NJ-GOV: For Democratic primary voters, Mikie Sherrill was the consensus candidate
When the county organizational line was struck down last year, everyone in New Jersey wanted to know: how would it affect the 2025 gubernatorial election? Were all the rules about New Jersey primaries, in which county political parties have typically gotten to dictate the outcome, about to be thrown out the window?
The answer, in part, was yes; results in both parties’ gubernatorial primaries, not to mention a bevy of state legislative races, show an electorate that was more willing than ever to buck traditional power structures and vote for whichever candidates it liked best. But the net result was a victory by the candidate supported by a broad range of the party establishment, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), who may have won in part because, not in spite of, the end of the line.
Sherrill, who won a six-way primary with 34% of the vote, undoubtedly benefited from having party support across much of the state. But her county party endorsements only tell part of the story of how she won; results from across the state, including in counties that either stayed neutral or backed one of her opponents, show that Sherrill, who was far from the highest spender in the race, simply did a better job of winning over persuadable voters than any of her opponents. Presented with an even playing field, voters on net chose Sherrill.
Closest behind her was Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who activated a statewide coalition of Black voters the likes of which hadn’t been seen in years. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop tried to energize suburban progressives, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) ran from his base in Bergen County, New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller benefited from heavy spending from an affiliated super PAC, and former State Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) ran heavily on his South Jersey roots – but none came close to toppling Sherrill.
https://newjerseyglobe.com/governor/for-democratic-primary-voters-mikie-sherrill-was-the-consensus-candidate/