Ciattarelli on OPRA, the line and term limits: 'Let’s have the discussion'

Following the April 9 launch of his 2025 gubernatorial bid, Jack Ciattarelli has maintained the same robust pace of public appearances that’s persisted since his 2021 attempt at the seat.

NJBIZ recently caught up with the Republican hopeful from the trail for a wide-ranging discussion on several topics.

The following conversation is edited for length and clarity. This is part three of four . The series continues May 2.

NJBIZ : Two other major issues going on right now in New Jersey politics are the debate over the county ballot line and changes to OPRA [Open Public Record Act] . I’ll start with the ballot line any thoughts on how that’s been playing out? Any perspective on that issue?

Ciattarelli : It certainly has been an interesting development. But I continue to believe that county organizations reserve the right to vet candidates, endorse candidates, lend their imprimatur to candidates. We call that freedom of association and free speech. I continue to maintain that county organizations should reserve that right. We’ll just have to see how things go from here.

NJBIZ : On OPRA, any thoughts on that proposed legislation?

Ciattarelli : Democrats continue to brag about them being the great protectors of democracy. We’re seeing less and less transparency out of the ruling party in Trenton. You saw it last year with the Election Finance Transparency Act, which is anything but transparent. You see the way they fast-track bills and people don’t even have a chance to comment on them. And then with the OPRA bill, I think it went way too far. Even leading Democrats like Loretta Weinberg, who sponsored the original bill, was critical.

I’ve always had a problem with commercial requests. I don’t think people should be allowed to put in an OPRA request get the information and turn around and sell it for a profit. Nor do I think the intention of OPRA was for someone who applies for a dog license, ultimately gets bombarded by any company that’s selling products for dogs. Let’s deal with the commercial requests but let’s not do it at the expense of transparency.

No more than 8 years in office

NJBIZ : One of the things that stood out about your campaign launch speech was the topic of term limits. You have term-limited yourself at different levels of government and it's something you want to push hard for. Can you speak a little bit about that issue.

Ciattarelli : I have voluntarily term-limited myself at every level whether it was the municipal level, county level or state level. We term-limit our governor for eight years. I think it’s an idea whose time has come. Let’s have the discussion. And so, I’ll put it out there as part of my platform for New Jerseyans to decide.

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The Q&A series

Part 1: NJBIZ chats with the gubernatorial hopeful

Part 2: Ciattarelli talks economic development: ‘We need a governor who’s pro-business’

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But what I am proposing is that in Trenton only for state legislators we would have term limits along the lines of no more than eight years in any one office. So, you could serve eight years in the Assembly and then serve eight years in the State Senate. That would be a 16-year run. I do believe that government is better served when we have fresh faces and new ideas. Right now, you don’t see a whole lot of that in Trenton.

NJBIZ : As you travel around, is the issue of term limits one that you hear a lot about?

Ciattarelli : People do like the idea of term limits. That particular proposal has been very well received no matter where I go. But this is not a blanket criticism of all of our legislators in Trenton. The fact is we have some excellent, long-serving legislators in Trenton. But again, I’m not asking anyone to do what I haven’t done myself or what it is that we do with our governors.

Eager to achieve

NJBIZ : You have put a lot of time and energy into this effort. In your speech, you said that you don’t have any higher ambitions that this is the job you want. How meaningful would it be to be governor of the state and how would you approach it on a day-to-day basis?

Ciattarelli : It certainly would be an honor and a privilege, but it will only be meaningful if we’re able to accomplish my agenda. And my agenda is all about improving the quality of life for New Jerseyans. Again, addressing the property tax crisis; doing business on Main Street; improving public education; making New Jersey a better place to retire. These are all the things that we need to accomplish. So, that’s when it will be meaningful.

It will always be an honor and a privilege. But it’s only meaningful if we’re able to achieve an agenda that really addresses those kitchen table issues that people so badly want us to fix.

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