Ciattarelli narrows gap with Sherrill in New Jersey governor race

With just 15 days until the November election, the Republican candidate in one of the nation’s only two gubernatorial races this year is feeling confident.

“The energy across the state is electric. The reception in minority communities has been great, and the fact that he’s been endorsed by leading Democrats says everything you need to know about the people of New Jersey wanting change. And that’s what this election is all about. Change,” Jack Ciattarelli said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” this weekend.

Ciattarelli, who is running for a third consecutive term for governor of the Garden State and nearly upset Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, has good reason to be optimistic that he can pull off a victory in blue-leaning New Jersey.

In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite GOP registration growth this decade, three polls last week from Fox News, Quinnipiac University and Fairleigh Dickinson University showed Ciattarelli narrowing the gap with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the race to replace the term-limited Murphy.

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The poll, conducted by Fox News between October 10 and 14, found that Sherrill received 50 percent support among likely voters, while Ciattarelli received 45 percent support. Sherrill’s 5-point advantage narrowed to an 8-point lead in a Fox News poll in New Jersey in September.

New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns the year after a presidential election, and the contests traditionally attract great attention and are viewed as political barometers ahead of the following year’s midterm elections.

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And this year, they are seen in part as ballot box referendums on President Donald Trump’s unprecedented and combustible second-term agenda.

In blue-leaning New Jersey, Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections, while Republicans are fiercely competitive in gubernatorial races, winning five of the last 10 elections.

Speaking during a campaign event at Wildwood Beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, on May 11, 2024, President Donald Trump will headline a tele-rally for the Garden State’s 2025 Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

And Trump made big gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by just six percentage points; That’s a big improvement from his 16-point deficit four years ago.

Interviewed by Fox News Digital in Bayonne, New Jersey, last week, Ciattarelli stated that he “made big gains” in 2021 in his demonstrations in “Hudson County and Passaic County,” long strongholds of the Democratic Party.

“And the President did very, very well in the same counties in 24. And if you look at who supported me, including very prominent Democrats in Hudson County, people want change,” Ciattarelli emphasized.

But Ciattarelli also aims to mobilize Republican voters in what is likely a low-turnout election.

Multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump will hold a tele-rally with Ciattarelli ahead of Election Day. Trump teaming up with Ciattarelli could help energize his MAGA supporters, many of whom are low-propensity voters who often skip voting in non-presidential election years.

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy manages a campaign event for New Jersey GOP candidate for governor Jack Ciattarelli on October 15, 2025 in Saddle Brook, NJ (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

And last week, at a packed restaurant in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, Ciattarelli was joined by MAGA rock star Vivek Ramaswamy, who is running for governor in his home state of Ohio next year.

Ramaswamy, a multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and conservative commentator who touted an “America First 2.0” platform while running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, ended his bid and became one of Trump’s biggest supporters and surrogates, telling Fox News Digital that Ciattarelli’s win this year “sets the stage for even bigger and more decisive victories in places like Ohio next year He said he would prepare it.

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Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin expressed concern, commenting on why Republicans feel optimistic about the New Jersey showdown.

“New Jersey is probably the best place for Donald Trump to stop the Democratic momentum, or at least minimize the Democratic momentum that we’ve seen throughout this year,” Martin said in the Politico interview.

However, the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) predicts Sherrill will prevail within two weeks.

“Mikie Sherrill is rising to seize the moment in this incredibly competitive race, as multiple polls show her with a strong lead and receiving over 50% of the vote,” DGA Spokesperson Izzi Levy told Fox News. “It’s clear that Mikie is gaining momentum and New Jersey voters are ready to reject Ciattarelli for a third time this November.”

Sherrill had plenty of friends on the campaign trail this weekend in prominent Democratic Party surrogates, including two of the party’s biggest names, Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Wes Moore of Maryland.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie (L) of New Jersey meets with Maryland Governor Wes Moore on the campaign trail on October 19, 2025 in Newark, NJ. (Mikie Sherrill campaign)

“From Maryland to New Jersey, we are united in one goal: to ensure every voice is heard at the ballot box,” Moore wrote on social media. “Proud to stand with @MikieSherrill and community members in Newark to get the vote in. Let’s finish strong this November!”

Former President Barack Obama also supported Sherrill and starred in the party’s nominee’s new ad.

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Even though Trump wasn’t on the ballot, he was prominent in the New Jersey gubernatorial election.

In the second and final debate two weeks ago, Sherrill claimed that his GOP opponent “has shown zero signs of opposing this president.” In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he showed every sign of it.

New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill (R) and Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli are on stage at the start of their second and final debate on October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, NJ. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News Digital)

When asked if he considered himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciattarelli said he was “part of the New Jersey movement.”

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When asked to rate the president’s performance so far in his second term, Ciattarelli said, “I would definitely give the president an A. I think he’s been right in everything he’s done.”

“I guess that tells us everything we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli supports. I’m giving him an F right now,” Sherrill responded, noting the high cost of living in New Jersey.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, Democratic gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, takes questions from reporters after the debate on October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

The race in New Jersey was rocked several weeks ago by a report that the National Personnel Records Center, a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration, had mistakenly released improperly redacted military personnel files containing private information such as Sherrill’s Social Security number to an ally of Ciattarelli.

But Sherrill’s military records show that because of a cheating scandal, the United States Naval Academy prevented him from attending its 1994 graduation ceremony.

Two weeks ago, the showdown shook again following Sherrill’s allegations that Ciattarelli was “complicit” with pharmaceutical companies in the opioid deaths of tens of thousands of New Jerseyans; Ciattarelli had pointed out that the medical publishing company he owns published content promoting the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment for chronic pain.

Last week, Trump detonated a political grenade in the race as he “ended up” billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is financing a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York.

Sherrill, who held a news conference Thursday at a major commuter rail station just a few miles from where the tunnels on one of the nation’s busiest train corridors are located, took aim at Trump and Ciattarelli, calling the project “critical.”

“I’m fighting for the people of New Jersey. He’s fighting to excuse Trump. This is unacceptable,” Sherrill charged.

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New Jersey traditionally elects a governor from the party that is not in power in the White House, which this year favored the Democrats.

But Garden State voters have not elected a governor from the same party in three consecutive elections in more than half a century, which would favor Republicans.

One of these political trends will collapse in next month’s elections.