The New Jersey gubernatorial race has been called for Democrat Mikie Sherrill.
“New Jersey, it is the honor of my life to earn your trust to become this great state’s 57th Governor. I promise to listen, lead with courage, and never forget who I serve,” Sherrill posted to X.
New Jersey, it is the honor of my life to earn your trust to become this great state’s 57th Governor.
I promise to listen, lead with courage, and never forget who I serve. pic.twitter.com/gipM0fWnqF
— Mikie Sherrill (@MikieSherrill) November 5, 2025
Sherrill overtook Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who also faced off against outgoing Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021 and narrowly lost.
The polls closed at 8 p.m. local time. DecisionDesk HQ called the election at 8:13 p.m. with about 25% of the vote counted. Fox News and the Associated Press called the race with about 60% of the vote counted, at around 9:30 p.m, with Sherrill up 15 points on Ciattarelli.
Decision Desk HQ projects Mikie Sherrill to win the New Jersey Governor election.#DecisionMade: 8:13 pm ET
Follow live results on our website. pic.twitter.com/67CvF5ZM35
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 5, 2025
Ciattarelli continued to gain momentum in the last weeks of the race, but was unable to best Sherrill. Heading into Election Day, registered Democrats cast nearly 300,000 more ballots than registered Republicans by way of early voting. The surplus was apparently too much for Ciattarelli to overcome on Tuesday, a day riddled with bomb threat hoaxes at polling places across the state that caused confusion and delays for voters.
Notably, there are roughly 850,000 more registered Democrats in New Jersey than registered Republicans.
Sherrill’s campaign largely tied Ciattarelli to President Donald Trump, arguing that she’d shield residents from Trump’s policies. The Democrat had former President Barack Obama campaign for her over the weekend. Obama similarly made the campaign about Trump.
Ciattarelli, who was endorsed by the president, ran to repeal New Jersey’s so-called sanctuary state measures, which work to protect illegal immigrants from deportation. He also ran to block males from female sports, boost parental rights, lower property taxes and energy bills, and end soft-on-crime policies like cashless bail.