Jack Ciattarelli surprised some by conceding 2021 and announcing for 2025 in the same Friday presser in Raritan, Save Jerseyans.
Strategically? It was probably a smart move. While 2025 is the political equivalent of several lifetimes away, Jack’s decision accomplishes a few things for his next campaign. He’s signaling to core supporters (who are still fired up) that they’re officially spoken for; he doesn’t want them dating other options. He also just made it very difficult for upstart candidates to raise significant money from established Republican sources, many of which will be (at least initially) reluctant to invest in a new candidate who isn’t the recent nominee who also happened to come within a couple of points of winning.
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But the present climate lends itself to enthusiasm for taking on Democrats – a good thing all around – so Jack isn’t the only one considering another bite at the apple.
On Friday, Phil Rizzo was THISCLOSE to announcing on Twitter but stopped just short:
While the dust has hardly settled from the 2021 Gubernatorial Race, there is already talk regarding 2025.
I think New Jerseyans should prepare themselves for a spirited 2025 primary.
Grassroots voters won’t allow themselves to be told who their nominee will be again.
— Phil Rizzo 🇺🇸 (@JerseyRizzo) November 12, 2021
“While the dust has hardly settled from the 2021 Gubernatorial Race, there is already talk regarding 2025,” tweeted Rizzo. “I think New Jerseyans should prepare themselves for a spirited 2025 primary. Grassroots voters won’t allow themselves to be told who their nominee will be again.”
Rizzo’s anti-establishment tone is calculated. He finished a distant second in the June Republican primary behind Jack Ciattarelli, garnering a quarter of the total vote. He attracted significant support from both Trump enthusiasts as well as the “medical freedom” crowd that’s increasingly potent in GOP contests, and he did it despite a campaign that lacked necessary elements to succeed in across 21 counties.
The former pastor and construction executive is working to maintain an online presence via social media and his Jersey Rising PAC.
One thing to keep in mind if you’re understandably thinking to yourself “why is this all starting so damn early”:
Running in New Jersey is particularly challenging because the state doesn’t have its own unified media market. To succeed, you need to get yourself known in both the NYC and Philly markets, two of the country’s most expensive. That’s one of the reasons it’s not usual for successful statewide candidates (like Tom Kean Sr., Christine Whitman and Jim McGreevey) to run and lose before finally grabbing the brass ring.
Jack is clearly thinking about that history. Maybe Rizzo is, too.
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