Citing concerns about President Donald Trump’s influence over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former Bergen County Republican chairman has endorsed Democrat Mikie Sherrill for governor.
Bob Yudin, a fierce Trump critic who led the Bergen County Republican Organization for eight years, said he could no longer support a party that, in his view, has “abandoned integrity and constitutional responsibility in favor of personal loyalty to Donald Trump.”
“Ciattarelli has 100% support of Trump. He supports the tariffs, and he is a MAGA person. He will never stand up to the Trump Administration to stand up for New Jersey—just look at his weakness as the Gateway Project is ‘terminated’—a huge mistake that will cost New Jersey commuters and residents,” Yudin stated. “Ciattarelli is unfit to be Governor.”
A U.S. Navy veteran, Yudin criticized Ciattarelli for attacking Sherrill’s character and her role in the U.S. Naval Academy cheating scandal.
“Such an attack goes beyond the realm of typical political disagreement and ventures into the territory of character assassination,” he said. “Ciattarelli’s behavior not only demeans the spirit of public service but also reflects the increasing willingness within the party to prioritize divisive attacks over substantive policy debate. In the end, these tactics speak more to the character of those who employ them than to the individuals they seek to undermine.”
Yudin said that public statements made by Ciattarelli “consistently echoed themes that align with Trump’s most controversial positions.”
“The lack of meaningful opposition to these trends within the organization suggests a troubling tolerance for behavior and rhetoric that undermines democratic norms and values.”
The former GOP leader lost re-election in 2016 after refusing to support Trump’s first bid for the presidency. He’s endorsed other Democrats in recent years, including U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly).
Yudin is a longtime Republican stalwart who served as Bergen County GOP chairman from 2008 to 2016. His career goes back to 1965, when he made a bid for the State Assembly in Essex County at age 26.
Christine Todd Whitman, a former two-term Republican governor of New Jersey, has also endorsed Sherrill.
