New Jersey's Early Voting Numbers Give Mikie Sherrill an Edge in Gubernatorial Race
In the first few days of early in-person voting for New Jersey's closely watched gubernatorial election, voter turnout has surged, with over 160,000 voters casting their ballots. According to the state's Division of Elections, Democrats are outpacing Republicans by approximately 5,000 votes, a significant advantage for Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill.
Sherrill's campaign manager Alex Ball stated that she is "ready to bring this home" after the latest early-voting tallies, which show her leading Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli. While some polls still indicate a narrow lead between the two candidates, the early in-person voting numbers suggest that Sherrill may be building momentum.
In comparison to 2021's gubernatorial election, when the state first introduced early in-person voting, voter turnout has increased significantly this year. Democrats have also seen an uptick in mail-in ballots, with registered Democrats returning over 200,000 more mail-in ballots than registered Republicans.
The race between Sherrill and Ciattarelli is being closely watched as a national bellwether before next year's congressional elections. While early-voting numbers can shift as Election Day draws closer, experts say that if Sherrill's lead holds, Ciattarelli would need an unprecedented surge in Election Day turnout to overtake her.
"I don't think there's anything in the public polling that suggests a big defection of Democrats or Republicans," said Dan Cassino, professor of government and politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University. "We don't see any evidence of that."
However, concerns have been raised about the integrity of the election process in Passaic County, where the Republican Party has accused the county's Board of Elections of "fraud" due to a "sordid history" of vote-by-mail issues. The Department of Justice announced this week that it would send federal monitors to Passaic County on Election Day, citing Sena's request.
As early-voting numbers continue to roll in, one thing is clear: the outcome of New Jersey's gubernatorial election will be closely watched and influenced by these early tallies.
In the first few days of early in-person voting for New Jersey's closely watched gubernatorial election, voter turnout has surged, with over 160,000 voters casting their ballots. According to the state's Division of Elections, Democrats are outpacing Republicans by approximately 5,000 votes, a significant advantage for Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill.
Sherrill's campaign manager Alex Ball stated that she is "ready to bring this home" after the latest early-voting tallies, which show her leading Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli. While some polls still indicate a narrow lead between the two candidates, the early in-person voting numbers suggest that Sherrill may be building momentum.
In comparison to 2021's gubernatorial election, when the state first introduced early in-person voting, voter turnout has increased significantly this year. Democrats have also seen an uptick in mail-in ballots, with registered Democrats returning over 200,000 more mail-in ballots than registered Republicans.
The race between Sherrill and Ciattarelli is being closely watched as a national bellwether before next year's congressional elections. While early-voting numbers can shift as Election Day draws closer, experts say that if Sherrill's lead holds, Ciattarelli would need an unprecedented surge in Election Day turnout to overtake her.
"I don't think there's anything in the public polling that suggests a big defection of Democrats or Republicans," said Dan Cassino, professor of government and politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University. "We don't see any evidence of that."
However, concerns have been raised about the integrity of the election process in Passaic County, where the Republican Party has accused the county's Board of Elections of "fraud" due to a "sordid history" of vote-by-mail issues. The Department of Justice announced this week that it would send federal monitors to Passaic County on Election Day, citing Sena's request.
As early-voting numbers continue to roll in, one thing is clear: the outcome of New Jersey's gubernatorial election will be closely watched and influenced by these early tallies.
. It's not a bad thing that Republicans are struggling to keep up with her momentum, it just means they need to step their game up if they want to win. The fact that there have been issues in Passaic County doesn't necessarily mean the election is rigged, but more like some counties are struggling to get everything sorted out 
. Let's see how this plays out on Election Day and what kind of surprises we might get! 
And what's with the Department of Justice sending monitors to Passaic County? Isn't that kinda a big deal? 
. And you know what's even crazier? The impact of mail-in ballots! It's like, if people are actually using this system, it could totally change the game 
.
. I mean, you don't want to see any shenanigans going on with the election process. The DOJ stepping in is definitely a good move 
.
.
it's crazy how all those mail-in ballots are skewsing in favor of democrats too, that's just suspicious, right? and now we got the DOJ sendin' federal monitors to Passaic County, what's the real reason behind that? are they tryin' to cover somethin' up or somethin'? I don't buy it, something ain't right about this whole thing 
Mikie Sherrill is on fire!!! 
gotta keep an eye on that Passaic County drama tho, hope everything gets sorted out before election day 
i mean dont get me wrong jack ciattarelli has his fans but atm sherrill's got the momentum on her side 
the republican party needs to step their game up in passaic county if they wanna even have a shot
It sounds like Sherrill might be ahead, but we'll have to wait and see how everything shakes out on Election Day. I just hope that all the early voting numbers are accurate and don't end up affecting anyone's outcome unfairly 
... my kid is going to ask me about this for weeks, so here we go 
.
. It's great to see people exercising their right to vote and making a difference in the state's governance. As a parent, it's also good to know that our kids are learning about civic engagement and taking responsibility for their community 
. Mikie Sherrill seems like a great candidate too, and I'm hoping she'll bring some positive change to New Jersey 
. The election process might have its issues, but at least they're addressing concerns in Passaic County 