The total number of voters in New Jersey who voted early, mailed in or cast a ballot in New Jersey today, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, for the NJ governor election between Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli could surpass voter turnout from the 2021 governor election.
New Jersey has over 365,000 more registered voters in the state for this year’s election compared to the 2021 governor election, when Gov. Phil Murphy won his second term. And of those registered to vote this year, there are tens of thousands more Republicans registered, compared to a significant drop in the number of Democrats registered to vote, according to NJ Division of Elections data.
While it’s considered an “off year” for elections, New Jersey has a hotly contested race that could turn a “red” tide in New Jersey should Republican Ciattarelli win over Sherrill, despite the Democrat having a lead in the latest election polls today.
Historically, U.S. presidential elections draw the highest number of voters: There was a 64% turnout rate in 2024, the second highest ever, per Pew Research. In New Jersey, 65% of registered voters cast a ballot in 2024, and while the state remains blue, it tightened its political gap when 20% of North Jersey counties flipped red. This sets up what could be an interesting tide shift in NJ today, should Ciattarelli win against Sherrill.
So how many people will vote — or how many should vote — in New Jersey today? And historically, how did NJ vote? Here’s what to know.
How many registered voters in NJ?
The voter turnout for the 2025 NJ governor election between Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli could surpass the number of ballots cast in the 2021 governor election.
That’s because as of Nov. 4, 2025, there are 6,632,728 registered voters in New Jersey, according to the NJ Division of Elections. This surpasses the number of people registered to vote in the primary election in June 2025, and those registered and eligible to vote during the last governor election in 2021.
How many registered Republicans in NJ? How many Democrats in NJ?
As of Nov. 4, 2025, Election Day, there are 1.67 million Republicans and 2.52 million Democrats registered to vote in New Jersey, according to data from the NJ Division of Elections. An additional 2.35 million were unaffiliated.
This compares to around 1.5 million Republicans and 2.57 million Democrats registered to vote in NJ’s 2021 governor election. That means that 167,018 more people have registered Republican in NJ, while the number of Democrats registered to vote in NJ dropped by 49,870 people, from November 2021 to November 2025.
County with largest number of Democrats, Republicans?
As of Nov. 4, 2025, the NJ county with the largest number of registered Republican voters was Ocean County with just over 2 million, and Monmouth County with around 1.69 million, according to the NJ Division of Elections. As for registered Democrats, Essex County has the most with around 2.94 million, followed by Bergen County with 2.52 million.
Primary election turnout 2025 in NJ
During the primary election in NJ, held June 10, 2025, where voters elected Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli to represent their respective parties, about 1.3 million ballots were cast. That was roughly 21% of the 6,267,366 people registered to vote in New Jersey at the time.
Since June, that means 365,362 more people in NJ have registered to vote. Although, historically, primary elections don’t often draw the same number of voters than general elections.
NJ voter turnout in 2021; how many votes during last governor election?
In the last NJ governor election in 2021, 40% of registered voters in NJ cast a ballot. That means that of the roughly 6.54 million people registered, about 2.65 million voted.
Lori Comstock is a New Jersey-based journalist with the Mid-Atlantic Connect Team.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ voter turnout for Sherrill-Ciattarelli? How many will vote today
