New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli was given the “surprise of a lifetime” by his son, U.S. Army Capt. Jake, on the eve of Election Day in New Jersey between Ciattarelli and his Democrat gubernatorial opponent, Mikie Sherrill.
During a campaign event at Murph’s Tavern in Totowa, New Jersey, on Monday, Passaic County Republican Chairman Peter Murphy surprised the Republican candidate by introducing Ciattarelli’s son — who has been stationed in Kuwait — at the event. Ciattarelli and his son were seen hugging in videos shared on social media.
“You don’t know what I’m going to say right now. But, your biggest supporter that serves this country just came over overnight to serve you,” Murphy said, as he introduced Jake. “Jake, your father, your son.”
As Jake walked over and embraced his father the crowd in the tavern erupted into a round of applause.
“The surprise of a lifetime!” Ciattarelli wrote in a post on X, in which he shared the video of the special moment. “Army Captain son Jake came home from eight months overseas to join us as we bring it home this Election Day.”
Ciattarelli expressed that he was “proud” of his son and his service, and added that he was “grateful to have all four” of his children home going into Election Day on Tuesday.
During the event, Ciattarelli speculated that Murphy had called President Donald Trump and that Trump “sent over Air Force One to Kuwait” to pick up Jake, according to Fox News.
“If I know the young man, he’ll probably be on a plane this afternoon back to Kuwait to defend our country,” Ciattarelli added.
In September, Ciattarelli shared in a post on Facebook that he was “counting down the final 100 days” until Jake came home.
“Proud of our Army Captain every single day,” Ciattarelli wrote in his post.
The surprise for Ciattarelli, whom Trump endorsed in May, comes as a recent AtlasIntel poll, conducted between October 25-30 of 1,639 likely voters, found that Ciattarelli and Sherrill were virtually tied in the New Jersey gubernatorial race. Out of those surveyed, 50.2 percent of respondents said they would support Sherrill, while 49.3 percent said they would support Ciattarelli.
The poll also had a ± 2 percent margin of error.
Breitbart News reached out to the Ciattarelli campaign for a statement but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
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