An early favorite for governor? NJ primary is 5 months away

⚫ New Jersey will elect a new governor in November

⚫ In June, voters will decide each major party's candidate

⚫ Right now, Democratic voters appear to be more split than Republicans

With less than five months to go until the primary election, plenty of New Jersey voters have no idea who they think should be the next governor of New Jersey.

Most registered Democrats (56%) and a plurality of Republicans (47%) are undecided on which gubernatorial candidate they'd like to see represent their party on the ballot in November, according to an Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill poll released on Thursday.

Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli appears to be the early favorite in the primary. Out of hundreds of Republican primary voters, 26% said they'd vote for the former New Jersey assemblyman who lost to Gov. Phil Murphy in the last election.

Thirteen percent threw their support behind Townsquare Media radio personality Bill Spadea. No other Republican candidate topped 4%.

On the Democratic side, the best performer was U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J. 11th District, who received support from 10% of Democratic primary voters in the survey.

Eight percent said they support New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller, and 8% like Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for the job. U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J. 5th District, and former Senate President Steve Sweeney each received support from 7% of Democratic voters.

Murphy cannot run again because of term limits.

"I think all of the candidates on both sides have quite a lot to do to introduce themselves to the electorate, or reintroduce themselves," said Matt Taglia, senior director of Emerson College Polling. "Right now, it is a bit of a name ID contest."

Taglia said it's likely that not many voters are fully tuned in to New Jersey's race for governor, at least for now.

SEE ALSO: Should NJ loosen penalties for parole violators?

In February, Rider University will host a pair of gubernatorial debates. Six Democrats and four Republicans are scheduled to participate.

The 2025 primary date is June 10. It had originally been scheduled for June 3, but Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill to push the date back by a week so that it doesn’t interfere with the Jewish holiday Shavuot.

Other poll findings

In the Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill poll, U.S. President Donald received a 48% favorable rating from New Jersey voters, versus an unfavorable rating of 46%. Gov. Murphy posted a slightly lower favorable rating, at 44%.

SEE ALSO: Is NJ's minimum wage enough to keep up in 2025?

Voters are evenly split on whether New Jersey is headed in the right or wrong direction.

Nearly two-thirds of Garden State voters said their family's income is falling behind the cost of living. Twenty-three percent said their income is even with the cost of living.

When New Jersey voters were asked about the most important issues in the state, the economy was the top response, at 44%.

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom