 8. Heading into the final weeks of the campaign, Ciattarelli sees growing momentum for his candidacy. 

"No matter where I go around the state, the energy is electric and I'm not just talking about Republican circles," he said. "I'm also talking about Democratic circles where people realize the past eight years have been a total policy failure and my opponent would just offer more of the same."

In person, early voting in New Jersey begins on Saturday Oct. 25 and runs through Sunday Nov. 2. 

(READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Hispanic Voters are Pulling New Jersey Right—and May Deliver the Gov Race to GOP’s Jack Ciattarelli)