NJ-GOV: Democratic mayor endorsing Ciattarelli, switching parties

[RandySF]

Garfield Mayor Everett E. Garnto, Jr., a Democrat, will endorse Republican Jack Ciattarelli for governor tomorrow and is expected to announce he’s switching parties.

Now the mayor of the fifth-largest municipality in Bergen County will be a Republican.

Four years ago, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy carried Garfield by 151 votes, 51%-48%. In 2024, Garfield voters backed Donald Trump by almost nine percentage points. Garfield is 77% White, with 32% saying they were Hispanic in a tally where some responded to more than one choice.

Garnto, a former school board member who served twelve years as president of the Garfield Police Benevolent Association Local 46, was elected to the council in 2024 in a fourteen-candidate field for five seats. By local tradition, the candidate with the most votes becomes mayor, but his colleagues chose to ignore that and



https://newjerseyglobe.com/governor/democratic-mayor-endorsing-ciattarelli-switching-parties/

[Jersey Devil]

1. The mayor may be registered as a Democrat but he did not get elected as a Democrat

I believe Garfield is one of those towns in NJ that holds non partisan elections for Council, so party affiliation is not even shown on the ballot. I always found that a bit weird but there are many towns where that is the case.