SADDLE BROOK, N.J. - With Election Day fast approaching, the Republican nominee in one of only two races for governor in the nation this year is fired up.

"Championship teams finish strong," Jack Ciattarelli told a crowd of supporters jam-packed into a diner in this northern New Jersey town earlier this week. "Let's win this race."

Ciattarelli, who's making his third straight run for Garden State governor and who nearly upset Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, has good reason to be confident.

In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite a GOP surge in registration this decade, two new public opinion polls released this week indicated Ciattarelli narrowing the gap with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the race to succeed the term-limited Murphy.

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor in New Jersey, speaks to supporters at a diner in Saddle Brook, N.J. on Oct. 15, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

The slightly fresher of the two surveys, a Fox News poll conducted Oct. 10C14, put Sherrill at 50% support among likely voters, with Ciattarelli at 45%. Sherrill's 5-point advantage was down from an 8-point lead in Fox News' September survey in New Jersey.

New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns in the year after a presidential election, and the contests traditionally grab outsized attention and are viewed as political barometers ahead of the following year's midterm elections.

And this year, they're being viewed to a large degree as ballot-box referendums on President Donald Trump's unprecedented and combustible second-term agenda.

While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the past 10 elections.

President Donald Trump, seen speaking during a campaign event at Wildwood Beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, May 11, 2024, will headline a tele-rally for Jack Ciattarelli, the 2025 Republican gubernatorial nominee in the Garden State. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

And Trump made major gains in New Jersey in last year's presidential election, losing the state by only six percentage points, a major improvement over his 16-point deficit four years earlier.

Ciattarelli, interviewed by Fox News Digital Wednesday in Bayonne, New Jersey, noted that he "made big gains" in his 2021 showing "in Hudson County and Passaic County," two long-time Democratic Party strongholds.

"And the President did very, very well in '24 in those very same counties. And if you take a look at who's been endorsing me, including some very prominent Democrats here in Hudson County, people want change," Ciattarelli emphasized.

But Ciattarelli is also aiming to energize Republican base voters in what's likely to be a low-turnout election.

Multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump will hold tele-rallies with Ciattarelli ahead of Election Day. Trump's teaming up with Ciattarelli may help energize MAGA supporters, many of whom are low propensity voters who often skip casting ballots in non-presidential election years.

Republican gubernatorial candidate in Ohio Vivek Ramaswamy headlines a campaign event for New Jersey GOP nominee for governor Jack Ciattarelli, on Oct. 15, 2025, in Saddle Brook, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

And on Wednesday, Ciattarelli was joined at his diner stop, where there was an overflow crowd of a couple of hundred people outside, by Vivek Ramaswamy , the MAGA rockstar who is running for governor next year in his home state of Ohio.

Ramaswamy, the multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and conservative commentator who pushed an "America First 2.0" platform as he ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before ending his bid and becoming one of Trump's top supporters and surrogates, told Ciattarelli, "We're going in Ohio next year, but youve got to pave the path this year. Were counting on you."

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, commenting on why Republicans feel bullish about the New Jersey showdown, raised concerns.

"New Jersey is the best place, probably, for Donald Trump to actually stop the Democratic momentum or at least minimize the Democratic momentum that weve seen throughout this year," Martin said in a Politico interview.

While Trump isn't on the ballot, he's loomed large over the New Jersey gubernatorial election.

New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill, right, and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, on the stage moments at the start of their second and final debate, on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News Digital)

At last week's second and final debate, Sherrill charged that her GOP rival had "shown zero signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he's shown every sign of being that."

Asked whether he considered himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciattarelli said he was "part of a New Jersey movement."

When asked to grade the president's performance so far during his second term, Ciattarelli said, "I'd certainly give the president an A. I think he's right about everything that he's doing."

"I think that tells us all we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli's supporting. I give him an F right now," Sherrill responded, as she pointed to New Jersey's high cost of living.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in New Jersey, takes questions from reporters following a debate on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

The race in New Jersey was rocked a couple of weeks ago by a report that the National Personnel Records Center, which is a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration, mistakenly released Sherrill's improperly redacted military personnel files, which included private information like her Social Security number, to a Ciattarelli ally.

But Sherrill's military records indicated that the United States Naval Academy blocked her from taking part in her 1994 graduation amid a cheating scandal.

The showdown was jolted again last week after Sherrill's allegations that Ciattarelli was "complicit" with pharmaceutical companies in the opioid deaths of tens of thousands of New Jerseyans, as she pointed to the medical publishing company he owned that pushed content promoting the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment for chronic pain.

This week, Trump set off a political hand grenade in the race, as he "terminated" billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York.

Sherrill, holding a news conference Thursday at a major commuter rail station just a few miles from the site of the tunnels in one of the busiest train corridors in the nation, called the project "critical" as she took aim at Trump and Ciattarelli.

"I'm fighting for the people of New Jersey. He's fighting to excuse Trump. It's unacceptable," Sherrill charged.

New Jersey traditionally elects a governor from the party out of power in the White House, which this year favors the Democrats.

But Garden State voters haven't elected a governor from the same party in three straight elections in over a half century, which would favor the Republicans.

One of those political trends will be busted in next month's election.

新澤西州薩德爾布魯克——隨著大選日臨近，今年全美僅有的兩場州長競選中，共和黨提名人的競選熱情正持續(xù)高漲。

“冠軍之師必善終局?！苯芸恕の鱽喬乩锉局茉缧r候在新澤西州北部小鎮(zhèn)一家擠滿支持者的餐廳里說道，“讓我們贏得這場競選?！?/p>

西亞塔雷利（Ciattarelli）已連續(xù)第三次競選花園州（新澤西州）州長，四年前他曾險些擊敗民主黨州長菲爾·墨菲（Phil Murphy），如今他完全有理由保持自信。

盡管過去十年共和黨選民登記人數(shù)激增，但該州注冊民主黨人仍多于共和黨人。本周公布的兩項新民調(diào)顯示，在接替任期屆滿的墨菲的州長競選中，西亞塔雷利正縮小與民主黨州長候選人、眾議員米基·謝里爾之間的差距。

這兩項調(diào)查中較新的一項——?？怂剐侣動?0月10日至14日開展的民調(diào)顯示，謝里爾（Sherrill）在潛在選民中的支持率為50%，西亞塔雷利（Ciattarelli）為45%。謝里爾5個百分點的優(yōu)勢較其9月份在新澤西州?？怂姑裾{(diào)中8個百分點的領先幅度有所下降。

新澤西州和弗吉尼亞州是僅有的兩個在總統(tǒng)大選次年舉行州長角逐的州，這類選舉歷來備受矚目，被視為預示次年中期選舉走向的政治風向標。

今年，這些選舉在很大程度上被視為對特朗普總統(tǒng)史無前例且充滿爭議的第二任期議程的全民公投。

盡管民主黨長期以來在傾向支持藍營的新澤西州聯(lián)邦及州立法機構選舉中占據(jù)主導地位，但共和黨在州長競選中表現(xiàn)強勁，過去10屆選舉中贏得了5次勝利。

在去年的總統(tǒng)大選中，特朗普在新澤西州取得了重大進展，僅以六個百分點的劣勢敗北，相比四年前16個百分點的差距有了顯著改善。

西亞特拉雷利（Ciattarelli）周三在新澤西州巴約訥接受?？怂箶?shù)字新聞采訪時指出，他在2021年選舉中“在哈德遜縣和帕塞伊克縣這兩個民主黨長期票倉取得了重大進展”。

西亞塔雷利強調(diào)：“總統(tǒng)在2024年大選中在這些同樣的縣表現(xiàn)非常出色。再看看那些支持我的人，包括哈德遜縣一些非常知名的民主黨人士，人們渴望改變?！?/p>

但恰塔雷利（Ciattarelli）還試圖在本次投票率可能低迷的選舉中，激發(fā)共和黨基層選民的熱情。

多位消息人士向?？怂剐侣勛C實，特朗普將在選舉日前與恰塔雷利舉行電話集會。特朗普與恰塔雷利的聯(lián)手或?qū)⒓ぐl(fā)"讓美國再次偉大"（MAGA）支持者的熱情，其中許多人屬于低投票率群體，在非總統(tǒng)選舉年份常常放棄投票。

周三，恰塔雷利在小餐館停留時，與維韋克·拉馬斯瓦米一同現(xiàn)身。餐館外聚集了數(shù)百人的超額人群。拉馬斯瓦米是MAGA（讓美國再次偉大）運動的明星人物，明年將在他的家鄉(xiāng)俄亥俄州競選州長。

生物科技企業(yè)家、保守派評論員拉馬斯瓦米（Ramaswamy）身家數(shù)千萬美元，曾以"美國優(yōu)先2.0"為競選綱領角逐2024年共和黨總統(tǒng)提名，后退出競選并成為特朗普的核心支持者及代言人。他對恰塔雷利表示："我們明年將在俄亥俄州發(fā)力，但今年需要你鋪平道路。我們?nèi)磕懔恕?

民主黨全國委員會主席肯·馬丁（Ken Martin）就共和黨為何對新澤西州的對決持樂觀態(tài)度發(fā)表評論，并對此表示擔憂。

馬丁在接受《政客》采訪時表示：“新澤西州很可能是唐納德·特朗普真正阻止民主黨勢頭的最佳地點——或者至少能削弱我們今年所見的民主黨勢頭?！?/p>

盡管特朗普并未出現(xiàn)在選票上，但他對新澤西州州長選舉的影響卻無處不在。

在上周的第二場也是最后一場辯論中，謝里爾指責她的共和黨對手"絲毫沒有表現(xiàn)出對抗這位總統(tǒng)的跡象。事實上，總統(tǒng)本人稱杰克是100%的MAGA支持者，而他確實處處表現(xiàn)出這種傾向。"

當被問及是否認為自己是MAGA運動的一員時，西亞塔雷利表示，他屬于"新澤西運動"。

當被問及如何評價總統(tǒng)在第二任期內(nèi)的表現(xiàn)時，恰塔雷利表示："我肯定會給總統(tǒng)打A。我認為他所做的一切都是正確的。"

我認為這已經(jīng)充分說明了杰克·恰塔瑞利（Jack Ciattarelli）支持的是誰。就目前而言，我只能給他打個不及格分。"謝麗爾（Sherrill）回應道，同時指出新澤西州高昂的生活成本問題。

幾周前，新澤西州的競選活動因一則報道而震動：美國國家檔案與記錄管理局下屬的國家人事檔案中心誤將謝里爾（Sherrill）未經(jīng)妥善處理的軍事人事檔案——包含其社會安全號碼等私人信息——泄露給了西亞塔雷利（Ciattarelli）的一名盟友。

但謝里爾的軍方記錄顯示，美國海軍學院因一起作弊丑聞，禁止她參加1994年的畢業(yè)典禮。

上周，謝里爾指控西亞塔雷利與制藥公司合謀導致數(shù)萬新澤西州人因阿片類藥物死亡，使這場對決再度升溫。她指出，西亞塔雷利擁有的醫(yī)療出版公司曾推廣內(nèi)容，將阿片類藥物宣傳為治療慢性疼痛的低風險療法。

本周，特朗普在競途中投下一枚政治手雷——他宣布"終止"為哈德遜河下連接新澤西州與紐約州的新鐵路隧道項目"門戶計劃"提供數(shù)十億美元的聯(lián)邦資金。

謝里爾（Sherrill）周四在全國最繁忙的鐵路走廊之一、距離隧道施工現(xiàn)場僅數(shù)英里的一個主要通勤火車站舉行新聞發(fā)布會，稱該項目"至關重要"，并將矛頭指向特朗普和恰塔雷利（Ciattarelli）。

謝里爾指責道：“我在為新澤西州人民而戰(zhàn)，他卻為特朗普開脫。這是不可接受的?！?/p>

新澤西州歷來會選舉白宮在野黨成員擔任州長，而今年這一傳統(tǒng)對民主黨有利。

但新澤西州選民已有半個多世紀未在連續(xù)三屆選舉中選出同一黨派的州長，這一傳統(tǒng)對共和黨人有利。

下個月的選舉將打破其中一種政治趨勢。