Who is ahead in the NJ governor race on primary election day?

NEW JERSEY - Voters in New Jersey will have the chance to choose the Democrat and Republican candidates who will fight to succeed Phil Murphy as governor.

Along with the governor, Tuesday is also the primaries for the state General Assembly and the uncontested special primaries in state Senate District 35. 

Here's a look at each candidate for governor, who's ahead for each party and when we can expect results.

Track real-time election results here once polls close at 8 p.m.

NJ primary election candidates for governor

***Click on each name to jump to their section.

Democratic candidates for NJ governor

• Mikie Sherrill
• Josh Gottheimer
• Ras Baraka
• Steve Fulop
• Sean Spiller
• Steve Sweeney

Republican candidates for NJ governor

• Jack Ciattarelli
• Bill Spadea
• Jon Bramnick
• Mario Kranjac
• Justin Barbera

Who's winning in the NJ primary race? What polls say

Democratic primary

• Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey: According to a May survey, 28% of registered New Jersey Democratic voters said they would vote for U.S. Rep, Mikie Sherrill, as Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer each had 11% of Democratic responders' support. A month ahead of the primary, 24% of Dem voters said they were undecided.
• SurveyUSA: According to a poll conducted in May, voters showed slightly more favorable options for Sherrill compared to the rest of the field. Gottheimer was a close second.
• Fundraising numbers: Gottheimer has had a slight edge in fundraising, with about $9.1 million in contributions, followed by Sherrill and Fulop, each with about $8.9 million raised for their campaigns, according to the Associated Press.

Republican primary

• Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey: According to a May survey, 44% of registered New Jersey Republican voters said they would vote for former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, while 18% support talk radio host Bill Spadea. A month ahead of the primary, 23% of GOP voters said they were undecided.
• SurveyUSA: The poll conducted in May only asked voters about Ciattarelli, who "has favorability ratings of 40%-36% among the broader electorate and 63%-19% among Trump voters," accordin gto the New Jersey Globe.
• Trump endorsement: President Donald Trump endorsed Ciattarelli in May and campaigned for him in a virtual rally.

What they're saying:

"We've seen an increasing lead for Mikie Sherrill in public pre-election polling throughout the past few months," Ashley Koning, director of Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University, told FOX 5 NY's Morgan McKay on Politics Unusual. "But I would still say that potentially it may be almost anyone's game on the Democratic side, still, because again, we're talking about a primary election where these are low engagement, low turnout and we don't know exactly who is necessarily going to turn out to vote come Election Day."

She said that Fulop and Baraka are also running "fierce campaigns."

Turning to the Republican side, Koning calls Ciattarelli the "presumed frontrunner."

"Yeah, he's the presumed frontrunner, and he's been leading by double digits for months now in any of the public pre-election polling," Koning said. "Again, you know, New Jersey is, we get pinged as this blue state because of our voting at a federal level since probably around the Clinton era, but let's remember that New Jersey is actually much more purple under the hood."

How big of a role did President Trump play in the race?

"So Trump is going to loom large over this race very much so," Koning said. "When we pulled this 46% of Republican registered voters in New Jersey told us that an endorsement from the president would make them more likely to go for that candidate."

Who is running for governor in New Jersey?

Dig deeper:

Nearly a dozen candidates are competing in New Jersey for the chance to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. 

NJ Democratic governor candidates

U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill

Sherrill is a former federal prosecutor and U.S. Navy helicopter pilot. She has represented the 11th District, which includes parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties, since her 2018 election.

She has since won reelection three times.

U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer

Gottheimer, a former speechwriter for Bill Clinton and adviser to the head of the Federal Communications Commission, toppled conservative Republican Rep. Scott Garrett in 2016.

Gottheimer represents the state’s 5th Congressional District, which spans parts of Bergen, Passaic and Sussex counties.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka 

Baraka is the current mayor of Newark. First elected mayor in 2014, Baraka has spent over a decade leading Newark through economic and social changes, including reductions in crime and homelessness, and improvements in infrastructure. 

Most recently, he was arrested outside the Delaney Hall federal immigration detention center while protesting its opening. 

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop

Fulop, the third-term Democratic mayor of the state’s second-biggest city, is a former Marine who served in Iraq after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Back in January, Fulop floated the idea of a ‘reverse congestion pricing’ toll in an appearance on Good Day New York. Fulop suggested New Jersey could implement similar fees, capitalizing on the state's opportunities for cross-border tolling.

Teachers' union president Sean Spiller

Spiller is the president of the New Jersey Education Association and former mayor of Montclair.

Spiller began as a science teacher before rising through the ranks of the New Jersey Education Association, becoming its president in 2021 after eight years on the executive board.

Former state Senate president Steve Sweeney

Sweeney has centered his gubernatorial campaign on reforming New Jersey’s budget process and addressing the state’s housing challenges.

With 20 years of public office experience, including more than a decade as Senate president, Sweeney is banking on his experience and commitment to tackling systemic issues.

NJ Republican governor candidates

Former state assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli

Ciattarelli, a Somerville native and business founder, is making another run for New Jersey governor. This time, he has the backing of President Trump.

Ciattarelli nearly unseated Murphy back in 2021 and finished second in the 2017 GOP primary. This time, he says he is focused on tackling New Jersey’s affordability crisis, citing rising taxes, tolls, and fees.

Conservative talk radio host Bill Spadea

Spadea is an entrepreneur and host of the Bill Spadea Show on NJ101.5 FM.

Spadea says he's focused on New Jersey’s budget and ending the illegal immigration crisis, which he claims costs taxpayers too much. 

State Senator Jon Bramnick

Bramnick says he wants to create a government efficiency panel with private residents and business leaders to identify waste and areas for improvement.

 He's been in the State Senate since 2022 and was an Assemblyman for nearly two decades prior from 2003-2021.

Former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac

Kranjac is the former mayor of Englewood Cliffs, serving from 2016 to 2024. He calls himself a political outsider determined to change Trenton. Since leaving office, he has continued as a corporate attorney and venture capitalist.

Real estate developer Justin Barbera

Barbera is a contractor and real estate developer from Burlington County. A Marlton native, Barbera’s career includes work as a general contractor, insurance claim mitigator, freight carrier, and owner-operator of a CDL A flatbed and commercial snow service operation. 

When can we expect election results?

By the numbers:

In the 2024 presidential election in New Jersey, the first results the AP reported came from Hudson County at 8:01 p.m. ET, one minute after polls closed. Vote tabulation ended for the night at 4:21 a.m. ET in Burlington County with about 95% of votes counted.

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