Ramaswamy campaigns for Ciattarelli in competitive New Jersey governor race

Exclusive – Saddle Brook, NJ – Republican Party candidate for state governor Vivek Ramaswamy The Ohio governor was away from home Wednesday night, briefly leaving his own race to help another Republican run for governor.

But Ramaswamy’s campaign stop in New Jersey’s hotly contested gubernatorial race, where he teamed up with GOP candidate Jack Ciattarelli at a packed restaurant full of supporters, could pay off next year in his own race back home.

New Jersey and Virginia are the only states that hold gubernatorial contests in the year following a presidential election, and the contests typically attract significant attention and are seen as political barometers ahead of the following year’s midterm elections.

This year, they are largely viewed as ballot box referendums on the president Donald Trump”An unprecedented second term agenda.

CIATTARELLI WELCOMES TRUMP’S HELP IN BATTLE FOR GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy headlines a campaign event for New Jersey GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, on October 15, 2025 in Saddle Brook, New Jersey (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News)

Referring to New Jersey and Virginia, Ramaswamy said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital that the Republican Party’s victories in Both elections It would “pave the way for bigger and more decisive victories, hopefully in places like Ohio next year.”

Ramaswamy arrived New Jersey Hours after the latest poll in the governor’s race indicated Ciattarelli had narrowed the gap with Rep. Mickey Sherrill, the Democratic Party’s nominee in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

A stop in New Jersey by global MAGA rock star Ciattarelli could help energize many in the party’s base — low-propensity voters who often skip casting ballots in non-presidential election years.

The nation’s only two 2025 races for governor rocked for three weeks leading up to Election Day

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

Ramaswamy, a millionaire biotech entrepreneur and conservative commentator who pushed an “America First 2.0” platform while running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination before ending his bid and becoming one of Trump’s top supporters and alternatives, told Schiatarelli: “We’re going to Ohio next year, but you have to pave the way this year. We’re counting on you.”

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

Ramaswamy, who has been endorsed by Trump, is now the only major Republican candidate in the 2026 race to succeed GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.

Former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who spent two decades representing a wide range of… Northeast OhioThey, including Akron and Youngstown, are likely to launch a gubernatorial campaign in the coming days. Ryan, his party’s Senate nominee in Ohio’s 2022 election, will become the second major Democrat in the state’s 2026 gubernatorial race, joining former state health director Amy Acton.

Final Showdown: Ciattarelli, Cheryl, Battle for the Debate Stage

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

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

Ramaswamy, speaking at a Ciattarelli event in New Jersey, which included a large crowd of a few hundred people outside the restaurant, received encouragement to make another White House run on the road.

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

But he added, “We’re going to do our part in Ohio, and this is my next step on how to save the country.”

Head here for the latest FOX NEWS reports on the 2025 elections

Ramaswamy’s visit to New Jersey, with less than three weeks until Election Day, came hours after multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump would hold rallies by phone with Ciattarelli.

In an election expected to be low in turnout, Trump’s support could be crucial for Schiatarelli, who is making his third run for governor after narrowly losing to Murphy four years ago.

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

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

Trump endorsed Ciattarelli earlier this year, in Republican Party nomination race for governor. The president led a telephone rally for Ciattarelli ahead of the June primary.

While Trump is not on the ballot, he looms large over New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.

In the second and final debate last week, Sherrill accused her GOP rival of “showing no signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself has described Jack as 100% MAGA, and he has shown every sign of being one.”

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

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 during his second term, Chiattarelli said, “I would definitely give the president an A. I think he’s right about everything he does.”

“I think this tells us everything we need to know about who supports Jack Ciattarelli. I give him an F right now,” Cheryl replied, noting the high cost of living in New Jersey.

Rep. Mickey Sherrill, Democratic candidate for governor of New Jersey, takes questions from reporters after a debate on October 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

While Democrats have long dominated federal and state elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are highly competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five of the past 10 elections.

Trump made significant gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by just 6 percentage points, a significant improvement over his 16-point deficit four years ago.

Ciattarelli said in an interview with Fox News Digital last month that 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 are “in constant communication with the White House about different ways they can help.”

While there is no indication, yet, that Trump will join Chiattarelli in person in New Jersey, campaign strategist Chris Russell told Fox News: “We appreciate all the help we’ve received from the president and his team so far, and are grateful for any support they provide along the way.”

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But the Democratic National Committee (DNC), in a statement after Axios first reported on Trump’s teleconference rally, claimed Ciattarelli was “desperate.”

“It is clear that this election is coming down to one key fact: Jack is 100% for Trump, while Mikie Sherrill is 100% for New Jersey,” Abhi Rahman, deputy director of communications for the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement.