Politics
WATCH: Jack Ciattarelli Gets Heartwarming Surprise From His Active Duty Military Son
Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee in the closely-watched gubernatorial race in New Jersey, received a heartwarming surprise from his “biggest supporter” just over 24 hours before Election Day.
Ciattarelli had been speaking with voters at Murph’s Tavern, located in the northern part of the state, when his son, Army Captain Jack Ciattarelli, made a surprise appearance and gave his dad a hug. Jake had briefly returned home from active deployment in Kuwait in order to give the campaign an election eve boost.
“You don’t know what I’m going to say right now, but your biggest supporter who serves his country just came over overnight to serve you,” Passaic County Republican Chairman Peter Murphy told attendees just before the entrance. The GOP candidate appeared to be genuinely puzzled, saying, “Who’s here?”
The room then erupted into loud cheers and chants of “USA” as Ciattarelli embraced his son.
“Now let me guess, you called the president yesterday. He sent Air Force One over to Kuwait and picked up Jake,” the Republican hopeful joked. “And if I know the young man, he’ll probably be on a plane this afternoon back to Kuwait to defend our country.”
“What he probably forgot to do because he’s been so busy defending our nation, he probably forgot to get in his vote-by-mail ballot. He’s here to vote,” Ciattarelli said.
🚨 WOW! In an INCREDIBLE moment, Jack Ciattarelli's son Jake came home from KUWAIT to join his father on the New Jersey campaign trail for governor in a surprise visit
CROWD: "USA! USA! USA!"
We're rooting for you, Jack!
❤️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/4DV1UaarRl
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 3, 2025
Jake later told the press that he plans on remaining in the state until Thursday in order to support his father’s campaign, according to a report from the New York Post. He has been serving in the U.S. Army as a captain since late 2023.
The event kicked off a busy Monday for Ciattarelli, as he later plans on holding a tele-rally with President Donald Trump later in the evening. He also has a planned campaign stop in Neptune County before heading to Raritan for a final campaign rally to close out the day.
According to a number of recent polls from the most accurate pollsters of the 2024 election cycle, including AtlasIntel, Ciattarelli and Democratic Party opponent Mikie Sherrill are statistically tied. Atlas found Sherrill leading by less than one percentage point, while additional surveys from Emerson College and Quantus Insights found the Republican trailing by two and three percentage points respectively.
All three surveys fall well within the margin of error.
