A Teachable Moment for the NJ GOP

By Joseph Catena

Jack Ciattarelli suffered a stinging defeat against Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey’s gubernatorial election last week, and it still begs the question, “How?”

As Rightonjoe mentioned in the immediate post-election analysis, all trends showed New Jersey ripe for a red flip. In his 2021 attempt, Ciattarelli nearly upset incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy, only losing by three points. In the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump cut significantly into Democrats and independents, and he only lost by six points. It was the best performance by a Republican since 1992 when President George H.W. Bush came within two points of Bill Clinton. The outlier that likely affected those numbers one way or another was the independent candidacy of H. Ross Perot. Nonetheless, Jack’s chances looked reasonable.

Fake moderate Mikie Sherrill easily captured the female, Black, Asian, and Hispanic demographics by obscenely large margins in her double-digit rout. Perhaps the most telling statistic was the congresswoman’s sweep of people in all economic ranges. So, the obvious answer appears that Ciattarelli needed to go after minorities and women harder, and perhaps he could have preached a stronger economic message. He had plenty to go with. Gov. Phil Murphy’s record shows he is leaving office with property taxes ever climbing, insurance costs sky high, and energy costs surging. Although he exhibited optimism and great energy, Ciattarelli simply and sadly didn’t connect with voters.

But Ciattarelli, like most Republicans in this state, also failed to address and allay the fears of one group in particular; public school teachers. As someone who has been a member of the teaching tribe for nearly 22 years, I know this to be true. New Jersey’s teachers and the state Republican party haven’t had a good relationship since the 1980s when Tom Kean was governor.

In 1983, Kean mandated beginning salaries for teachers increase from $13,000 to $18,500, a whopping 42 percent bump. In today’s terms, that would be like a teacher beginning at 60k per year and jumping to a starting salary of about $84,000. Kean valued strong, quality educators. Subsequently, he went on to win reelection in 1985 with 69.6 percent of the vote, the greatest landslide in the history of New Jersey gubernatorial elections.

The next two Republican governors were not so complimentary. Christie Whitman tampered with state pension funds by borrowing them for investments in the stock market. She also used the fund to aid other state measures. In essence, she stole from pension contributors, who contributed the vast majority of the money. Before Whitman and after Kean, Democrat Jim Florio actually began this naughty trend by shortchanging the fund for about two years. Democrats, of course, never like to admit when their party does something they shouldn’t.

Back to the GOP. Chris Christie was reviled by the teachers union and many rank-and-file educators for taking away the perk of free health insurance. Many public-school teachers signed up for their jobs knowing their salaries would be less than the private sector, but the perks of free health insurance and a guaranteed pension were tremendous financial incentives. Christie slowly tiered in the health insurance, making employees pay incrementally higher rates every year for four years before it stabilized. This meant numerous teachers brought home less money for four years or saw most of their raises negated. He also raised the years of service and retirement age by about 10 years. The governor ranted every chance he had at the union heads, calling them out of touch and greedy. Such a blowhard.

Yet – Christie-hating teachers hate to hear this – the bovine blusterer saved the teachers’ pension. We cannot ignore the facts.

Chris Christie put more into that pension than Whitman and the two Democrats who succeeded her, Jim “Pension Holiday” McGreevey and Jon Corzine, combined. Was he perfect with full restoration? No. Did he finagle the funds? Unfortunately, yes. But his half-hearted efforts were still superior to those of his predecessors.

For those who think that 99 percent of the teaching population is radically left wing, think again. We are not. Just because the annual New Jersey Education Association Convention showcases drag queen workshops and promotes LGBTQ perversions into parts of the state curriculum, those union leaders certainly do not speak for or reflect the majority of the state’s 118,000-plus active educators or the tens of thousands of retired teachers who still live in the Garden State. Not even close. And they should be challenged for misrepresenting the masses.

Jack Ciattarelli was no different than most Republicans who run for state office. They avoid addressing teachers directly. They rightly tear into the liberal, out-of-touch, loony union heads, but that’s where it stops. It pains me as a conservative MAGA Republican to say this, but when did anyone ever hear Ciattarelli vociferously praise teachers for their dedication, effort, and talents? When did he ever give assurances that our pension, the one we pay into, would be safe and funded correctly? Did he ever praise New Jersey public schools for being ranked fourth in the nation?

It is about time the GOP embraces teachers because there is so much more that unites us than divides us. Most teachers are culturally center-right family people, who greatly care about what their children are being taught. It’s fair to assume that the vast majority do not want their six-year-olds being read to by a bearded weirdo wearing a glittery gown and sporting emerald green hair.

Teachers are taxpayers with mortgages, who value safety in their neighborhoods. Many are God-fearing churchgoers, and I have yet to meet one who would be thrilled to hear that their child/children are transitioning.

“I just heard the most fantastic news from the guidance counselor! They/them told me that Brenda is becoming Bartolo! I had no idea! I’m so proud of Bren-, I mean Bart!”

Not.

Ask teachers what they think about handouts and freebies – from their tax dollars – to illegal aliens, and you can bet their responses will sound much closer to Donald Trump than they will to Tim Walz.

Years ago, Republicans made the mistake of conceding college student votes and allowing America-hating professors to indoctrinate them. Before the late Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA appeared in the political lexicon, conservatives, especially young conservatives, provided little to no resistance on campuses. They had no voice. Thanks again, Charlie, for empowering young minds.

Republicans cannot continue to let this happen with elementary, middle, and high schools. Nor can they afford to snub those who educate in these institutions. Why let such a significant voting block slip away without a fight? It is nothing short of stupidity and laziness. A lost opportunity.

If Jack Ciattarelli did reach out to teachers and embrace the many common values he shares with them, he surely would have won at least a fraction of their vote. This is not to suggest we would necessarily be calling him Governor-elect Ciattarelli if he did, but he certainly would not have lost by 14 points. Perhaps this will be a wakeup call on how to campaign in the future. Republicans need to reflect on this teachable moment.

If not, they will keep learning lessons the hard way.