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Donald Trump stated on Monday that New Jersey, home to his ‘Summer White House’ in Bedminster, is prepared to turn red starting with this year’s gubernatorial election.
The president spent Monday night conducting a tele-rally for Jack Ciattarelli, a former state legislator who evolved from being a critic to a prominent supporter of the president and is considered the front-runner to clinch the GOP nomination in the June 10 primary.
Ciattarelli, who was just three points behind incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy in 2021, is now aiming to flip the state house to Republican control for the first time since Chris Christie secured re-election in 2013.
The momentum appeared to continue into 2024, with Trump losing to Kamala Harris in the state by just five points, a 10-point improvement on 2020 and the best Republican performance in New Jersey since 1992.
The phone call with Trump lasted about 10 minutes, with the president saying that voters will decide whether New Jersey remains a ‘high-tax, high-crime sanctuary state.’
‘New Jersey is ready to pop out of that blue horror show and really get in there and vote for somebody that´s going to make things happen,’ the president said.
The president landed on a familiar refrain for his pitch to voters in the Garden State.
‘It’s like ‘Make America Great Again.’ It’s ‘Make New Jersey Great Again,’ Trump said, adding that if Democrats retain power in Trenton, the state ‘economy will wither and die and you’ll be living in a nightmare of chaos and crime.’
Donald Trump said Monday that New Jersey – a state home to what’s known as his ‘Summer White House’ in Bedminster – is ready to turn blue starting with this year’s gubernatorial election
The president spent Monday night holding a tele-rally for Jack Ciattarelli (pictured), a former state lawmaker who transformed from a critic to vocal backer of the president and considered the heavy favorite to win the GOP nomination in the June 10 primary
The president warned that ‘you sort of have that to a certain extent now.’
Trump’s call for early voting echoed the pitch he made to voters in the 2024 presidential election.
Ciattarelli said his first executive order if elected would be to end any sanctuary policies for immigrants in the country illegally.
Currently, the state attorney general has directed local law enforcement not to assist federal agents in civil immigration matters.
There is no legal definition for sanctuary city policies , but they generally limit cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers.
Ciattarelli also said the attorney general he appoints if he wins won’t be bringing lawsuits against the White House.
New Jersey’s current attorney general has pursued several high-profile challenges to the president’s agenda, including a case challenging Trump’s order calling for the end of birthright citizenship .
Ciattarelli is running against former radio talk host Bill Spadea, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac and a southern New Jersey contractor named Justin Barbera.
Ciattarelli is running to replace term-limited Democrat Phil Murphy (pictured), who crawled over the finish line to beat him in 2021 despite predictions of a rout
The Democratic field isn’t set. There’s a six-way contest between Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Mikie Sherrill (pictured); Mayors Ras Baraka of Newark and Steven Fulop of Jersey City; former state Senate President Steve Sweeney; and teacher’s union president Sean Spiller
Early in-person voting begins Tuesday and goes through Sunday. Primary day is June 10, though voters have been sending mail-in ballots in since late April.
Though the primary isn’t over, Ciattarelli hinted at what attacks against his eventual Democratic challenger in the general election might be, saying the party’s eight years in the governorship and more than two decades of power in the legislature have been a failure.
The Democratic field isn’t set. There’s a six-way contest between Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Mikie Sherrill; Mayors Ras Baraka of Newark and Steven Fulop of Jersey City; former state Senate President Steve Sweeney; and teacher’s union president Sean Spiller.
New Jersey tilts Democratic in presidential and Senate elections in particular, and the party has a roughly 800,000 voter registration advantage over Republicans.
But independents make up a significant bloc as well, and voters have tended to alternate between Democratic and Republican administrations for governor.
Murphy crawled over the finish line to a second term, ending with 51.22 percent of the vote to 48.00 against former state GOP lawmaker Ciattarelli.
It was expected to be an easy victory for Murphy for weeks leading up to Election Day.
That, plus Trump’s momentum in the state leading up to the 2024 election, has Republicans seeing red in this off-year race.
Trump held a huge Jersey Shore rally last May in Wildwood, where he talked about eating hot dogs and mocked the state’s former governor, Chris Christie
Trump’s momentum in the state leading up to the 2024 election, has Republicans seeing red for Ciattarelli in this off-year race
Trump held a huge Jersey Shore rally last May in Wildwood, where he talked about eating hot dogs and mocked the state’s former governor, Chris Christie.
The ex-president’s campaign claimed that 80,000 supporters came out for the oceanfront affair.
Trump opened up the rally by saying he planned to compete not only in New Jersey – a traditionally Democratic state – but Minnesota and Virginia as well.
‘I don’t know it could be all of them,’ Trump predicted of the states he would win in the November election. ‘This guy is so damn bad, it could be all of them.’
He sprinkled his stump speech with Jersey Shore references, as he spoke in front of a large Ferris Wheel and other amusement park rides.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the Ciattarelli campaign for comment.
