Poll: Ciattarelli and Sherrill neck-and-neck in N.J. Governor Race

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New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli greets supporters in a hotel ballroom at his watch party on November 02, 2021 in Bridgewater, New Jersey. The race between Ciattarelli and his Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy was too close to call by the end of the night. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) / Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) speaks during an event with House Democrats and other climate activists to highlight the aspects of the Build Back Better Act that focus on combating climate change in the Rayburn Room at the U.S. Capitol on September 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Build Back Better Act, also known as the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill, includes funding for public transit, electric vehicles, removal of lead plumbing pipes, the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps and other efforts to reduce climate change. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)(L) New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli greets supporters at his watch party on November 02, 2021, in Bridgewater, New Jersey. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) / (R) Rep. Mikie Sherrill speaks about the Build Back Better Act in the Rayburn Room at the U.S. Capitol on September 28, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Katherine Mosack and Brooke Mallory
12:05 PM – Friday, September 26, 2025

A new poll shows Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill are currently tied in the race for New Jersey governor.

A recent Emerson College/PIX11/The Hill poll, released on Thursday, indicated that Democrat candidate Mikie Sherrill and Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli are tied at 43% each in the New Jersey gubernatorial race — with 11% of voters undecided.

The poll is the first widely recognized survey to compare the two candidates and the first in which Sherrill does not lead in either the Democrat primary or the general election.

“Women break for Sherrill by ten points, 46% to 36%, while men break for Ciattarelli by 12 points, 51% to 39%. Notably, women are over twice as likely to be undecided at 15% compared to 6% of men,” said Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling.

Ciattarelli (R-N.J.) served as a New Jersey state representative from 2012 to 2018, and he is now making his third run for governor. A certified public accountant, he previously owned a medical publishing company, which he sold in 2017.

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Sherrill (D-N.J.) graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1994 and served nearly a decade on active duty in the U.S. Navy. After leaving the service in 2003, she earned a law degree from Georgetown University and practiced law before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018.

Sherrill has been criticized for a significant increase in her net worth since taking office in Congress. Reports indicate her net worth grew from a maximum of $4.3 million in 2019 to over $11.3 million in 2025, largely due to stock transactions connected to her husband, a UBS executive. Critics of hers argue that she profited from insider knowledge — particularly from stock sales made early in the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Sherrill denies trading individual stocks and attributes transactions to her husband’s compensation, according to the New York Post.

In the poll, she captured 56% of voters aged 18 to 29, while Ciattarelli received 18% in the same demographic. The results reflect a clear generational divide, with the Democrat candidate performing stronger among younger voters and the Republican candidate faring better with older voters.

“Both President Trump and [New Jersey] Governor [Phil] Murphy are underwater among Jersey voters. Sherrill is trying to tie Ciattarelli to Trump, at the national level, and Ciattarelli is trying to tie Sherrill to Murphy and the cost of living at the state level,” Kimball added.

Trump responded to the poll on Truth Social, endorsing Ciattarelli.

New Jersey has traditionally leaned Democrat, but the party has seen declining support in recent years. The state backed Hillary Clinton by 14 points in 2016 and Joe Biden by 16 points in 2020, yet supported Kamala Harris by only about six points.

Shifts in voter allegiance have been influenced by high-profile national events, including last year’s assassination attempt on President Trump, with another potential wave of disaffection emerging after the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk. Between 2020 and 2024, the Democrats lost 2.1 million registered voters, while Republicans gained 2.4 million, signaling a significant realignment in the state’s electorate.

The poll surveyed 935 possible voters from September 22nd to September 23rd, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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