Jack Ciattarelli paid daughter $77K despite backing nepotism ban

Jack Ciattarelli, who once co-sponsored a bill to ban nepotism in New Jersey politics, has paid his daughter nearly $80,000 to run his campaign’s digital apparatus.

Ciattarelli served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2011 to 2018. He secured the GOP nomination for governor on June 11.

Alexa Ciattarelli was paid $77,357.77 by her father’s campaign between May 2024 and June 2025, according to filings with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. Her job title is Senior Digital and Operations Director.

In 2014, Jack Ciattarelli co-sponsored the Comprehensive Anti-Nepotism Act, which sought to ban public officials from hiring family members or awarding contracts that benefit relatives. He co-sponsored the legislation again in 2016. It did not pass in either session.

The scope of the law did not include campaign work.

This is not the first time Alexa Ciattarelli’s political activity has come under scrutiny.

Alexa also worked on her father’s 2021 campaign for governor. That campaign employed the services of Go BIG Media Inc., a Republican consulting firm that hired Alexa the following year.

While at Go BIG, Alexa provided consulting services to the group American First Republicans of New Jersey, which later received a $10,000 donation from a Jack Ciattarelli-aligned super PAC. This donation accounted for almost half of the group’s total contributions in 2024.

This was problematic because American First Republicans of New Jersey was an alias for the Montclair Republican County Committee. Campaign finance law forbids PACs from donating to county committees or coordinating with them.

Jack Ciattarelli’s PAC asked for the donation to be refunded. It is unclear if the matter was ever formally investigated.

A Ciattarelli campaign spokesperson did not respond to questions for this story.