With the New Jersey governor’s race teetering on a knife-edge, former President Barack Obama has swooped into Newark to rally for Democratic candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill.
The New York Post reported that on Saturday, Obama joined Sherrill in a last-ditch effort to shore up support against Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli, as polls show a race too close for comfort in a state that’s typically a Democratic stronghold.
This contest, one of only two gubernatorial races on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, alongside Virginia, has seen Sherrill’s lead shrink to under 3% in the Real Clear Politics polling average, despite early voting showing Democrats ahead by less than 2 points.
Newark, with a population nearly 50% Black and over a third Hispanic, is a critical battleground where minority turnout could make or break Sherrill’s bid to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy.
Recent polls underscore this, with Suffolk University data from Thursday, October 30, 2025, showing Sherrill dominating among Black voters 65% to 12% and Hispanic voters 63% to 18% against Ciattarelli.
Obama, still the most popular living president per a February 2025 Gallup poll with a 59% approval rating, is a heavy hitter Democrats hope can energize these key demographics.
Yet, the latest Atlas Intel poll from November 1, 2025, paints a grimmer picture, with Sherrill clinging to a razor-thin lead of 50.2% to Ciattarelli’s 49.3%, well within the margin of error.
This isn’t Ciattarelli’s first rodeo—he nearly toppled Gov. Murphy in 2021, losing by just 51% to 48%, and outperformed polls then, stoking Democratic fears of another upset.
The Republican National Committee, smelling blood in the water, has poured resources into New Jersey to bolster Ciattarelli, while total campaign spending in this race is set to surpass a staggering $200 million.
Sherrill, a four-term House member and retired Navy helicopter pilot, has run a more centrist campaign, but she’s stumbled under the spotlight, notably flailing in a CBS New York interview with Marcia Kramer.
“If you could pass just one piece of legislation, what would it be?” Kramer asked, to which Sherrill replied, “Wow, I would like … that’s a really good question, because there are so many that are coming to mind right now.”
That vague response, labeled “disastrous” by New Jersey State Sen. Holly Schepisi (R) to The Post, has been weaponized in Ciattarelli’s ads, painting Sherrill as unprepared for the state’s top job.
Meanwhile, Ciattarelli, who held an event in Monmouth on Sunday, November 2, 2025, walks a tightrope—needing to fire up President Trump’s base without turning off independents in a state that’s more purple than red.
Though he once called Trump unfit for office in 2015, Ciattarelli now grades Trump’s second term an “A” and touts a recent tele-rally Trump held for him, while Trump himself skipped campaigning in New Jersey over the final weekend, heading to Mar-a-Lago instead.
With over $34 million pumped in by party committees alone, this race isn’t just a test of candidates but a referendum on whether Democrats can hold a state Joe Biden won by 16 points in 2020, or if Republicans can finally flip the script.
