Election 2025: New Jersey voter turnout was the highest in more than two decades

About half of registered New Jersey voters cast a ballot in the 2025 general election, clocking the highest turnout for a gubernatorial race in the last two decades.

Official turnout numbers from the New Jersey Division of Elections were not immediately available. But a WHYY News analysis of unofficial election numbers from the Garden State’s 21 counties posted Wednesday shows that, out of 6.5 million registered voters, more than 3.2 million exercised their right to vote Tuesday.

Statewide, voter turnout jumped 10% when compared to the 2021 general election. Each county saw an increase of at least 4% in participation.

At 62%, Hunterdon County had the highest turnout in the state. County Clerk Mary H. Melfi said residents consistently show up at the polls.

“Whether they care about who’s their governor or who’s on their school board, they tend to vote,” she said.

Melfi said ongoing community outreach by county officials, supplemented with education initiatives by school districts teaching students about the importance of participating in elections, has created a healthy voting culture in the county.

“They keep voting,” Melfi said. “It doesn’t matter what the disaster is, they vote.”

For example, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, 86% of county voters cast ballots by mail for the 2020 presidential election.

How did South Jersey voters do?

Cape May County saw the highest voter turnout in the region, with 57% of registered voters casting a ballot.

Camden County officials said this year’s turnout, 48%, was the highest when compared to the past two governor races. In Burlington County, 51% of voters cast their ballot. It was among the top 10 highest turnouts for an election in the county since 2002.

What issues inspired voters to show up in New Jersey?

Though opinion polls suggested a close race, Democrat Mikie Sherrill handily defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli to become New Jersey’s next governor. Political observers said President Donald Trump galvanized voters to the polls in the off-year election.

Nedia Morsy, director of Make the Road Action New Jersey, an immigrant advocacy group, said voters in several Latino-majority municipalities showed up to the polls in response to actions by the Trump administration.

“Voters were very clear,” she said. “This was a Trump versus democracy versus anti-authoritarianism versus an anti-fascist regime, and that messaging prevailed.”

Morsy said through their efforts to get out the vote, they saw an increase in Latino voters in Elizabeth, Passaic and Perth Amboy.

“Our program had 7 million digital ad impressions, drove 260,000 calls, 100,000 texts and knocked on 60,000 doors,” she said.