Election Day ends a bitter gubernatorial campaign that will determine the direction of New Jersey for the next four years. Polls show the race between Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11th) and Republican Jack Ciattarelli essentially tied and if it’s close, final results may not be known Tuesday.
Polls are open statewide from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. People must vote at their local polling location. Anyone with an outstanding mail-in ballot must get it postmarked today or place it in a ballot drop box by the time polls close in order for it to count.
More than 1.3 million New Jerseyans voted early, which could indicate a turnout higher than the typical 40% expected for a gubernatorial election. In the last governor’s election four years ago, about 2.65 million people voted.
In addition to Sherrill and Ciattarelli, also running for governor are Libertarian Vic Kaplan of Stanhope and Joanne Kuniansky of Union City as the Socialist Workers Party candidate.
Including money spent on primary campaigns, this is the most expensive governor’s race in state history, with more than $82 million spent as of Oct. 24 and $145 million expended on the June primary.
For the most part, candidates focused on affordability, taxes, utility payment increases and on Trump administration policies, along with personal attacks and a slew of negative ads.
In addition to the race for governor, the entire state Assembly is on the ballot, as well as one state Senate contest in the 35th district based in Paterson. It would take a Republican wave for the GOP to retake control of the Assembly for the first time in a quarter century, as Democrats currently hold 52 of the 80 seats. The Senate will remain in Democratic hands.
Voters are able to chose local, school board and county races throughout the state as well.
Most Election Day votes should be counted, but with close to 600,000 mail-in ballots cast, it’s possible not all of them will be tallied tonight. County officials are allowed to start processing mail-in ballots several days early and start counting them after polls open, but it’s up to these officials to decide whether to start counting early. Early votes tend to favor Democrats – about 290,000 more Democrats had voted early as of end of day Sunday than Republicans.
While New Jersey is considered a reliably Democratic state in federal elections, voters have not given one party more than two consecutive terms as governor since the mid-1960s. Last year, the GOP made inroads in the election, even though Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris won the state’s delegates.
NJ Spotlight News’ elections page has answers to questions voters might have, including how to find congressional districts and polling places. The page includes a voter’s guide to the governor’s race, as well as Assembly and Senate races, with candidate background information and responses to some key questions.
NJ Spotlight News plans to post the results online of all statewide races after the polls close. Election coverage is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. and streamed throughout the night on the NJ PBS website, NJ Spotlight News’ website and the NJ Spotlight News’ YouTube channel and air on NJ PBS stations.
