Trump Pick To Face Democrat Lawmaker In Key Governor’s Showdown

Jack Ciattarelli, the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, won the Republican nomination for New Jersey governor in a landslide Tuesday night — and is set to face Democratic New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the winner of her party’s primary, in November.

The race to lead the Garden State will be one of the first two gubernatorial contests of Trump’s second term and an early test to see if the 2024 gains Republicans made in New Jersey were a one-off or a sign of an ongoing rightward trend. The state notably shifted 1o percentage points to the GOP between 2020 and 2024, with Trump coming within 6 points of turning it red for the first time since 1988. (RELATED: Why On-And-Off Voters Who Backed Trump May Be GOP’s Midterm Silver Bullet)

With 19% of the vote in at 8:35 p.m. ET, Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman who was the 2021 Republican gubernatorial nominee, led the five-candidate field with just over two thirds — 67.7% — of support, more than 46 points ahead of his closest rival, radio host Bill Spadea who had 21.1%. Former State Sen. Jon Bramnick, an anti-Trump Republican, was in a distant third with 6.9% of support.

On the Democratic side, with 30% of the vote in at the same time, Sherrill came out on top with 34.6%, more than double the percentage of support of the second-place candidate, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who had 16.8%. Sherrill’s House colleague Democratic New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer had 13.5% of the vote, and Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, a self-described “unapologetic progressive” had 13.3%.

Trump gave Ciattarelli, whom he called a “WINNER,” his “Complete and Total Endorsement” via a Truth Social post in May, following months of speculation that the president would back a candidate in the GOP primary.

US President Donald Trump pump his fist as he boards Air Force One prior to departure from Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, on June 8, 2025, en route to Camp David. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

“Jack, who after getting to know and understand MAGA, has gone ALL IN, and is now 100% (PLUS!),” Trump wrote in the May post announcing his endorsement of Ciattarelli. He added that the now-nominee would “work closely with me and the Trump Administration to advance our America First Agenda” if elected governor.

Ciattarelli narrowly lost the 2021 gubernatorial election to incumbent Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. The Republican, nevertheless, exceeded expectations by keeping the race to a 3-point-margin.

Murphy is term-limited and cannot seek reelection this year.

Sherrill, meanwhile, has served in Congress since 2019, after flipping a largely affluent suburban district that had been held by Republicans for the previous 34 years. A lawyer and former Navy helicopter pilot, the lawmaker is a member of the New Democrat Coalition — a caucus of House Democrats widely described as being part of the party’s liberal establishment.

The congresswoman in July 2024 notably called for then-President Joe Biden to drop out of that year’s presidential race, joining a growing list of Democratic lawmakers who urged Biden to forgo reelection following his widely-panned June 27 debate performance against Trump. Biden eventually ended his bid over a week after Sherrill’s call.

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