MAGA favorite Jack Ciattarelli wins NJ Republican primary for governor

Trump-endorsed businessman and former New Jersey Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli prevailed in the GOP primary for governor Tuesday, setting the stage for a MAGA Republican to potentially helm the Garden State.Ciattarelli, 63, of Somerville came out on top against a field of four Republican opponents after leading by double-digits for much of the run-up to the primary.He had won 67.4% of the vote when the Associated Press called the race in his favor at 8:17 p.m.ET.

Ciattarelli’s closest opponent during the race had been former conservative talk radio host Bill Spadea — who courted and failed to obtain the president’s endorsement.Spadea received 20.9% support, good for second place, when the race was called.Moderate state Sen.

Jon Bramnick, whose district includes upscale towns such as Bernardsville and Chatham, also was a contender and garnered about 7% of the vote.Ciattarelli ran on a platform consisting chiefly of kitchen-table issues, such as capping property taxes, reducing state spending and slashing income taxes for overburdened NJ residents.Despite his past as a Trump critic — including calling the president a “charlatan” and “not fit” to be commander-in-chief in 2015 — Ciattarelli has come around to backing much of his agenda.In turn, the president enthusiastically embraced Ciattarelli as a “terrific, America-first candidate” who is “best positioned to stand tall against the radical left Democrats.”In line with the Trump administration’s stance on illegal immigration, Ciattarelli pledged to ban municipalities statewide from declaring themselves sanctuary cities, under threat of having aid from Trenton withheld if they fail to comply.Evelyn Jinenez Kiernan, 55, told The Post at a polling site in Belleville that she voted for Ciattarelli and touted his position on illegal immigration. “He’s the only one who – and I’m sorry to say this – has the balls to face somebody and say no, this is not going to happen in my state,” ...