Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciaterelli got what he called the "surprise of a lifetime" when his Army captain son showed up from his overseas deployment to give his dad some extra help in the final stretch of the campaign.
In a video posted on Monday on X, someone at Ciaterelli's campaign stop told him that his "biggest supporter that serves this country just came over overnight to serve you."
Ciaterelli's reaction told the whole story when he saw his son was there and was home just hours ahead of election day. In the clip, we see his jaw drop as he smacked his hand on his head. The two then embraced for a long time as the crowd clapped and cheered around them.
If you can watch below without getting teary-eyed, you are a stronger person than I am.
The surprise of a lifetime! 🇺🇸
— Jack Ciattarelli (@Jack4NJ) November 3, 2025
Army Captain son Jake came home from eight months overseas to join us as we bring it home this Election Day. Im so proud of him and his service. Grateful to have all four of kids home and feeling great heading into Election Day! pic.twitter.com/g7iM7xGwEa
2025's Big 3 Elections – Final Analysis/Predictions Before November 4
"The surprise of a lifetime!" Ciaterelli's post read about the surprise read. "Army Captain son Jake came home from eight months overseas to join us as we bring it home this Election Day."
"I'm so proud of him and his service," he added. "Grateful to have all four of kids home and feeling great heading into Election Day!"
Ciaterelli's kids being home and ready to back their dad is obviously a huge boost for the GOP nominee. But most likely he's also feeling pretty good as the end of this race nears, with polls showing he's definitely closed the gap against his Democrat opponent, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11).
As my RedState colleague Sister Toldjah reported:
Ciattarelli has closed the polling gap with Sherrill and is now running neck and neck after at one point being down by as much as 20 points in a June Rutgers poll.
Yes, ladies and gents, we have ourselves a horse race, and one that has the potential to have a photo finish after November 4:
According to @RCPolitics polling averages, Ciattarelli has closed the gap in the #NJGov race. #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/Wh0u2T4wHw
— Sister Toldjah 💙 (@sistertoldjah) October 30, 2025
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As RedState's Adam Turner reported, Ciaterelli-Sherrill's NJ gubernatorial campaign is one of the top three races we will be watching on election night, November 4.
Turner's report read:
The RCP average is 48.9 percent to 45.6 percent in favor of Sherrill, a 3.3 percent advantage, down from the 4.1 percent gap before. Importantly, several particularly good pollsters, including Atlas, Quantus, and Trafalgar, and others show a one- to-two-point race.
Turner pointed out that Sherrill has turned out to be a bad candidate for the Democrats, but he's hesitant to predict a blowout GOP victory on Tuesday.
Therefore, putting all these variables into my, big-as-a-factory, unbelievably complicated, math-heavy, scientific model, which puts all other models to shame, which is scrupulously maintained by a recently updated and enhanced Robby the Robot, I predict that Jack Ciattarelli will win a narrow victory, very possibly by a plurality.
As with every election, it's about motivating your voters to get out and vote. And this sweet video of an Army son returning home to help his father can't hurt!
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