Passaic County, New Jersey
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In the race for New Jersey governor, Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill is making an attempt to reverse Donald Trump’s beneficial properties with Latino voters within the 2024 election whereas her Republican rival, Jack Ciattarelli, is looking for to construct on them.
Their dueling missions collided on current back-to-back days on this northern New Jersey county, the place Ciattarelli labored to prove early voters in Clifton with the governor of Puerto Rico, Republican Jenniffer González-Colón.
In neighboring Paterson sooner or later later, Sherrill campaigned with Democratic Rep. Nellie Pou, who represents the realm, sprinkling in some Spanish to rev up the gang.
“Recuerda, este estado no es rojo. No es morado. Es azul,” Sherrill mentioned, which interprets to, “Remember, this state is not red. It is not purple. It is blue.”
One 12 months after Trump made inroads with Latino voters within the Garden State and past, the race for New Jersey governor is serving as a contemporary check of the place the key voting bloc stands 10 months into the president’s second time period. The outcomes of next week’s contest could supply roadmaps for each events as they look to construct assist amongst one of many nation’s quickest rising demographics.
“We will make the difference,” Patricia Campos-Medina, a vice chair of Sherrill’s marketing campaign, mentioned of Latino voters. “This is a getting-voters-out election at this moment.”
Latino residents make up practically 22% of New Jersey’s inhabitants, and no county noticed a much bigger transfer toward Trump than Passaic, the place Latinos account for roughly 43% of the inhabitants — the most important share within the state.
In 2020, Trump misplaced the county to Joe Biden by 16 factors. Four years later, Trump bested then-Vice President Kamala Harris right here by practically 3 factors. In town of Passaic, the place greater than 70% of residents are Hispanic, Trump defeated Harris by practically 1,100 votes, a swing from Biden’s virtually 5,000-vote benefit.
“President Trump could not have done as well as he did without getting Democrat Hispanics to vote for him, and Jack Ciattarelli is not going to win this election without getting Democrat Hispanics to vote for him,” mentioned Kenny Gonzalez, Hispanic spokesperson for the New Jersey Republican State Committee. “So many Democrats are leaving the Democrat Party simply because the Democrat Party has gone too far left.”
While Passaic County voters selected Trump on the high of the ticket, they elected Pou to the US House, making her one among solely 13 Democrats nationwide representing a congressional seat gained by Trump.
“Voters went, voted for President Trump, and then moved over and voted right down the line for the Democratic candidates,” mentioned Passaic Mayor Hector Lora, who’s supporting Sherrill. “People say that somehow the city went red. The city didn’t go red. The city went with President Trump.”
Trump’s beneficial properties with Latino voters in New Jersey mirror an improvement with the neighborhood that performed out throughout the nation within the 2024 presidential election. But there are questions on whether or not that assist will maintain and prolong to different Republican candidates, particularly at a time when the president has seen some erosion in his standing amongst Latinos.
An AP-NORC poll carried out in October discovered 25% of Hispanic adults nationally have a “somewhat” or “very” favorable view of the president — dropping from 44% in January simply earlier than Trump took workplace.
In New Jersey, a slim majority of Hispanic registered voters (53%) mentioned they would vote for Sherrill, in accordance to a Fox News poll carried out earlier this month.
Lora, a former evangelical pastor, hosted each candidates for conferences with non secular leaders in Passaic this summer time.
“I think what’s on the ballot today for those to consider … is not just the candidates, but the very identity of cities like ours and the state of New Jersey,” he added.
On Thursday evening, Ciattarelli was surrounded by a bunch of Latino pastors who endorsed and prayed over him on the Bonfire Mofongo House and Lounge in Paterson — his first cease on a four-day swing by Passaic County as early in-person voting kicked off this weekend.
“Es hora!” Ciattarelli advised the principally Latino crowd, a phrase translating to, “It’s time.”
“I want you to continue to grow. I want you to continue to prosper, and that’s what my governorship is all about for every one of our minority communities,” he mentioned.
In an interview with NCS, Ciattarelli, who misplaced by somewhat greater than 3 factors to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021, cited Trump’s enchancment with the Latino neighborhood and mentioned he hopes to prolong these beneficial properties.
“There’s 2 million Hispanic Americans that call New Jersey home,” he mentioned. “We’ve worked every minority community hard all across the state.”
Ciattarelli is banking on voters like Leonardo Pomales, a Passaic resident initially from Puerto Rico, who voted in a governor’s race for the primary time on Saturday.
“The taxes, the electric bills and the schools, that’s very important to me,” Pomales mentioned as he defined his vote for Ciattarelli.
Pomales mentioned he voted for Hillary Clinton in her matchup in opposition to Trump in 2016 however then backed the president in his next two runs, pointing to his insurance policies on the economic system, border and schooling.
“The Democratic Party has always said they’re going to do something. They don’t. They only want our votes, and they don’t do nothing,” Pomales mentioned. “He’s not perfect, but hey, that’s what we want. We want to feel safe in our own country.”
Orietta Fernandez, a Republican dwelling in Clifton, mentioned she’s pissed off with immigration, crediting Trump for his method after she mentioned Biden’s border insurance policies allowed in individuals with “no good behavior.” More individuals revered the immigration course of when she got here to the nation from Peru 25 years in the past, she mentioned.
“People come to the United States because they want to have everything for free, and that is not fair,” mentioned Fernandez, who voted for Ciattarelli and supported Trump last 12 months. “I never took advantage of the system. I worked hard.”
Democratic leaders within the state, together with Sherrill, acknowledged Trump’s enchantment to Latino voters in 2024 stemmed from how he spoke concerning the economic system. But they argued the Latino neighborhood is beginning to see he’s failed to fulfill these guarantees.
“I think there was a movement towards the president because he promised to cut costs and people are very cost sensitive here,” Sherrill advised NCS, noting Latino voters are a “huge” a part of her technique. “He committed to driving those down and in fact has done the opposite.”
Campos-Medina mentioned their marketing campaign’s outreach to Latino voters has drilled in on decreasing utility prices, investing in small companies and tackling rising rents. “Those are three things that resonate very closely with where the Latino vote is at,” she mentioned.
But Lora additionally argued some Latino voters, significantly these from non secular backgrounds, have struggled with a few of the Democratic Party’s social stances.
“There are some issues that don’t need to be shoved down the throat of everyone,” he mentioned. “The big-tent party needs to stop looking for ways of pushing other people out of the tent and understand that you’re going to get different views within the party.”
Several Democratic voters expressed concern with how the Trump administration has approached immigration.
“I have a special place in my heart for all immigrants and people trying to make their lives better,” mentioned Jennifer Suarez, who cited immigration and schooling as her high points after voting on Saturday.
Suarez, the daughter of Cuban immigrants, mentioned it was “disappointing” to see the Latino neighborhood shift toward Trump.
“It’s like folks that … climb the ladder and cut it down below them, and I’m not about that life. My family’s not about that life,” mentioned Suarez, a Democrat dwelling in Clifton who voted for Sherrill. “You want a better world for the future.”
Juan Arroyo, a retired instructor from Passaic who immigrated from Peru, mentioned he’s “nervous” the Latino neighborhood in New Jersey could increase Republicans once more and argued the GOP’s rhetoric about immigrants is damaging.
“The campaign of the other party is coming with a lot of trash talk and people lately are going for that,” mentioned Arroyo, who has run for varsity board and voted for Sherrill. “Saying that Hispanic people came to this country because they just want to grab jobs from other people and stuff, and that’s not true.”
Passaic will be one of the crucial carefully watched counties within the state as votes are counted next week. Latino voters within the county could assist decide whether or not Democrats prolong management in governor’s workplace for a 3rd straight time period or whether or not a Republican aligned with Trump’s agenda will lead the state.
The race has already attracted consideration from the Trump administration. On Friday, the Department of Justice introduced it is going to monitor polling sites in Passaic County — together with 5 counties in California, the place redistricting is on the poll.
The New Jersey Republican State Committee requested US Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon to ship election displays to the county, alleging a “long and sordid history” of vote-by-mail fraud.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, who leads the state’s voter safety initiative, criticized the DOJ’s transfer, saying his workforce is “considering all of our options to prevent any effort to intimidate voters or interfere with our election.”
“The Trump Department of Justice’s announcement that it is sending federal ‘election monitors’ to Passaic County is highly inappropriate, and DOJ has not even attempted to identify a legitimate basis for its actions,” Platkin mentioned in an announcement.
NCS’s Jeff Simon contributed to this report.