The mayor of Bergen County’s fifth-largest town switched parties and endorsed Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli on Thursday evening.
At an event celebrating the announcement, Garfield Mayor Everett E. Garnto Jr. said he felt like he had no choice but to leave the Democratic Party because “the state is broken.” A couple of hundred people filled a gymnasium in Garfield for the event, headlined by Ciattarelli and Garnto.
“For the last seven and a half years, [Gov.] Phil Murphy’s policies have left us with sky-high taxes, soaring electric bills, and less safe communities,” Garnto said. “New Jerseyans deserve better. Jack Ciattarelli is ready to turn this state around.”
The New Jersey Globe reported the endorsement and party switch on Wednesday.
Garnto said he voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. He is a former school board member who served twelve years as president of the Garfield Police Benevolent Association Local 46.
Trump carried the town by about 9% last year, while Murphy won the town by about 3% in the 2021 gubernatorial election.
Ciattarelli will face Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) in November’s general election.
The former assemblyman also touted the endorsement of Dover Mayor James P. Dodd, a Democrat. He said the endorsements prove moderate Democrats in the state are looking to get away from Democratic state officials — and with the Democratic voter registration advantage, he’ll likely need strong numbers of independents and Democrats to consolidate with him in order to win.
“It’s not just Republicans who are crying out for change,” Ciattarelli told the crowd. “It’s unaffiliated, independent voters and yes, even moderate Democrats who’ve come to the realization that this current administration has failed.”
Garnto’s endorsement comes even as the second-place finisher in the GOP primary, radio host Bill Spadea, has vowed not to support the former assemblyman (Sherrill’s top primary competitor, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, endorsed the congresswoman on Wednesday). Ciattarelli said endorsements won’t be the deciding factor in the race.
“I do think at the end of the day, and I think the mayor would agree, it’s [about] what the candidate does,” Ciattarelli told reporters. “And what I do each and every day is get up and down this state and press the flesh.”
