Ciattarelli, Sherrill confident on Election Day in possible photo finish gubernatorial election
MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Both major party candidates in New Jersey's competitive and raucous race for governor are eyeing victory as voters head to the polls on Election Day."We've seen, you...
By Fox News · Fox News
MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Both major party candidates in New Jersey 's competitive and raucous race for governor are eyeing victory as voters head to the polls on Election Day. "We've seen, you know, rallies with thousands of people. The early vote, the vote by mail is very, very good," Democratic nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill told reporters after casting her ballot at a school in this northern New Jersey township. "I think I'm going to do quite well today." Republican rival Jack Ciattarelli, who is making his third straight bid for governor and who came close to upsetting Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, was confident. "If we replicate or do better than we did back in '21 with the Election Day voting, we're gonna be celebrating a victory," Ciattarelli said Monday night in an appearance on Fox News' "Hannity." LIVE UPDATES: ELECTION DAY 2025 And at a rally in Neptune City, New Jersey, a couple of hours earlier, Ciattarelli told supporters: "I got really great news. In about 28 hours, we're declaring victory, we're winning this race." New Jersey, along with Virginia, are the only two states to hold contests for governor in the year after a presidential election. Their gubernatorial races typically receive outsized national attention and are seen as a key barometer ahead of next year's midterms, when the GOP will be defending its slim House and Senate majorities. And this year they're seen as the first major ballot box test of President Donald Trump 's unprecedented agenda. TRUMP NOT ON BALLOT BUT LOOMS LARGE OVER 2025 ELECTIONS In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite a GOP surge in registration this decade, Ciattarelli appeared to be closing the gap in recent weeks with Sherrill. Both candidates touted the early in-person and vote-by-mail numbers ahead of Election Day . "We've surpassed the firewall we wanted to put in place today, the blue firewall, which is, the numbers are looking good. So, we just are going to run through the t…