Passaic County returned to familiar political patterns in 2025, as Democrats secured wide margins across the ballot in the wake of a rare Republican showing in the 2024 presidential race.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who represents parts of Passaic County in Congress, carried the entire county with 57.3% of the vote in the governor’s race. Set to resign from her federal role in mid-November to take her new job in 2026, Sherrill ultimately finished roughly 15 points ahead of her Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli. Democrats also secured both county commissioner seats and posted gains in several municipalities, reasserting a dominance that had shaped local elections for more than a decade.
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The contrast with 2024 was sharp and likely singular, according to county election records. President Donald J. Trump narrowly carried the county with 49.7% of the presidential vote, but Democrats won every other major race on the same ballot and did it again in 2025.
Andy Kim captured the U.S. Senate seat with 49.3%, Sheriff Thomas Adamo won reelection with 54.4%, and all three Democratic county commissioner candidates secured their seats, while collecting 51.4% of all votes. That split, combined with 2025’s results, seemingly shows a specific preference at the top of the GOP ticket for Trump.
Many trends in 2025 remain unchanged. Republican strength remains concentrated in affluent suburban municipalities such as Totowa and Wayne and in northern towns including West Milford and Wanaque. Paterson, with more than 30% of the county’s population, still serves as the Democratic anchor.
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The most apparent difference between the 2024 and 2025 elections was turnout. In 2024, about 205,420 ballots were cast from Passaic County’s 339,508 registered voters, a 60.5% turnout rate. The 2025 gubernatorial election drew roughly 147,932 voters, or 43.7%, despite almost unchanged registration totals. The effect of that decline was especially pronounced on the Republican end of the tally.
Trump received 100,955 votes in the county in 2024, but Ciattarelli drew only about 61,100, a nearly 40,000 vote difference. Sherrill, on the other hand, received 83,567 votes. That was only about 11,500 fewer than Harris’s 95,155 votes in 2024. The numbers hint that a large portion of the 2024 Republican, or Trump-specific, vote did not return to support Ciattarelli. Trump’s magnetism may not have rubbed off on Ciattarelli.
|
Candidate |
2024 Votes |
2025 Votes |
Difference (Drop-Off) |
|
Trump/Ciattarelli (GOP) |
100,955 |
61,115 |
-39,840 |
|
Harris/Sherrill (DEM) |
95,155 |
83,567 |
-11,588 |
The smaller electorate seen in 2025, for the most part, reset county voting trends to historical norms.
Democratic strength in urban centers and inner suburbs outweighed Republican advantages in western and northern suburbs. Paterson’s Democratic base proved decisive, contributing nearly one-quarter of all votes Sherrill received in the county. She won roughly 84.7% of the vote in Paterson. In 2024, Kamala Harris won 78.4% of the city’s vote and Kim took 77.2%.
Still, even in towns with a powerful GOP presence, Democrats made strides in 2025.
In Clifton, the city swung from a narrow Republican win in 2024 to a decisive Democratic victory in 2025. Sherrill received 60.9% of the two-party vote compared with Ciattarelli’s 38.1%. Trump won the presidential vote in Clifton with 50.1%, while Andy Kim carried the Senate race with 50.7%.
Hawthorne, which supported both Trump and GOP Senate nominee Curtis Bashaw, flipped for the gubernatorial race. Sherrill captured 52% of the vote to Ciattarelli’s 47.4%.
Even in areas where Republicans maintained control, the margins were smaller.
Sticker given out on Oct. 25, 2025 in River Vale to early in-person voters.
Wayne remained the county’s core Republican stronghold, giving Ciattarelli 53% of the vote. Though that was roughly a percentage point less than Bashaw and five fewer than Trump. Ringwood likewise remained Republican by a slim 51.5% to 47.9% margin and Ciattarelli is also expected to win in Pompton Lakes by a margin expected to be less than 100 votes.
At the municipal level, the impacts of national and state politics had little impact.
Even as the Hawthorne voters backed Sherrill, they reelected Republican incumbent Mayor John V. Lane with 54.7% of the vote. All three seats in Hawthorne also went to Republicans, with the top finisher receiving 17.7%. Wayne Mayor Christopher P. Vergano won reelection with 56.8%, and Republicans swept all three council-at-large seats with a combined 55.5% vote share, while Ciattarelli carried Wayne by just 6.8 points in the governor’s race.
Hawthorne was not alone in splitting votes between the state-level Governor’s race and the local municipal race in 2025. While Hawthorne voters leaned Democratic at the state level, Bloomingdale voters supported Ciattarelli for governor by a slim margin while electing Democrats locally.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Here’s a closer look at Passaic County’s 2025 election results
