AP Photo/Noah K. Murray
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) has won the New Jersey governor’s race, Decision Desk HQ projected Tuesday evening, defeating her Republican opponent, former state assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli.
Sherrill, who represents a suburban district in the northern part of the state, had been favored to win, although some political observers thought Ciattarelli might close the gap in the last weeks of the campaign.
Thus far, Tuesday’s elections are looking positive for Democrats, with former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) winning the governor’s race in Virginia and Zohran Mamdani heavily favored to win the New York City mayor’s race.
Sherrill had maintained a small but steady lead over Ciattarelli in the polls, ending with a Real Clear Politics Polling Average of 48.9% to the Republican’s 45.6%. Two of the most recent polls by Fox News and Quinnipiac in late October both showed Sherrill up 7 points.
The two gubernatorial contenders squared off in a fiery debate in October, with Sherrill accusing Ciattarelli of profiting from and contributing to the deaths of “tens of thousands of people” through his role producing education materials connected to the opioid industry, Ciattarelli vociferously denying the accusations and firing back at Sherrill for comments she made about Charlie Kirk and improper stock trades, plus squabbles over free speech issues and more.
Ciattarelli got President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the GOP primary, unlike the Republican candidate for Virginia governor, the state’s lieutenant governor, Winsome Sears. In June, he easily sailed to a primary victory with about 68% of the vote.
He has run for New Jersey governor twice before, coming in second in the 2017 GOP primary and winning the 2021 primary but losing to Democrat Phil Murphy in the general. Unfortunately for Ciattarelli, third time wasn’t the charm, and Decision Desk HQ and NewsNation called the race for Sherrill within a few minutes of the polls closing at 8 pm ET.
With 37% reporting, Decision Desk HQ had Sherrill getting 57.6% of the vote and Ciattarelli with 41.9%.
This is a breaking news story and has been updated.
