Click HERE to download a high-resolution version of the New Jersey Globe 2025 Voter’s Guide.
Click HERE for a lower-resolution version.
Years of planning, canvassing, polling, campaigning, interviewing, strategizing, and agonizing have led us to this: the moment New Jersey elects its next governor.
It wasn’t an easy path for either nominee, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill for the Democrats and former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli for the Republicans. Both had to overcome competitive primaries against candidates running to their left and their right, and both have spent the five months of the general election campaign slugging it out over taxes, affordable housing, immigration, the Gateway Tunnel, and much more.
Polls have consistently shown Sherrill in the lead, though usually not by a huge margin, and Democrats remain scared of their own shadow after 2021’s polling miss. National Democrats and Republicans alike are acting like the race is extremely tight, and with only a handful of elections nationwide to focus on this year, they’ve poured in tens of millions of dollars to aid the already well-funded Sherrill and Ciattarelli.
Voters will also decide the makeup of the state legislature, with all 80 seats in the Assembly (and one seat in the Senate) on the ballot. Neither party is expecting to make huge gains, but a few districts like the 3rd, 8th, and 21st are universally seen as competitive – and if one of the gubernatorial candidates has a great night, their coattails could produce some surprises.
The bigger changes coming to the legislature, though, may be a result of June’s primary elections, the first legislative elections in decades that didn’t feature county-line ballots assisting incumbents and other party-backed candidates. At least four incoming Democratic legislators won without receiving party support, and a number of incumbents only narrowly survived primary challenges, upending the comfortable Trenton status quo.
The last two years, starting with the indictment of Senator Bob Menendez in September 2023, have been a period of great change in New Jersey, one where old power structures have fallen and new ones have begun to rise in their place. On November 4, voters will choose which path they want the state to go down next.
Whatever they decide, we’ll be sure to tell you all about it. Happy voting.
Once again, click HERE to download a high-resolution version of the guide. (And reach out to [email protected] or [email protected] if you spot any mistakes.)
2025 Voter’s Guide v3 – hires
