Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is leading the pack of GOP hopefuls in New Jersey's governor's race.

That's according to a fairly Dickinson University poll out today, which finds Ciattarelli has a clear advantage with more name recognition and favorability than his top three GOP opponents.

78% of Republicans polled said they know who Ciattarelli is, compared to 54% for former radio host Bill Spedia 43% for state Senator Jon Bramnick and 41% for former Senator Ed Durr.

Ciattarelli, of course, was the GOP nominee for governor in 2021 before narrowly losing to Governor Phil Murphy.

Poll director Dan Casino says the fact that he's run before means more people know who he is, but she also has a strong lead in the number of voters who like him.

Still, casino points out that advantage could shrink given the growing number of Donald Trump supporters in the party.

Traditionally, the Republican Party in New Jersey has nominated very moderate centrist candidates.

The issue now is that the energy in the party really is with the more conservative and with the MAGA part of the party, and it's not at all clear if there still is enough.

Norwich and centrist left in the Republican Party to really push the Republican Party towards those candidates, or if can be taken over by the more hard right wing.