New Jersey voters are electing their next governor Tuesday in a race that can reveal whether or not Democrats keep their grip on a state that has been reliably blue however has proven indicators of shifting towards Republicans in recent times.
Jack Ciattarelli, a former state legislator endorsed by President Donald Trump, is attempting to change into New Jersey’s first Republican governor since 2018. He faces U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat in her fourth time period in Congress who would change into the state’s second feminine governor if elected.
The result might gauge how the voters is responding to Trump’s insurance policies and whether or not some teams of core Democratic Occasion voters nonetheless think about the social gathering’s management.
The beginning of voting on Tuesday was disrupted after officers in seven counties acquired emailed bomb threats later decided by legislation enforcement to be unfounded, mentioned the state’s high election official, Lt. Gov. Tahesha Manner. It was just like a collection of bomb threats acquired by native election places of work throughout final yr’s presidential election, principally in battleground states.
(Comply with election outcomes dwell right here as soon as the polls shut.)
The threats concerned polling locations in Bergen, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Passaic — the swing county the place the Division of Justice had deployed election screens. Some polling areas reopened rapidly, whereas voters at others had been being directed to close by polling areas to forged their poll.
Voting in Montclair, New Jersey, Sherrill condemned the threats as aimed toward voter suppression.
“Clearly that is an try and suppress the vote right here, and I don’t suppose New Jerseyans take very kindly to that type of tampering in our election system,” she mentioned.
Ciattarelli, 63, is working for governor for the third time. He misplaced a Republican main in 2017, then narrowly misplaced the final election in 2021 to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who’s term-limited.
This time, he has forged the election as a chance for voters to oust Democrats who’ve managed each the governor’s workplace and the state Legislature for practically eight years. He’s touted his background as a enterprise proprietor with deep roots within the state and expertise as a state and native elected official. He says his shut relationship with Trump will assist New Jersey.
“Make no mistake. We can not afford one other 4 years of Phil Murphy’s failed insurance policies,” Ciattarelli mentioned throughout a rally earlier within the marketing campaign.
Sherrill, 53, constructed her marketing campaign round pushing again in opposition to Trump. She lately seized on the administration’s resolution to abruptly freeze funding for a multibillion-dollar mission to switch the growing older rail tunnels that join New Jersey to New York Metropolis beneath the Hudson River.
“That is what we’re preventing for on this nation — to ensure that we’ve a president who has to comply with the legislation,” she mentioned.
Sherrill additionally has leaned into her biography, which incorporates serving as a U.S. Navy officer and helicopter pilot and dealing as a prosecutor. She forged Ciattarelli as somebody who would associate with Trump’s actions it doesn’t matter what. If elected, Sherrill would be a part of Christine Todd Whitman, who served from 1994 to 2001, because the state’s solely feminine governors.
Ciattarelli, 63, is working for governor for the third time. He misplaced a Republican main in 2017, then narrowly misplaced the final election in 2021 to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who’s term-limited.
This time, he has forged the election as a chance for voters to oust Democrats who’ve managed each the governor’s workplace and the state Legislature for practically eight years. He’s touted his background as a enterprise proprietor with deep roots within the state and expertise as a state and native elected official. He says his shut relationship with Trump will assist New Jersey.
“Make no mistake. We can not afford one other 4 years of Phil Murphy’s failed insurance policies,” Ciattarelli mentioned throughout a rally earlier within the marketing campaign.
Sherrill, 53, constructed her marketing campaign round pushing again in opposition to Trump. She lately seized on the administration’s resolution to abruptly freeze funding for a multibillion-dollar mission to switch the growing older rail tunnels that join New Jersey to New York Metropolis beneath the Hudson River.
“That is what we’re preventing for on this nation — to ensure that we’ve a president who has to comply with the legislation,” she mentioned.
Sherrill additionally has leaned into her biography, which incorporates serving as a U.S. Navy officer and helicopter pilot and dealing as a prosecutor. She forged Ciattarelli as somebody who would associate with Trump’s actions it doesn’t matter what. If elected, Sherrill would be a part of Christine Todd Whitman, who served from 1994 to 2001, because the state’s solely feminine governors.
Each candidates have talked about wanting to assist folks deal with rising residing prices. Sherrill has mentioned she would declare a state of emergency to freeze electrical utility charge hikes.
Trump campaigned for Ciattarelli in phone rallies and has been urging voters to again the Republican, saying he would “quickly” convey power and different prices down, with out specifying how.
Republican Jack Ciatterelli made his closing case to voters as he positioned himself because the one who will drive down prices for New Jersey households. However Democrat Mikie Sherrill mentioned it isn’t potential to speak affordability within the state with out additionally referring to what is going on within the White Home. NBC New York’s Adam Harding stories.
In final yr’s presidential election, former Vice President Kamala Harris gained New Jersey, however Trump shaved his margin of loss considerably, shifting Hispanic voters towards him. The Democrats’ registration edge has eroded in recent times.
Ciattarelli has walked a effective line on Trump, praising him and giving the president an “A” grade, however he’s additionally campaigned to draw Hispanic voters.
Whereas he has mentioned he helps the president’s effort to finish birthright citizenship, he’s additionally talked a few “pathway to recognition,” and giving driver’s licenses and Social Safety numbers to immigrants who’re within the nation illegally however should not have a legal file. That places him at odds with the Trump administration’s present insurance policies.
Ciattarelli has not defined what he means by a “pathway to recognition.” New Jersey already points driver’s licenses to some immigrants within the nation illegally and the federal authorities points Social Safety numbers.
With a detailed race potential, the U.S. Division of Justice introduced it might monitor polling websites in Passaic County, a former Democratic stronghold that Trump gained in 2024. New Jersey Lawyer Basic Matt Platkin, a Democrat, referred to as the monitoring program “extremely inappropriate” after it was requested by the state Republican Occasion.
Sherrill and Ciattarelli debated two occasions and have been crisscrossing the state, assembly voters at diners and leaning on surrogates to get their messages out. Democratic governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Wes Moore of Maryland, in addition to former President Barack Obama, all got here to New Jersey to rally voters for Sherrill.
Trump campaigned for Ciattarelli in phone rallies and has been urging voters to again the Republican, saying he would “quickly” convey power and different prices down, with out specifying how.
Additionally on the poll are all 80 seats within the state Meeting, which Democrats management 52-28.
