While many folks are just getting over presidential election fatigue, NJ is heading into an important gubernatorial election cycle. The Garden State is only one of two states, the other being Virginia, that hold a statewide election for Governor during what is considered an off year. However, to NJ residents this should be considered an important election cycle as the top of the ballot is the most significant state executive position to manage NJ, its financial prosperity, tax burden and standard of living.
In early June, NJ held its Primary Election. NJ Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, ran unopposed and will seek a second term. In a competitive Republican primary, Jack Ciattarelli emerged as the front runner with 50% of the vote over several ambitious challengers. Now the showdown begins between Governor Murphy and Jack Ciattarelli heading into the November 2 General Election.
Challenger Ciattarelli is a businessman serving as the owner and publisher of Galen Publishing, a medical publishing company. He also worked as a certified public accountant and served as an Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall University. He was a member of the State Legislature as an Assemblyman and also on the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders now known as Commissioners.
Governor Murphy is a former Goldman Saks executive, former Ambassador to Germany under the Obama Administration and Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee. In this first term as an elected official, he had high marks for his handling of the COVID 19 crisis.
As expected, the first post primary poll was just released by Fairleigh Dickinson University days after the primary and Governor Murphy has a 15% lead overall, 48 percent to 33 percent over the Republican. If you break it down, suburban voters have Murphy leading 47 percent to 34 percent, urban voters by 48.5 percent to 20 percent and in rural areas 48 percent to 31 percent. Interestingly, independent voters are supporting Ciattarelli 28 percent -23 percent.
Murphy’s job approval ratings are slipping as only 50 percent – 39 percent agree with the job he is doing.
The challenge for Ciattarelli is name recognition as a majority of voters have no opinion or have never heard of him. This could be a tough hill to climb so Jack, as he is being referred to on the campaign trail, has 5 months to make an impression and impact with voters.
Another hurdle for Ciattarelli is the current split in the Republican Party as Trump Republicans may not favor the more moderate Ciattarelli. If they decide to stay home Election Day, this creates a huge risk for a serious challenge by the Republican who will need the full support of his party and independent voters.
We continue to encourage members to use the resources available on our Election Center on the JerseyVotes website. This year, new election laws were passed and voters can vote by mail, vote in-person or vote up to 9 days early on machine for this upcoming November Election.
As both candidates hit the campaign trail and NJ emerges from this pandemic, we expect the race to tighten. At the moment, it appears Phil Murphy has the clear edge as the incumbent but New Jersey always has a way of making it interesting.