On Tuesday, November 4, 2025, Democrat Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill along with her Lieutenant Governor (LG) running-mate Centenary College President Dale Caldwell overwhelmingly defeated Republican and former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli with a 13-point margin of almost 415,000 votes. The new gubernatorial term begins on January 20, 2026.
In addition to the Governor, all 80 seats in the Assembly were up for election.[1] The Democrats rode the wave and will increase their majority control of the Assembly from the current 52-28 majority likely shifting to at least 55-25 to possibly as high as 59-21 depending on the outcome of a couple of close races. As a result, stay tuned for continued updates and changes to the results reported here.
In the wake of Tuesday’s election, Democrats picked up at least one seat in District 8 and two seats in District 21 and possibly two to three more seats in Districts 2 and 25. See attached biographies of the new legislators elected thus far.
The lame duck session will now begin in earnest and continue through the new legislative session which begins on January 13, 2026. Leadership in both houses is expected to be decided in the coming days with Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Majority Leader Lou Greenwald anticipated to retain their leadership posts. Senate President Nick Scutari and Majority Leader Theresa Ruiz are also highly likely to hold their positions as well. It is also assumed that Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio and Senate Minority Leader Tony Bucco will continue to serve in their leadership spots.
Following were the most hotly contested races in the Assembly:
- Second District (part of Atlantic County) In one of the more surprising outcomes of the Assembly elections, incumbent Republican Assemblyman Don Guardian is in the lead by 988 votes while Assemblywoman Claire Swift is trailing by only 77 votes in a close race to hold onto their seats against Democrat challengers, retired Philadelphia attorney Maureen Rowan and Pleasantville Councilwoman Joann Famularo. The result of this race remains uncertain.
- Third District (parts of Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem Counties) In one of the closely watched races, Democrats Assemblywoman Heather Simmons and Assemblyman Dave Bailey defeated their Republican challengers Gloucester County Commissioner Chris Konawell and Harrison Deputy Mayor Lawrence Moore by a 26 to 25% margin of 1897 votes.
- Eighth District (parts of Atlantic, Burlington and Camden Counties)Democrat Assemblywoman Andrea Katz and her running-mate high school history teacher and local NJEA president Anthony Angelozzi defeated incumbent Republican Assemblyman Michael Torrissi and former Assemblyman Brandon Umba by 26 to 25% margin of over 2300 votes.
- Twenty-first District (part of Morris, Somerset and Union Counties) Incumbent Republican Assemblywomen Nancy Munoz and Michele Matsikoudis were defeated by Democrats attorney Andrew Macurdy and Union County Sheriff’s Detective Vincent Kearney by a 27 to 23% margin of 5700 votes.
- Twenty-Fifth District (part of Morris and Passaic Counties) Incumbent Assemblywoman Aura Dunn is in the lead with Assemblyman Christian Barranco trailing by only 245 votes to Democrat challenger Morristown planning board member Marissa Sweeney and is leading Democrat Morristown Councilman and civil engineer Steve Pylypchuk by 1858 votes. The result of this race also remains uncertain.
Although not competitive races, the following changes will also take place in the NJ Legislature due to retirements and primary election results:
- Twentieth District (part of Union County) Democrat Ed Rodriguez former director of planning and community development for Elizabeth will replace Assemblyman Reginald Atkins who decided not to run again with Assemblywoman Annette Quijano.
- Twenty-Eighth District (part of Essex and Union Counties) In an uncontested race, Democrat Chigozie Onyema former general counsel for the Newark Parking Authority and former Assistant Commissioner for the NJ Department of Community Affairs will join Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker replacing Assemblywoman Garnett Hall who was defeated in the June primary.
- Thirty-First District (part of Hudson County) Democrat Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker will join Assemblyman William Sampsonreplacing Assemblywoman Barbara McCann Stamato.
- Thirty-Second District (part of Hudson County) Democrats former NJ Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency Director Katie Brennan and Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla will replace Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez and Assemblyman John Allen.
- Thirty-Third District (part of Hudson County) Democrat Larry Wainstein, a business owner and community advocate, was elected to join Assemblyman Gabriel Rodriguez replacing Assemblyman Julio Marenco.
- Thirty-Fifth District (part of Bergen and Passaic Counties) Democrat Newark Corporation Counsel Kenyatta Stewart will join Assemblyman Al Abdelaziz to take the seat currently held by Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter who announced her retirement.
There were a couple of local races of note, including for Jersey City Mayor where there will be a runoff between former Governor Jim McGreevey and Jersey City Councilman James Solomon in early December. Solomon received 29% of the votes to 25% for McGreevey. Democrat incumbent Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, Sr. defeated the Republican challenger Naeem Khan.
At the county level, there were no surprises for control of any of the County Commissioner Boards. Democrats will continue to hold just one seat on the Atlantic County Commissioner Board. The race between the parties for Cumberland County Commissioner spots remains too close to call where Republicans hold a 6-1 majority of that Board.
All of the incumbent County Clerks, Surrogates and Sheriffs were re-elected, including Morris County Sheriff James Gannon, who ran with Jack Ciattarelli’s as his LG choice. There will be a new Hudson County Sheriff, Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis.
[1] Senator Benjie Wimberly successfully won his seat in the special election in the 35th legislative district to serve in the Senate seat vacated by now Congresswoman Nellie Pou. This was the only race in the Senate.
