Jack Ciattarelli, the Trump-backed Republican candidate in the razor close gubernatorial race in New Jersey, picked up an endorsement from another prominent Democrat as the race heads down the final stretch.

Oscar James II, a former Newark City Councilman, stated that he will have no choice but to vote across party lines due to his disgust with the Democratic nominee. “When you talk to everyday people, the people picking up the kids when I’m picking up my kids, the people in the grocery line…she does not relate to Democratic voters,” he said of U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), the Democrat nominee, while speaking with the New York Post.

James, who served on the City Council from 2006 to 2010, further accused Sherrill of being out of touch with “regular everyday people.” Sherrill’s focus on national issues and an obsession with linking Ciattarelli with President Donald Trump is what compelled James to look towards the Republican Party, he explained.

“People want to hear what she has to offer, not that this is a vote against Trump — and she’s not talking about what she has to offer,” the former councilman said.

“The fact that they keep trying to fear monger us with Trump is not going to work, and it’s not resonating,” he continued. “The Democratic Party has used Trump as such a scary figure, I believe, with many African Americans in this country… [But] their lives haven’t changed so drastically since Trump has been in office and not in office.”

James served on the Newark City Council from 2006 to 2010
Photo: Oscar James II via Facebook

James, who has focused on running his small business and community organizing since leaving office, further told The Post that Sherrill has failed to meet with and address concerns from black voters, a crucial portion of the Democratic Party coalition both in New Jersey and nationwide.

“She goes in the communities with the political insiders,” he said of Sherrill’s campaign events.  “[But]  the working people who are in these African American communities, in these black communities, they’re not at those events.”

In August, James published an op-ed titled “I’m a Black NJ Democrat. This is why I can’t support Mikie Sherrill for governor,” and confirmed Thursday that his stance has not changed just weeks ahead of the pivotal election. “They have nothing to offer the residents that they’re pushing. It’s high taxes,” he said. “She hasn’t resonated with the voters. There’s nothing new.”

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James is the latest New Jersey Democrat to confirm his plans to vote for Ciattarelli in November.

Garfield Mayor Everett E. Garnto, Jr., a Democrat, announced last month that he was changing his party registration and would be campaigning for the Republican nominee. Four years ago, Democrat Governor Phil Murphy narrowly carried Garfield, though the city’s 32,000 voters shifted hard to the right in 2024, when it went for President Donald Trump by nine percentage points last November.

Ciattarelli has also secured the endorsement of Dover Mayor James P. Dodd and Garfield Deputy Mayor Tana Raymond, both Democrats. Also backing Ciattarelli is Jamel Holley, a Democrat who served in the State Assembly and as mayor of Roselle.

Recent polling projects a razor close race in the Garden State after Sherill led by close to nine percentage points on the RealClearPolitics polling average this time last month.

One recent poll from Quantus Insights found Sherrill leading by two percentage points with an additional six percent of respondents remaining undecided. This marks a massive increase for Ciattarelli when compared with the outfit’s Labor Day poll, which found Sherrill leading by 10.

Another recent survey from National Research found Ciattarelli leading 46 percent-45 percent in a two-way race, a figure that includes a 21-point lead among voters not registered with either major party. That poll was followed up by a survey from Emerson College last Wednesday, which found the race tied.

RELATED: Mikie Sherrill Refuses To Release Naval Academy Disciplinary Records As Cheating Scandal Widens 

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