In the run-up to Tuesday's election, Donald Trump ordered the demolition of the East Wing of the White House and the SNAP or food stamp program stopped - at least temporarily.

Trump's approval rates plunged and in most polls, he's underwater by double digits.

This was not an ideal time to be a Trump-endorsed MAGA candidate in New Jersey.

But that's where Jack Ciattarelli was.

You really have to wonder if Ciattarelli now has any second thoughts about throwing in his lot with the president. He most likely would have won the primary without Trump's endorsement.

But once getting it, he was stuck.

Trump did better in New Jersey in 2024 than he did in his two previous runs for president. But he still lost.

That's what Jack was up against.

His devotion to Trump really put him at a very practical disadvantage as the campaign unfolded.

The best example of that was the Gateway tunnel project that the president said he was cancelling.

This is a big deal for thousands of New Jersey commuters.

Mikie Sherrill held a press event to condemn Trump's decision.

Ciattarelli suggested Trump wasn't serious. It was just hardball politics, he said.

Maybe.

As Sherrill brought in Barack Obama and other luminaries to campaign for her, many observers wondered if Trump would campaign personally for Ciattarelli.

Many of the folks attending Ciattarelli rallies wondered about that among themselves.

Trump said during a tele-rally in late October that he planned to do just that. But it never happened.

You got the impression Team Jack did not want it to happen.

Talk about being in a box. He liked having Trump's endorsement, but then again, only up to a point- apparently.

What he did have on his side were New Jersey's MAGA Republicans.

They were certainly enthusiastic, but enthusiasm itself does not mean more votes.

The MAGA Republican vote in New Jersey at best is 45 percent.That was Ciattarelli's problem.

In his stump speech, Ciattarelli always stressed his commitment to the Garden State.

He did not want a job in Washington. Nor did he want to write a book, He just wanted "to fix" New Jersey.

And when that task ended, people would find him on the beach in Surf City.

He may be there much sooner than he wanted.