Jack has a long, dangerous anti-vaccine record. Jack has said multiple times, including last week and this week, that he’d “never mandate a vaccine” — blatantly ignoring the advice of doctors and trusted medical professionals and instead signing onto debunked theories from fringe activists and conspiracy theorists.

“As a mom of four, I know how scary it is to take care of a sick kid, and I am appalled that Jack is taking his cues from fringe activists, conspiracy theorists, and the likes of Donald Trump and RFK, Jr. whose extreme policies will result in reduced access to vaccines and more of our children catching preventable illnesses. People are getting sick because of politicians like Jack who campaign with anti-vaxxers and spread dangerous lies about our public health, and it's clear we can't trust him to keep New Jersey kids safe and healthy,” said Mikie Sherrill.

Here’s what you need to know:

• “Ciattarelli has appealed to so-called medical freedom and parental rights groups that oppose vaccine requirements for students going to public school.”
• Jack is scheduled to be a distinguished guest at an anti-vaccine gala tonight alongside keynote speaker Sherri Tenpenny, who is “known nationally for peddling conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccine” and “told legislators in Ohio in 2021 that the COVID-19 vaccine could make people magnetic and suggested that vaccines interact with 5G towers — both unfounded claims.”
• Tenpenny “was listed as one of 12 anti-vaccine activists responsible for almost two-thirds of anti-vaccine content on social media that year.”
• Jack’s presence at the gala is also being advertised alongside Mary Holland, CEO of a RFK Jr. nonprofit, who “compared mandated vaccines to slavery. The group hosting the gala calls her a ‘courageous health freedom leader.’”

This isn’t the first time Jack has cozied up to right-wing extremists. Last month, Jack hit the campaign trail with January 6 rioters and Moms for Liberty, an extremist group that “defam[es] educators as groomers and opponent parents as pedophiles.”

Read more:

Philadelphia Inquirer: Jack Ciattarelli scheduled to be a ‘distinguished guest’ alongside anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist

• Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for New Jersey governor, is scheduled to be honored at an event featuring an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist on Thursday…
• …His face is still plastered on online fliers alongside anti-vaccine activists for the NJ Public Health Innovation PAC Gala at the Gramercy at Lakeside Manor in Hazlet.
• The candidate is advertised as a “distinguished guest” and the keynote speaker is Sherri Tenpenny, a doctor known nationally for peddling conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccine.
• “His presence at this year’s Gala underscores the growing recognition that health freedom, informed consent, and parental rights must be front and center in New Jersey’s future,” NJPHI PAC posted on Facebook about Ciattarelli. “As our state heads into a pivotal election, Jack’s participation is a powerful signal that these issues matter at the highest levels of leadership.”
• Ciattarelli has appealed to so-called medical freedom and parental rights groups that oppose vaccine requirements for students going to public school.
• [At the debate…] Sherrill argued that children are dying of curable diseases “because we are not appropriately following medical research vaccine protocol” and said she would be part of the new Northeast Public Health Collaborative, in which governors from states including New Jersey and Pennsylvania are working together on public health policy in light of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s secretary of health and human services, dismantling federal vaccine recommendations.
• Ciattarelli’s presence at the gala is advertised alongside Tenpenny and Jamel Holley, Leah Wilson, and Mary Holland.
• Tenpenny, the keynote speaker, told legislators in Ohio in 2021 that the COVID-19 vaccine could make people magnetic and suggested that vaccines interact with 5G towers — both unfounded claims. She was listed as one of 12 anti-vaccine activists responsible for almost two-thirds of anti-vaccine content on social media that year by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which called them the Disinformation Dozen.
• She sold online education courses that said social distancing had no use in a pandemic and mask-wearing policies are a type of “mind control,” Business Insider reported.
• Holland, CEO of Kennedy’s nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, claimed in an interview with Politico that mumps, measles, and rubella are not particularly dangerous to children, contrary to extensive medical evidence. On Steve Bannon’s War Room, Holland compared mandated vaccines to slavery. The group hosting the gala calls her a “courageous health freedom leader.”
• Wilson, a lawyer, became an outspoken opponent of vaccine mandates after she was told she could not foster children because her biological children were not vaccinated. The PAC calls her a “Health Freedom Warrior.”
• Holley, a former Democratic Assembly member from Union County, was described by Politico in 2020 as “New Jersey Democrats‘ most high profile anti-vaccination activist.” The gala organization calls him “a powerful voice for the MAHA movement.”
• Sherrill said in a statement that she is “appalled that Jack is taking his cues from fringe activists, conspiracy theorists, and the likes of Donald Trump and RFK, Jr. whose extreme policies will result in reduced access to vaccines and more of our children catching preventable illnesses.”
• “People are getting sick because of politicians like Jack who campaign with anti-vaxxers and spread dangerous lies about our public health, and it’s clear we can’t trust him to keep our kids safe and healthy,” she added.
• “As Governor, he will oppose a one-size-fits-all vaccination schedule, support medical and religious exemptions for vaccines, and create a parental rights ombudsman in state government to give parents more of a voice on key issues, including those seeking a philosophical vaccine exemption,” [Ciattarelli spokesperson Eric] Arpert said.
• The subject of vaccines is becoming increasingly important for state leaders while the federal government changes long-held stances on vaccinations and shifts under the guidance of Kennedy, who has leaned on unsubstantiated and debunked theories.
• …Trump claimed without definitive scientific proof that using the pain reliever during pregnancy is dangerous, a contention that scientists have debunked.

See also: Philadelphia Inquirer: Why Jack Ciattarelli is rallying with MAGA influencer Scott Presler at the Jersey Shore, New Jersey Monitor: NJ governor hopefuls make divergent pitches on campaign trail