The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has announced an initial $1.5 million investment in the New Jersey gubernatorial race, one of the only two such contests this year.
The DNC said in a release that the investment will be one of the largest and earliest it has made to New Jersey Democrats during an off-year election cycle.
The investment will help hire regional directors, organizers and other key staff, fund in-the-field voter contact efforts, test new tactics and tools to deliver the party’s message and expand the party’s reach with key groups that it lost ground with during the 2024 election, including Black, Latino and Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander voters.
“New Jerseyans deserve Democratic leaders who will fight back against Trump’s chaos and cruelty while delivering better days for their families,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “Through the tireless work of the New Jersey Democratic Coordinated Campaign, we’ll get it done.”
The race features a faceoff between Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former state Assembly member who was the GOP nominee for governor in 2021. He surprised observers by only losing to Gov. Phil Murphy (D) that year by about 3 points.
Along with President Trump’s better-than-expected performance in the Garden State last year, only losing to former Vice President Harris by 6 points, Republicans are hoping to pull off an upset in the governor’s race this year.
But Democrats are seeking to rally around Sherrill, a four-term House member, to fend off Ciattarelli.
Martin said Trump’s policies have caused higher costs and fewer job opportunities for New Jersey families and accused Ciattarelli and other Republicans of being “happy to betray the families they represent to further the agenda of Trump and his billionaire friends.”
“The DNC is proud to support through this investment Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill and New Jersey Democrats up and down the ballot,” he said. “Folks across the Garden State can count on the DNC’s support to ensure working families have champions in the governor’s mansion and legislature in 2026 and beyond.”
New Jersey Democratic Party Chair LeRoy Jones Jr. said in a statement that the state party is thankful to the DNC for the investment.
“New Jersey deserves a governor like Mikie who will fight to lower costs, protect our health care, and stand up to Donald Trump,” Jones said. “Today’s investment from the DNC will support the personnel and campaign tactics that will help send Ciattarelli packing and elect big majorities in the state house this fall.”
Not much independent public polling has been conducted on the race yet, but a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll released last week showed Sherrill ahead of Ciattarelli by 8 points.
The result of the race, along with Virginia’s gubernatorial race, will be seen as key indicators of the parties’ standing ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
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