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  • Democrat Mikie Sherrill will be elected New Jersey governor, ABC News projects

    TRENTON, N.J. (WPVI) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill has been elected governor of New Jersey, according to an ABC News projection.

    Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and four-term member of Congress, defeated Jack Ciattarelli, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and quickly cast her victory late Tuesday as a referendum on the Republican president and some of his policies – from health care to immigration and the economy.

    “We here in New Jersey are bound to fight for a different future for our children,” Sherrill told her supporters gathered to celebrate her victory. “We see how clearly important liberty is. We know that no one in our great state is safe when our neighbors are targeted, ignoring the law and the Constitution.” She was joined on stage with her husband and children.

    Sherrill, 53, offers some reassurance for moderates within the Democratic Party as they navigate the path forward for next year’s midterms. A former prosecutor and military veteran, Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, the other Democrat who was elected as Virginia governor, embody a brand of centrist Democrats who aim to appeal to some conservatives while still aligning with some progressive causes. Sherrill campaigned on standing up to Trump and casting blame for voters’ concerns over the economy on his tariffs.

    WATCH FULL: Mikie Sherrill speaks to supporters after being projected to win NJ governor’s race

    Democrat Mikie Sherrill spoke to supporters late Tuesday night after ABC News and other outlets projected she would be elected governor of New Jersey.

    Ciattarelli called Sherrill to congratulate her on the results and did not mention Trump in his address.

    “It is my hope that Mikie Sherrill has heard us in terms of what we need to do to make New Jersey that place where everybody can once again feel that they can achieve their American dream,” Ciattarelli said.

    The start of voting on Tuesday was disrupted after officials in seven counties received e-mailed bomb threats later determined by law enforcement to be unfounded, said the state’s top election official, Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way. A judge granted a one-hour extension at some polling places after Democrats made a request for three schools that received the threats earlier Tuesday.

    Sherrill marks milestones

    She will be New Jersey’s second female governor, after Republican Christine Todd Whitman, who served between 1994 and 2001. Her victory also gives Democrats three straight gubernatorial election wins in New Jersey, the first time in six decades that either major party has achieved a three-peat.

    Ciattarelli lost his second straight general election after coming within a few points of defeating incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago.

    New Jersey’s odd-year race for governor, one of just two this year along with Virginia, often hinged on local issues such as property taxes. But the campaign also served as a potential gauge of national sentiment, especially how voters are reacting to the president’s second term and Democrats’ messaging ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

    New Jersey Democratic Gov. elect Mikie Sherrill speaks during an election night party in East Brunswick, N.J., Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.

    (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

    Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, praised Sherrill’s win as “a roadmap for how Democrats can overcome precedent and win in deeply competitive races when we stay laser-focused on our positive vision to address the biggest issues impacting families in their daily lives.”

    A victory against Trump

    In her speech on Tuesday, Sherrill said voters were concerned with attacks on their civil liberties as well as on their economic well-being. She said Trump is “ripping away” health care and targeting food benefits. Democratic governors across the country have been pushing back on those issues, as well as planned National Guard deployments in their states.

    New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill speaks during an election night party in East Brunswick, N.J., Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.

    New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill speaks during an election night party in East Brunswick, N.J., Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.

    (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

    Sherrill also criticized him for something that impacts New Jersey specifically: Canceling a project to expand train access to New York City. In the closing weeks of the campaign, she lambasted the president’s threat to cancel the Hudson River project.

    “Governors have never mattered more,” Sherrill said. “And in this state, I am determined to build prosperity for all of us.”

    From the Navy to the governor’s office

    Sherrill steps into the governorship role after serving four terms in the U.S. House. She won that post in 2018 during Trump’s first term in office, flipping a longtime GOP-held district in an election that saw Democrats sweep all but one of the state’s 12 House seats.

    During her campaign, Sherrill leaned hard into her credentials as a congresswoman and onetime prosecutor as well as her military service. But she also had to defend her Navy service record after a news report that she was not allowed to participate in her 1994 graduation ceremony from the U.S. Naval Academy commencement in connection with an academic cheating scandal at the school.

    Sherrill said the punishment was a result of not turning in some classmates, not because she herself had cheated. But she declined to release additional records that the Ciattarelli campaign said would shed more light on the issue.

    For her part, she accused Ciattarelli of profiting off the opioid crisis. He is the former owner of a medical publishing company that made continuing education materials for doctors, including some that discussed pain management and opioids. Sherrill called it “propaganda” for drug companies, something Ciattarelli denied.

    Promises for New Jersey
    Sherrill will inherit a state budget that swelled under Murphy, who delivered on promises to fund the public worker pension fund and a K-12 school aid formula after years of neglect under previous governors, by high income taxes on the wealthy. But there are also headwinds that include unfunded promises to continue a property tax relief program begun in the governor’s second term.

    Also on the ballot Tuesday were all 80 seats in the Assembly, which Democrats control with a 52-seat majority.

    New Jersey hasn’t supported a Republican for U.S. Senate or the White House in decades. The governor’s office, though, has often switched back and forth between the parties. The last time the same party prevailed in a third straight New Jersey election for governor was in 1961, when Richard Hughes won the race to succeed Gov. Robert Meyner. Both were Democrats.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.

    6abc Digital Staff

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  • What’s on the ballot in the first general election since Donald Trump became president

    One year after Donald Trump retook the White House and set into motion a dramatic expansion of executive power, the Republican president figures prominently in state and local elections being held Tuesday. Video above: House Speaker Mike Johnson talks about potential impact of Tuesday’s elections on the government shutdownThe results of those contests — the first general election of Trump’s second term — will be heralded by the victors as either a major repudiation or resounding stamp of approval of his second-term agenda. That’s especially true in high-profile races for Virginia and New Jersey governor, New York City mayor, and a California proposition to redraw its congressional district boundaries. More than half of the states will hold contests on Tuesday. Here’s a look at some of the major statewide and local races on the ballot: In New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli are the nominees to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Sherrill is a four-term U.S. representative and former Navy helicopter pilot. Ciattarelli is a former state Assemblyman backed by Trump. In 2021, Ciattarelli came within about 3 percentage points of toppling Murphy.In Virginia, Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger look to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. While Spanberger has made some efforts to focus on topics other than Trump in stump speeches, the president remained a major topic of conversation throughout the campaign, from comments Earle-Sears made about him in 2022 to some of his more polarizing policies, such as the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill tax and spending cut measure and the widespread dismissal of federal workers, many of whom live in northern Virginia.Trump was scheduled to participate in telephone rallies for the candidates on Monday night. As the only gubernatorial races held in the year following a presidential election, the contests have long served as the first major test of voter sentiment toward the party holding the White House. In every race for governor since 1973, one or both states have elected a governor from a party different than that of the sitting president. The race to lead the nation’s largest city features Democratic state legislator Zohran Mamdani, independent candidate and former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.Mamdani’s comfortable victory over Cuomo in the June primary generated excitement from the party’s more progressive wing and apprehension among the party establishment. Party leaders like Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries eventually endorsed the self-described democratic socialist months after he won the nomination.The winner will replace outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, who initially sought renomination as a Democrat. After losing the primary, Adams opted to run as an independent, but dropped out of the race in September and eventually endorsed Cuomo. In February, the Trump Justice Department asked a court to drop corruption charges against Adams because the case impeded Trump’s “immigration objectives.” Trump later said he’d like to see both Adams and Sliwa drop out of the race in an effort to defeat Mamdani. California voters will decide a statewide ballot measure that would enact a new congressional map that could flip as many as five Republican-held U.S. House seats to Democratic control. Proposition 50, championed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, is in response to a new Texas map that state Republicans enacted in August as part of Trump’s efforts to keep the U.S. House under Republican control in the 2026 midterms. The Texas plan, which could help Republicans flip five Democratic-held U.S. House seats, has sparked an escalating gerrymandering arms race among states to pass new maps outside of the regular once-a-decade schedule. Control of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will be at stake when voters cast Yes or No votes on whether to retain three justices from the high court’s 5-2 Democratic majority. Partisan control of the court could have major implications for the 2028 presidential race, since justices might be asked to rule on election disputes, as they did in 2020. Spending on Tuesday’s contests is on track to exceed $15 million as Republicans have campaigned to end the majority and Democrats have responded. If all three justices are ousted, a deadlock in the confirmation process to replace them could result in a court tied at 2-2. An election to fill any vacant seats for full 10-year terms would be held in 2027. Virginia attorney generalRepublican incumbent Jason Miyares seeks a second term against Democrat Jay Jones. Much of the fall campaign has focused on text messages suggesting violence against political rivals that Jones sent in 2022.Texas-18 Sixteen candidates hope to fill a vacant congressional seat previously held by the late Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner.State legislaturesControl of the Minnesota Senate and Virginia House of Delegates is at stake, while New Jersey Democrats defend their 52-28 General Assembly majority.Ballot measuresMaine voters will decide statewide questions on voting and a “red flag” law aimed at preventing gun violence. Texas’ 17 ballot measures include constitutional amendments on parental rights and limiting voting to U.S. citizens. Colorado and Washington also have statewide measures on the ballot.Mayors Detroit, Pittsburgh, Jersey City and Buffalo will elect new mayors, while incumbents in Atlanta, Minneapolis and Cincinnati seek another term.

    WASHINGTON —

    One year after Donald Trump retook the White House and set into motion a dramatic expansion of executive power, the Republican president figures prominently in state and local elections being held Tuesday.

    Video above: House Speaker Mike Johnson talks about potential impact of Tuesday’s elections on the government shutdown

    The results of those contests — the first general election of Trump’s second term — will be heralded by the victors as either a major repudiation or resounding stamp of approval of his second-term agenda. That’s especially true in high-profile races for Virginia and New Jersey governor, New York City mayor, and a California proposition to redraw its congressional district boundaries.

    More than half of the states will hold contests on Tuesday. Here’s a look at some of the major statewide and local races on the ballot:

    In New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli are the nominees to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Sherrill is a four-term U.S. representative and former Navy helicopter pilot. Ciattarelli is a former state Assemblyman backed by Trump. In 2021, Ciattarelli came within about 3 percentage points of toppling Murphy.

    In Virginia, Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger look to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. While Spanberger has made some efforts to focus on topics other than Trump in stump speeches, the president remained a major topic of conversation throughout the campaign, from comments Earle-Sears made about him in 2022 to some of his more polarizing policies, such as the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill tax and spending cut measure and the widespread dismissal of federal workers, many of whom live in northern Virginia.

    Trump was scheduled to participate in telephone rallies for the candidates on Monday night.

    As the only gubernatorial races held in the year following a presidential election, the contests have long served as the first major test of voter sentiment toward the party holding the White House. In every race for governor since 1973, one or both states have elected a governor from a party different than that of the sitting president.

    The race to lead the nation’s largest city features Democratic state legislator Zohran Mamdani, independent candidate and former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

    Mamdani’s comfortable victory over Cuomo in the June primary generated excitement from the party’s more progressive wing and apprehension among the party establishment. Party leaders like Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries eventually endorsed the self-described democratic socialist months after he won the nomination.

    The winner will replace outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, who initially sought renomination as a Democrat. After losing the primary, Adams opted to run as an independent, but dropped out of the race in September and eventually endorsed Cuomo. In February, the Trump Justice Department asked a court to drop corruption charges against Adams because the case impeded Trump’s “immigration objectives.” Trump later said he’d like to see both Adams and Sliwa drop out of the race in an effort to defeat Mamdani.

    California voters will decide a statewide ballot measure that would enact a new congressional map that could flip as many as five Republican-held U.S. House seats to Democratic control.

    Proposition 50, championed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, is in response to a new Texas map that state Republicans enacted in August as part of Trump’s efforts to keep the U.S. House under Republican control in the 2026 midterms. The Texas plan, which could help Republicans flip five Democratic-held U.S. House seats, has sparked an escalating gerrymandering arms race among states to pass new maps outside of the regular once-a-decade schedule.

    Control of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will be at stake when voters cast Yes or No votes on whether to retain three justices from the high court’s 5-2 Democratic majority.

    Partisan control of the court could have major implications for the 2028 presidential race, since justices might be asked to rule on election disputes, as they did in 2020. Spending on Tuesday’s contests is on track to exceed $15 million as Republicans have campaigned to end the majority and Democrats have responded.

    If all three justices are ousted, a deadlock in the confirmation process to replace them could result in a court tied at 2-2. An election to fill any vacant seats for full 10-year terms would be held in 2027.

    Virginia attorney general

    Republican incumbent Jason Miyares seeks a second term against Democrat Jay Jones. Much of the fall campaign has focused on text messages suggesting violence against political rivals that Jones sent in 2022.

    Texas-18

    Sixteen candidates hope to fill a vacant congressional seat previously held by the late Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner.

    State legislatures

    Control of the Minnesota Senate and Virginia House of Delegates is at stake, while New Jersey Democrats defend their 52-28 General Assembly majority.

    Ballot measures

    Maine voters will decide statewide questions on voting and a “red flag” law aimed at preventing gun violence. Texas’ 17 ballot measures include constitutional amendments on parental rights and limiting voting to U.S. citizens. Colorado and Washington also have statewide measures on the ballot.

    Mayors

    Detroit, Pittsburgh, Jersey City and Buffalo will elect new mayors, while incumbents in Atlanta, Minneapolis and Cincinnati seek another term.

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  • New Jersey’s Squeaker of a Gov Race Shows Just How Far Democrats Could Fall

    On a Wednesday in late October, the two candidates vying to become New Jersey’s next governor are wearing out the state’s Springsteen-sanctified highways in a tight race that’s being watched across the country as a harbinger of next year’s midterms—and as a referendum on President Donald Trump.

    In Red Bank, the Republican candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, is making the third of today’s five stops, part of his “Diner Tour,” though this location is more of an upscale bar and restaurant. The place is packed with a surprisingly boozy crowd for a midweek afternoon. Ciattarelli largely owes his status as the nominee to his loyalty to Trump. Yet the president’s approval rating in New Jersey is just 36%. So does Ciattarelli want Trump to come to the state and campaign in the final days of the general election? “He’s helping us,” Ciattarelli tells me noncommittally as he starts to edge away. I try again: Do you want him here in New Jersey? “We’re working in partnership with the White House to do whatever works for the campaign,” Ciattarelli says, turning his back and heading out the door.

    Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee, started the day in Atlantic City. Now the four-term congresswoman is up north, in Belleville, at a county Democratic dinner, with the standing ovation from the crowd echoing behind her as she ducks into an empty room. Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor, is a disciplined person, and at first she doggedly sticks to her talking points—until I ask about Trump. Then Sherrill leans back from the waist, grimaces, and makes a pained, guttural sound, something like, “Unnhhhh.” It’s spontaneous, funny, and evocative of how viscerally Sherrill feels about the stakes of her race.

    There are significant local issues shaping the face-off, including the climbing cost of electricity and tax hikes by the outgoing two-term Democratic governor, Phil Murphy. But New Jersey’s contest is one of only two gubernatorial off-year, statewide elections in 2025, and it is significantly closer than the other matchup in Virginia, where Democrat Abigail Spanberger appears to have a solid lead. Sherrill has been consistently ahead in most polls, but usually by around five or so points. David Wildstein, a longtime state political insider and the founder and editor of the New Jersey Globe—a political news site—thinks the race is even tighter than the public polling shows. “I just caution everybody how wrong Jersey polls have been lately,” he says. “A week before the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris was double digits ahead, and Trump came within six.”

    That recent history is one reason to believe things are close. Another is that New Jersey’s Democratic registration numbers have been bleeding for years, with independents growing to become the second-largest bloc. A longer-term headwind for Sherrill is that New Jersey voters have not awarded either the Democrats or Republicans a third straight term in the governor’s office since 1961.

    Chris Smith

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  • Jack Ciattarelli says he will sue Mikie Sherrill over accusations made during final debate

    NEW JERSEY (WABC) — Jack Ciattarelli, Republican nominee for New Jersey governor, announced that he plans to sue his Democrat counterpart, Mikie Sherrill, over what he calls an “inflammatory and irresponsible allegation” she made during Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate.

    The development comes following a heated debate where both candidates butted heads over issues including over the federal government shutdown, Sherrill’s military records, President Donald Trump and the high cost of living in the state.

    However, one of the most contentious moments came when Sherrill, a four-term congresswoman elected during Trump’s first midterm to a longtime GOP-held seat, accused Ciattarelli, running for governor for the third time, of profiting off the opioid crisis, leading to deaths.

    “You’re trying to divert from the fact you killed tens of thousands of people by printing your misinformation, your propaganda,” she charged.

    The candidates debate opioids, their backgrounds, and claims of legality.

    Ciattarelli denied the accusation – “shame on you,” he said, accusing his opponent of lying in an act of desperation – and responded by referencing the scandal surrounding Sherrill’s military records, saying, at least “I got to walk at my college graduation.”

    Now, the Republican’s campaign is hitting back with the lawsuit.

    Ciattarelli strategist Chris Russell said in a statement that Sherrill’s comments were a “clearly defamatory attack that shocked the moderators, press, and public alike.”

    “In a time where political violence and violent rhetoric are becoming all too prevalent, Mikie Sherrill baselessly and recklessly accusing a political opponent of mass murder in a televised debate crosses the line.”

    Ciattarelli’s campaign said they expect the lawsuit to be formally filed early next week in court.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    ———-

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