Maga Stars Are Coming To New Jersey For The Governor’s Race. But One Person Is Missing: Donald Trump.

Jack Ciattarelli, the Donald Trump-endorsed Republican running for governor of New Jersey, is taking part in a MAGA rally on the Jersey Shore tonight — complete with Trump-world influencers.

One person won’t be there: Trump.

The absence underscores Ciattarelli’s balancing act as he tries to fire up the GOP base without alienating moderates and independents in the typically Democratic stronghold.

While Ciattarelli hasn’t shied away from the president during the general election, he has made some attempts to distance himself — without getting on Trump's bad side. At the same time, Democratic nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill has made most of her campaign about tying Ciattarelli to Trump.

The rally, organized by Cape May GOP Chair Michael Donohue — who said he didn’t plan the event with the intent of the president coming — will almost certainly draw a lot of attention on right-wing social media. But the lack of attendance by a figure as high profile as the president will likely limit its mainstream media exposure. And that may be welcome news for Ciattarelli. Since winning the president’s endorsement in his June primary election, Ciattarelli has been relentlessly attacked by Democrats for his association with Trump, in a state where the president’s approval rating is underwater by double digits.

"The people who hate MAGA will continue to hate MAGA. They’re not voting for Jack anyway,” said Donohue. “There’s a great deal of enthusiasm and energy, which it’s going to take to win this state.”

The rally will also have a vigil for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated last month. Republicans are predicting that Kirk’s death will activate Republican voters this fall, particularly after Sherrill voted on a House resolution to condemn his killing and then issued a statement calling Kirk’s views “racist” and “anti-American.”

Democrats have sought to cast Ciattarelli — who avoided fully embracing the president during his 2021 bid — as a “right-wing extremist,” pointing to his recent appearances with vaccine skeptics and Scott Presler, a former “stop the steal” organizer who focuses on registering Republicans. Sherrill spokesperson Sam Chan accused Ciattarelli of being “in lockstep with Trump to try and save his flailing campaign. "

Presler is slated to be at the Friday rally, along with other conservative influencers who have close ties to the Trump administration, like Benny Johnson and Jack Posobiec, both of whom have also promoted Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.

“I can’t control what other people say, and I think I’m judged by what it is that I say. And what I say is specific to the crises that has New Jerseyans, particularly in the middle class, getting crushed every single day,” Ciattarelli said in response to a question whether he thinks appearing with these speakers could alienate more moderate unaffiliated and Democratic voters he’s trying to court.

It’s unclear if Trump, who frequents his golf club in Bedminster, will make his way to New Jersey in a public capacity for Ciattarelli.

Ciattarelli told reporters this week that the White House has said that “they’re happy to help us in any way that we think they can bring value to the campaign,” and he is “looking at every opportunity to see what brings value to the campaign.” Trump previously held a teletown hall for him ahead of the primary election.

The president is seen as an asset for riling up the Republican base, and Republicans are hopeful that Ciattarelli can replicate the gains Trump made in the state last year — though that could be a challenge without him on the ballot. Meanwhile, Democrats are betting that unaffiliated voters, whom Ciattarelli needs to overcome Democrats’ large registration advantage in the state, will be turned off by Ciattarelli’s affiliation with Trump.

Ciattarelli recently praised the administration for not having a “heavy hand” in his race, and has lambasted Sherrill for her focus on the president, arguing that all she wants to “talk about is President Trump.” No television advertisement from Ciattarelli nor Republican groups boosting him tout Trump’s endorsement — a main point of his primary campaign. And in his stump speech, Ciattarelli often highlights his endorsements from local Democrats rather than his support from Trump.

In interviews and appearances over recent weeks, Ciattarelli has started to point to areas where he disagrees with Trump, including the administration’s proposal to eliminate jobs at Picatinny Arsenal and its plan to detain immigrants at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. He also said that he was “not real happy about the Empire wind farm” in New York, where the administration allowed construction to continue despite Trump’s opposition to wind energy, and that "we need to make sure that we've got medical science to prove those kinds of claims" regarding acetaminophen.

When asked if he considers himself part of the MAGA movement at his second debate against Sherrill on Wednesday, Ciattarelli responded, “I’m part of a New Jersey movement.”

“No matter who it is that’s in the White House, my job is to stand up for the 9.3 million citizens of this state,” he said. “But let me also say this. That in times of need, it’s best to have a relationship with whoever occupies the White House, and I will.”

But any disagreement with Trump, who came six points shy of winning the state last year, is often overshadowed by how Ciattarelli praises him.

“I’d certainly give the president an A,” Ciattarelli said on Wednesday. “I think he's right about everything that he's doing. He has secured the border and the economy.”

“Amazing. I think that tells us all we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli is supporting,” Sherrill responded, giving the president an F rating.

Ciattarelli often celebrates Trump’s temporary ban on wind farms; his fight against congestion pricing; and his passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Ciattarelli also vowed that his attorney general pick “will not be wasting your tax dollars suing the White House every other day.”

And when the Trump administration said it would freeze funds amid the shutdown battle for the Gateway Project, which would build a new train tunnel under the Hudson River to connect New York and New Jersey, Ciattarelli sought to downplay it, saying that construction would still continue. Sherrill has hammered him in recent days over the tunnel, using it as another criticism of his association with the president.

“Watching Jack Ciattarelli try to tapdance his way out of this stuff seems to be becoming increasingly difficult for him,” Sherrill told reporters at a recent event.

Democrats argue that Ciattarelli isn’t doing an effective job of distancing himself from the president.

“Why would you take the time out of your debate to defend a bill that straight up cuts Medicaid?” said Pat Dennis, president of Democratic group American Bridge 21st Century. “It’s this impossible line he’s trying to walk.”