Ramaswamy campaigns for Ciattarelli in competitive New Jersey governor race

EXCLUSIVE – SADDLE BROOK, NJ — GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy of Ohio was far from home Wednesday night, briefly leaving his own race to help another Republican run for governor.

But Ramaswamy’s campaign stop in the competitive and tight gubernatorial election in New Jersey, where he met with GOP candidate Jack Ciattarelli at a restaurant packed with supporters, could pay off in his own home race next year.

New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns the year after a presidential election, and the contests traditionally attract great attention and are viewed as political barometers ahead of the following year’s midterm elections.

And this year, they are largely seen as ballot box referendums on President Donald Trump’s unprecedented second-term agenda.

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Pointing to New Jersey and Virginia, Ramaswamy said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital that GOP victories in both elections “will set the table for even bigger and more decisive victories in places like Ohio next year.”

Ramaswamy arrived in New Jersey hours after the latest polling in the governor’s race showed Ciattarelli narrowing the gap with Democratic challenger Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

The MAGA world rock star’s stop in New Jersey could help Ciattarelli energize many in the party’s base; low-propensity voters who often skip voting in non-presidential election years.

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“If you want to cut costs in this state, support Jack,” Ramaswamy told the raucous crowd. “If you want to make New Jersey great again, support Jack. We’re ready for change, Jack. This state is hungry for it.”

And Ramaswamy, the multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and conservative commentator who touted an “America First 2.0” platform as he ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, ended his bid and became one of Trump’s biggest supporters and surrogates, telling Ciattarelli: “We’re going to Ohio next year, but you’ve got to lead the way this year. We’re counting on you.”

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican candidate for governor of New Jersey, speaks to a raucous crowd of supporters at a diner in Saddle Brook, N.J., on October 15, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Ramaswamy, who is backed by Trump, is currently the only major Republican candidate to replace term-limited GOP Gov. Mike DeWine in the 2026 race.

Former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who represented a large swath of northeastern Ohio, including Akron and Youngstown, for two decades, is expected to launch a gubernatorial campaign in the coming days. Ryan, his party’s Senate candidate in Ohio’s 2022 election, would be the second leading Democrat in the 2026 governor’s race after former state Health Director Amy Acton.

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“It doesn’t matter who we’re running against,” Ramaswamy said when asked what Ryan’s candidacy would mean to him. “The beauty of our side of this election in Ohio is that we are more united as a Republican Party than ever before. I am running unopposed in the Republican primary. But more importantly, we have widespread worker support in Ohio. This is unprecedented.”

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy teams up with New Jersey GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli at a campaign stop in Saddle Brook, N.J., on October 15, 2025 (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News)

Ramaswamy took encouragement to put another White House on the road during his speech at a Ciattarelli event in New Jersey, which included a crowd of several hundred people outside the restaurant.

“I’m 100% focused on Ohio,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital. “You can’t make long-term plans. Life never goes according to your plans.”

But he added: “We’re going to do our part in Ohio, and that’s my next step to save the country.”

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Ramaswamy’s stop in New Jersey, less than three weeks before Election Day, came just hours after multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump would hold tele-rallies with Ciattarelli.

Trump’s support in an election expected to have low turnout could be crucial for Ciattarelli, who is running for governor for a third time after narrowly losing to Murphy four years ago.

“Clearly there are a lot of people in the state of New Jersey who are happy with the job the president is doing,” Ciattarelli told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview earlier Wednesday.

Pointing to the president’s effort to temporarily halt wind farms on the Jersey Shore, his promise to eliminate New York’s congestion pricing, tax cuts, deductions and credits in the GOP’s massive domestic policy measure, and his efforts to secure the nation’s southern border, Ciattarelli said people are “very pleased with the president, what he’s done for New Jersey.”

Trump endorsed Ciattarelli earlier this year GOP gubernatorial nomination race. And the president presided over a tele-rally on Ciattarelli’s behalf ahead of the June primaries.

Even though Trump wasn’t on the ballot, he was prominent in the New Jersey gubernatorial election.

In the second and final debate last week, Sherrill claimed that his GOP opponent “has shown zero signs of opposing this president.” In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he showed every sign of it.

New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill (R) and Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli are on stage at the start of their second and final debate on October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, NJ. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News Digital)

When asked if he considered himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciattarelli said he was “part of the New Jersey movement.”

When asked to rate the president’s performance so far in his second term, Ciattarelli said, “I would definitely give the president an A. I think he’s been right in everything he’s done.”

“I guess that tells us everything we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli supports. I’m giving him an F right now,” Sherrill responded, noting the high cost of living in New Jersey.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, Democratic gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, takes questions from reporters after the debate on October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

In blue-leaning New Jersey, Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections, while Republicans are fiercely competitive in gubernatorial races, winning five of the last 10 elections.

And Trump made big gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by just six percentage points; That’s a big improvement from his 16-point deficit four years ago.

In an interview with Fox News Digital last month, Ciattarelli said he was “really pleased that the White House has offered to help us in any way we see fit” and that he and his campaign “have been in constant communication with the White House about different ways they can help.”

While there is no indication at this time that Trump will personally join Ciattarelli in New Jersey, campaign strategist Chris Russell told Fox News: “We appreciate all the assistance we’ve received from the president and his team so far and are grateful for any support they’ve provided along the way.”

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But the Democratic National Committee (DNC) claimed Ciattarelli was “desperate” following news of Trump’s tele-rally, first reported by Axios.

“It’s clear that this election has come down to one big truth: Jack is 100% for Trump, and Mikie Sherrill is 100% for New Jersey,” DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman said in a statement.