Democrats flip 6 N.J. counties back to blue, cementing Sherrill’s sweep for governor
Six counties that voted for Republican Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election have turned blue, according to early election results, helping cement Democrat Mikie Sherrill’s victory for New Jersey governor. Five of those counties also supported Republican Jack Ciattarelli in the 2021 gubernatorial election.
Gloucester, Cumberland, Atlantic, Morris, Passaic and Hunterdon are all supporting Sherill as of 10 p.m. on election night, according to Associated Press voting results. (See the voting history of the six counties in the table below.)
The Associated Press called the race for Sherrill, a Morris County lawmaker, around 9:30 p.m. on election night. She will be the second woman and the first Democratic woman to lead New Jersey.
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Current Gov. Phil Murphy, a term-limited Democrat, beat Ciattarelli in 2021 by just 3.22%. Sherrill currently has a 13.4% lead, according to AP results, with 82% of the votes counted.
The votes won’t be certified until later in November and Sherrill’s margin of victory will likely change.
Sherrill and Ciattarelli were deadlocked heading into Election Day, according to several polls released just days before the election.
Five counties that supported Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 turned to Trump last year: Passaic, Morris, Gloucester, Cumberland and Atlantic. (Election delegates are awarded based on the overall statewide vote.)
New Jersey still voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in the 2024 election, but by the smallest margin in decades. Vice President Kamala Harris won New Jersey by 6 percentage points, the smallest margin for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1992.
Republican voter registration has increased across New Jersey over the past four years, despite the fact that the overall number of registered voters remains relatively stagnant. GOP membership increased 10% between the start of Gov. Phil Murphy’s second term and October 2025.
But Democrats maintain a significant lead in registration, and that lead was insurmountable for Ciattarelli.
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