Jack Ciattarelli


Jack M. Ciattarelli is an American entrepreneur and politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2011 to 2018, representing the 16th Legislative District. He is a member of the Republican Party, and ran for Governor of New Jersey in the 2017 election, losing the primary election to Kim Guadagno, the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey. He has announced his intention to make another run for Governor in 2021 against incumbent Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, who defeated Guadagno in the 2017 general election.

Early life

Ciattarelli was born in Somerville, New Jersey on December 12, 1961 and was raised in neighboring Raritan. His grandparents had immigrated to Raritan borough in the 1900s. He graduated from Seton Hall University with a B.S. degree in accounting and an M.B.A. degree in finance.

Elected office

He served on the Raritan Borough Council from 1990 to 1995 and was the council president from 1991 until 1995. He was also elected to the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 2007 to November 2011 when he resigned to become an Assemblyman.
In 2011, Ciattarelli ran for the open General Assembly seat in the 16th Legislative District, vacated by Denise Coyle, who chose not to run for re-election due to redistricting. On November 8, 2011, he and his running mate Peter J. Biondi defeated the Democratic candidates, Marie Corfield and Joe Camarota. Biondi died two days after the election, and Ciattarelli was selected to fill out the remainder of his term. After stepping down from his freeholder position, he was sworn in on December 5, 2011. He was sworn into his full term on January 10, 2012.
In the Assembly, Ciattarelli serves on the Financial Institutions and Insurance and the Regulated Professions committees. He has been an Assistant Republican Whip since 2014.
In the 2017 Republican Party gubernatorial primary, Ciatterelli came in second, with 31% of the vote, behind eventual nominee Kim Guadagno, who had 47%.

District 16

Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 16th District for the 2016–2017 Legislative Session are:
In addition to his legislative work, Ciattarelli also is the owner and publisher of Galen Publishing, L.L.C., a medical publishing company. He has formerly worked as a certified public accountant and was the co-founder of several medical journal publishing companies. He was also an adjunct professor at Seton Hall from 1998 to 2001.
He has resided in Hillsborough Township since 1998. He is married to Melinda Ciattarelli and has four children, Alex, Jake, Anthony, and Matthew. Ciattarelli is also a coach for his children's sports and works as a manager for the Hillsborough Township Recreation Department. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2016 and revealed that he was cancer-free in March 2017.