"We do need to be united."

So said Jack Ciattarelli last weekend in Morris County where he won a "straw poll" endorsement for governor.

Ciattarelli probably didn't need the endorsement by the county's Republican Clubs Alliance.

The primary is precisely two months away, but Ciattarelli is acting like a general election candidate.

For example, he already is talking about not only winning the governor's race, but bringing many Republican Assembly candidates with him.

All this confidence is not surprising. Ciattarelli would seem to be in the middle lane and that lane is pretty wide.

Once considered not a Donald Trump fan, Ciattarelli apparently has mended fences with MAGA.

Trump recently posed for a photo with Ciattarelli, and the candidate also has gotten endorsements from Jersey conservatives like Sens. Mike Testa and Joe Pennacchio.

More tellingly, he said in an InsiderNJ interview that he backs the president's tariffs, which have riled Wall Street and not in a good way.

Viewing this with apparent anger is one-time radio host Bill Spadea.

He is going after Ciattarelli big time, and you can expect that to continue.

A recent social media post claims Ciattarelli, while in the state Assembly, opposed aiding victims of Sandy, and that he deviated from staunch conservative positions by supporting physcian assisted suicide and gun buyback programs.

In short, Spadea said that Ciattarelli is "bought by the elites," but "rejected by the people." He has lost two earlier gubernatorial bids - in the 2017 primary and the 2021 general.

Spadea probably wishes "Jack" was his only problem.

Mario Kranjac, the former mayor of Englewood Cliffs, got in the race, and is still in it.

That was an issue, because Spadea unsuccessfully challenged his petitions.

There was a good reason for that.

Kranjac calls himself a "Trumpy mayor." So, any vote he gets would likely come from Spadea's base of support.

After the petition challenge failed, Kranjac compared Spadea to Adam Schiff.

It's hard to see any connection, but Schiff is unpopular in MAGA-world, so that's got to be it.

Let's not forget Jon Bramnick, who has never been a Trump fan.

More relevantly, he says he knows how to beat "far left" Democrats with a "bold, common sense agenda."

And he recently made a bold prediction:

"Under Governor Bramnick, NJ Transit trains will run on time."

The core of Bramnick's candidacy is that he has the best chance of winning - in November.

As he puts it:

"Did you know that Jon Bramnick won re-election in a district Biden won by 17 points."

Yes, the GOP primary campaign is two months away and we will see a lot between now and June 10.

But it's Nov. 4 that really counts. Right?