Giacchino "Jack" Michael Ciattarelli (/tʃɪtəˈrɛli/ chi-tə-RELL-ee; born December 12, 1961)[1][2] is an American politician and businessman.

He was also the Republican nominee in the 2021 New Jersey gubernatorial election, which he narrowly lost to incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy.

[4][5] In 2011, Ciattarelli ran for the open General Assembly seat in the 16th legislative district, vacated by Denise Coyle, who chose not to run for re-election due to redistricting.

On November 8, 2011, he and his running mate Peter J. Biondi defeated the Democratic candidates, Marie Corfield and Joe Camarota.

[1] In the 2017 Republican Party gubernatorial primary, Ciattarelli came in second, with 31% of the vote, behind eventual nominee Kim Guadagno, who had 47%.

[15] On The Issues, a non-partisan organization that tracks candidates' positions, and is owned by Snopes, has considered Ciattarelli to be a "moderate conservative" Republican.

[26] He opposes New Jersey's current laws regarding curricula that include LGBT education, saying "We're not teaching sodomy in sixth grade.

"[27] He was criticized for allegedly applying the term "sodomy" to refer to LGBTQ education and people,[28] although Ciattarelli clarified he had not meant the word in regard to "someone's sexual orientation", instead he was generally referring to "mature content being taught to young children", and reinforced that "all schools should be promoting diversity, inclusivity, tolerance, and respect for others, but that doesn't mean pushing explicit subjects in elementary school classrooms".

[27][29] In his platform, he wants to "reform requirements for sexual and social education to make content less dogmatic and more age-appropriate for elementary and middle school-aged children.