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Good morning, New Jersey. Election Day is here, and if you haven’t voted already, it’s time to make your voice heard.
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. today to decide fiercely contested races for governor, State Assembly, county offices, mayorships, school boards, and more – any and all of which could reshape New Jersey for years to come.
At the top of the ticket, of course, is the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy between Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) and former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-Somerville). Both have promised bold action to make New Jersey more affordable, bring down energy costs, and improve the state’s public education system – and have diverged sharply on how to accomplish those goals.
New Jersey voters won’t be the only ones affected by the results: national Democrats and Republicans see the race as a referendum on President Donald Trump and on the electorate’s mood in a new and unprecedented political era. The outcome in New Jersey, as well as in other prominent elections in Virginia, California, and New York City, will shape how both parties forge ahead in future elections around the country.
Further down the ballot, all 80 seats in the State Assembly will be up for election, as will one State Senate seat in Paterson. Neither party believes Democrats’ 52-28 Assembly majority is at serious risk, but the last time Ciattarelli was on the ballot, Republicans flipped six Assembly seats and became a more potent force in Trenton; coattails from either Ciattarelli or Sherrill could reshape the legislature substantially come January 2026.
And there’s certainly plenty of money flying on all sides. Per the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, $82 million has already been spent on the general election campaign for governor, a figure that balloons to $228 million when the primary elections are included – making it by far the most expensive gubernatorial race in state history. Another $27 million has been spent in legislative races, most of it concentrated in a handful of competitive districts like the 8th, 11th, and 21st.
Even without any big legislative flips, though, change is coming to Trenton regardless. Thanks to the death of the county line ballot design system, at least four non-machine-aligned Democrats who won competitive June primaries will soon join the Assembly, and a number of other challengers put the scare into longtime incumbents.
Also on the ballot today are county offices in every county in the state – some sleepy, others closely watched – and local elections in hundreds of municipalities, including most prominently crowded and chaotic races for mayor and city council in Jersey City.
It’s a lot for New Jersey’s voters to weigh in on, and many of them have already done so. As of yesterday, 1,334,572 voters had already cast their ballots, putting statewide voter turnout at around 22% thus far; 741,9248 voters cast early in-person ballots during the state’s nine-day early voting period, and the state has received another 592,648 vote-by-mail ballots, per VoteHub.
If you haven’t already done so, now’s your chance to join the throng. And if you want more – much more – information about the races on the ballot this year, check out the New Jersey Globe’s 2025 Voter’s Guide.
Happy voting.
