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June 9, 2021
8:24 am
Former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli won the Republican nomination June 8 to take on Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy come Nov. 2.
The 59-year-old accountant shook off two pro-Trump candidates in the primary: engineer Hirsh Singh and pastor Philip Rizzo, campaigning on a more moderate conservative agenda.
No Democrat governor in New Jersey has won a second term since 1977. And despite record-high polls during the pandemic, Murphy’s voter approval has slid to pre-pandemic levels as COVID-19 makes its way to the rear-view mirror. Voters have increasingly voiced concerns about more run-of-the-mill issues such as taxes.
Former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli declares victory on Tuesday evening in Somerset. – DANIEL J. MUNOZ
So you think New Jersey is a bastion of progressiveness?
Gov. Phil Murphy seems to regularly channel his inner Bernie Sanders. Democrats control the state’s most populated counties, not to mention both houses in the state Legislature, both seats in the U.S. Senate and 10 of the 12 House districts. The Republican Party of Tom Kean and Christine Todd Whitman should consider applying for refugee status.
But look again.
Despite Murphy’s best intentions and the uber-grip of Democrats on political power, New Jersey has a long way to go. If you peel back the gauzy Garden State version of Democratic wallpaper, you see a very different New Jersey. Yes, our leaders increasingly speak like progressives. But cold, hard economic data tells a story of a deeply segregated state.