The Trump-backed candidate for New Jersey governor makes an awkward appeal to Black voters

When former New Jersey state Rep. Jack Ciattarelli, a self-styled moderate Republican, lost the governor’s race to Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy in 2021, he could point to a key failure: his lack of votes from communities of color.

In 2021, Ciattarelli tried and failed to court the minority vote, speaking on the difficulties minorities face in the country, but proving unable to secure many of their votes in New Jersey’s cities.

In a speech at Rowan University in 2022, Ciattarelli put it bluntly: “Quite frankly, there’s no better way to put it. My team was too white.”

“I did well in the Black and brown community, but I could have done even better,” he added, vowing to run again in 2025.

Now, Ciattarelli finds himself in a race against Democratic candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., for the governorship. He has worked to court the votes he sorely missed in the last election by reaching out to Black faith leaders across New Jersey. In a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 900,000, one recent poll showed him within striking distance of Sherrill, who leads by only six points.

However, taking a look at Ciattarelli’s website begins to raise some questions. In the tab entitled, “Coalitions,” among the groups listed (alongside “Law Enforcement”; “Muslims”; and “Parents”) is one for African Americans. Only, it’s called “Blacks.” Clicking it takes you to a page of Ciattarelli standing proudly with his hands on his hips and the phrase “Blacks Back Jack” in big block letters.

Beneath it are photos of Ciattarelli with about a half-dozen Black people, none of whom are identified. There is also an option to sign up for getting involved with “Blacks Back Jack.” Signing up generates an email thanking you for signing up for “Team Jack,” plus some campaign talking points.

When asked about the “coalition,” Ciattarelli’s Deputy Campaign Manager Nick Poche did not have specific details on “Blacks Back Jack,” but instead talked about the need for the campaign to “engage” minority groups.

“We have been doing a lot more campaigning in areas where there are minority groups,” Poche told Salon. He said that cities where voters of color are the majority — such as Newark, Patterson, Belleville, Passaic, and Atlantic City — are key targets for the campaign.

“We are absolutely making an effort to engage in every community in New Jersey,” Poche said.

Complicating Ciattarelli’s efforts is a nod from President Donald Trump, who called the candidate a “true champion” during the Republican primary. While it secured Ciattarelli the nomination, the same cannot be said for boosting his support among minority voters.

In the 2024 election, Trump secured tens of thousands more votes in New Jersey than in years past, but still lost big in cities with predominantly Black and Latino voters.

“Jack Ciattarelli himself admitted that his last campaign was ‘too white,’…yet his recent actions show he has no clear understanding of how to advance the real needs and priorities of Black New Jerseyans,” Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter, chair of the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus, said in a statement to Salon.

Sumter further criticized Ciattarelli for “elevating optics over substance” and “aligning himself with Trump and the MAGA movement.”

“Our state needs leaders who will fight for equity, opportunity, and dignity for all, not those who rely on empty gestures to mask the absence of meaningful policy and progress,” Sumter said.

Ciattarelli might have already lost the battle of community faith in New Jersey.

“I cannot allow someone who has bowed at the altar of MAGA to stand before a congregation still reeling from the trauma that movement has inflicted,” Reverend Dr. Charles Boyer said in a column for the New Jersey Globe.

Boyer, an outspoken preacher in Trenton, also called Ciattarelli “intelligent, articulate” and “a reasonable conservative,” but argued that his ties to MAGA make Ciattarelli something of a pariah.

“Jack has embraced an endorsement from Donald Trump,” Boyer said, “a man whose political legacy is soaked in hostility toward Black people, our dignity, and our safety. Until Jack publicly denounces that endorsement, I cannot, in good conscience, welcome him into my congregation.”

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Eric Arpert, campaign manager for Ciattarelli, claimed the Republican has made inroads with minority communities in New Jersey.

“Jack personally met over 70,000 voters in the primary,” Arpert told Salon. “We do everything to meet and greet, to direct voter contact … we’re trying to meet voters where they are.”

When it came to “Blacks Back Jack,” Arpert described the coalition as “hard working,” although there is no evidence that its unidentified members have engaged in any real-world activity. When asked if the campaign had received any criticism for the name, Arpert said no. “We haven’t, frankly.”

On the subject of whether Ciattarelli was sticking to 2022 statement about his team “being too white,” Arpert pivoted to talk about the shortcomings of New Jersey.

“We need to make this state less expensive…we have the highest property taxes in the country. We are ranked the worst country in the state to do business,” Arpert said, again praising Ciattarelli for his touring of the state, saying “Jack is going everywhere.

At the time of the interview, however, he was not in New Jersey at all. Rather, Ciattarelli was in Israel. His Democratic opponent, meanwhile, was appealing to the state’s Black voters, naming Centenary University President Rev. Dale Caldwell as her running mate.