Ciatarelli closes the gap with Sherrill in the New Jersey gubernatorial race

With the November election just 15 days away, the nation’s only Republican candidate Two races for governor This year is confident.

“The energy across the state is electric. The reception has been great in minority communities, and with the support of prominent Democrats, that tells you everything you need to know about the people of New Jersey. Change is needed. And this is the election. Change,” Jack Citarelli said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” this weekend.

Ciattarelli, who is making his third straight run for governor of the Garden State and nearly upset Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, has good reason to be optimistic he can win in blue-leaning New Jersey.

In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite GOP enrollment gains this decade, three polls released last week — from Fox News, Quinnipiac University and Fairleigh Dickinson University — indicated Ciatarelli is closing the gap with the Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

Political bomb Trump detonates in New Jersey gubernatorial showdown

Jack Ciatarelli, Republican candidate for governor in New Jersey, Oct. 15. 2025 speaking to supporters at a dinner in Saddle Brook, NJ. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

The Fox News poll 10 – 14 Oct. Held, Sherrill has 50% support among likely voters, with Ciattarelli at 45%. Sherrill’s 5-point advantage dropped from an 8-point lead in a Fox News September poll in New Jersey.

New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns in the year after a presidential election, and the contests traditionally draw wide attention and are seen as political barometers ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

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And this year, they’re being seen as somewhat of a ballot-box referendum on the president By Donald Trump An unprecedented and combustible second-term agenda.

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

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

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

Ciattarelli, Interviewed by Fox News Digital Last week, Bayonne, of New Jersey, reported here that he “made big gains” in 2021 in “Hudson County and Passaic County,” two longtime Democratic strongholds.

“And the president did very well in the same county in ’24. And if you take a look at who’s supporting me, including some prominent Democrats in Hudson County, people want change,” Ciatarelli emphasized.

But Ciatarelli also aims to energize the Republican base voters in what is likely to be a low-turnout election.

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

Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy of Ohio headlines a campaign event for New Jersey GOP nominee Gov. Jack Ciatarelli on October 15, 2025, in Saddle Brook, NJ. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

And last week, Ciatarelli was joined by a jam-packed dinner stop in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, Vivek RamaswamyThe MAGA rockstar who is running for governor next year in his home state of Ohio.

Ramaswamy, a billionaire biotech entrepreneur and conservative commentator who pushed an “America First 2.0” platform before ending his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and becoming one of Trump’s top supporters and surrogates, said. Fox News Digital Ciatarelli’s victory this year “sets the table for even bigger and more decisive victories next year in places like Ohio.”

Only on Fox: Ramaswamy says GOP victory in 2025 election ‘sets table’ for big victory in 2026

Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, added to the concern, commenting on why Republicans are excited about the New Jersey showdown.

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

But the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) predicts a Sherrill victory in two weeks.

“With her strong lead in numerous polls and more than 50% of the vote, Mickey Sherrill is emerging to complete the momentum in this incredibly competitive race,” DGA spokeswoman Izzy Levy told Fox News. “It’s clear that Mickey has the momentum and that New Jersey voters are all-in to reject Ciatarelli for a third term this November.”

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

New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mickey, left, is on the campaign trail with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Oct. 19, 2025, in Newark, NJ. (Mickey Sherrill campaign)

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

And former President Barack Obama endorsed Sherrill and starred in a new ad for the party’s nominee.

CIATTARELLI welcomed Trump’s help in the final stages of the New Jersey governor’s race

While Trump is not on the ballot, he is heavily featured in New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.

In the second and final debate two weeks ago, Sherrill charged that her GOP opponent “has shown zero signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he’s shown every sign of being one.”

New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Republican Mickey Sherrill, right, and Republican candidate Jack Ciatarelli, at the start of their second and final debate, on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News Digital)

Asked if he considers himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciatarelli said he is “part of the New Jersey movement.”

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Asked to grade the president’s performance so far in his second term, Ciatarelli said, “I would definitely give the president an A. I think he’s been right about everything he’s been doing.”

“I think that says everything we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli is supporting. I give him an F right now,” Sherrill responded, as she pointed to New Jersey’s high standard of living.

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

The race in New Jersey was rocked a few weeks ago by reports that the National Personnel Records Center, an arm of the National Archives and Records Administration, accidentally released Sherrill’s redacted military personnel files, which included private information such as her Social Security number, to a Ciattarelli associate.

But Sherrill’s military records indicate that the United States Naval Academy barred her from attending the 1994 graduation.

The showdown hit again two weeks ago after Sherrill accused pharmaceutical companies of being “complicit” in the opioid deaths of thousands of New Jerseyans, as she pointed to a medical publishing company he owns that promotes the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment.

Last week, Trump dropped a political hand grenade in the race, as he “ended” billions of federal dollars for the Gateway project, which is funding a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York.

Sherrill, who was holding a news conference Thursday at a major commuter rail station just a few miles from the site of the tunnels in the nation’s busiest train corridor, called the project “serious” as he took aim at Trump and Ciatarelli.

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

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New Jersey traditionally elects a governor from the party out of power in the White House, which this year is in favor of the Democrats.

But Garden State voters haven’t elected a governor of the same party in three consecutive elections in more than a century and a half, which would favor Republicans.

One of those political trends is going to make a big splash in next month’s elections.