HILLSBOROUGH: Ciattarelli offers “contract” with state Republicans

Nearly a week after Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno formally announced her bid for the Governor’s mansion, Republican Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli announced a five-point “contract” he intended to keep with his party to ensure future victories., Running under the specter of Gov. Chris Christie’s low approval ratings, about 19 percent according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, Republicans are left trying to separate themselves from the current administration., Shortly after announcing his intent to run last October, Assemblyman Ciattarelli said he outlined a five-point list of ways he would address the state’s financial problems., On Jan. 23, Assemblyman Ciattarelli said he was running for a chance to restore the Republican party’s clout within the traditionally Democrat-leaning state., “Upon announcing my candidacy for Governor, I pledged to take our state and our party in a new direction,” Assemblyman Ciattarelli said. “This ‘contract with the Republican party’ demonstrates my steadfast commitment to rebuilding our party.”, According to his “contract to the Republican Party,” the assemblyman pledged to “restructure the New Jersey Republican State Committee to ensure that monies raised…are focused on nothing other than winning elections at all levels.”, That commitment, he said, would ensure that there would be a sizable number of boots “on the ground” in each of the state’s 21 counties so that candidates at all levels would be competitive., Along those lines, Assemblyman Ciattarelli pledged to campaign with Republicans throughout the state and to hold “at least one fundraiser per year” in each county in order to bolster that effort., In addition to working on the party’s fundraising efforts, the assemblyman pledged to create a more “big tent” message to bring “young voter,s minorities and women” into the GOP., “The New Jersey Republican Party will, in every way, be the Party of Lincoln, competing for and winning the support of all voters,” he wrote., He finally offered to work with leaders of the state Senate, Assembly and each County Chair to create a winning political strategy in order to “win the next legislative redistricting fight.”, On June 6, Assemblyman Ciattarelli will face Lt. Gov. Guadagno, Nutley Commissioner Steve Rogers and Ocean County businessman Joseph Rullo in the Republican Gubernatorial primary., For the Democrats, state Senator Raymond Lesniak, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, former Treasury Undersecretary Jim Johnson and former Ambassador to Germany Phil Murphy will face off in their party’s primary.