The number of voters on New Jersey’s rolls increased by more than 11,000 in September, with modest increases from Republicans and a continued drop-off for Democrats, according to new state data.
Democrats maintain a hefty voter registration lead over the GOP, but shed more than 4,000 voters in September, dropping from 2,529,708 to 2,525,346. Republicans, meanwhile, continued their slow but consistent gains on their opponents, adding 2,385 in September, from 1,667,912 to 1,670,297.
Most new voters signed up as unaffiliated voters — more than 13,000 registrants were added to the unaffiliated rolls last month for a total of 2,340,583.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) faces Republican former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli in next month’s gubernatorial election. Mail-in voting has already started.
The pattern is consistent with prior months of voter registration data: spikes in unaffiliated voters and a relative increase of Republicans compared to Democrats. While not all states feature party registration, Republicans have made voter registration gains on Democrats across the country, according to analyses of state data.
The pattern also holds in legislative districts with competitive Assembly races. In the 8th legislative district, where Assemblywoman Andrea Katz (D-Chesterfield) and Assemblyman Michael Torrissi (R-Hammonton) are seeking re-election in one of the state’s only split legislative districts.
Republicans retain a slight voter registration edge in the district; in September, Republicans gained 106 registrants in the district, while Democrats lost three. The number of unaffiliated voters, meanwhile, increased by 391.
Democrats at one point held a one-million-voter gap over Republicans, a buffer that has now fallen to about 855,000.
New Jerseyans have until Oct. 14 to register to vote in this fall’s election.
