Monica Brinson
Monica Brinson (Republican Party) ran for election for Governor of New Jersey. She did not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on June 10, 2025.
2025 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the June 10 Republican primary as a battleground race. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Jack Ciattarelli (R) defeated Bill Spadea and four other candidates in the June 10, 2025, Republican primary for governor of New Jersey.[1][2] Gov. Phil Murphy (D) was term-limited, meaning, the office was open. The last Republican governor was Chris Christie, who left office in 2018.
Rider University's Micah Rasmussen said, "It has been a long time since it’s been up for grabs, and so, all of our top figures on the Republican side and the Democratic side are finding this an irresistible race to jump at."[3]
Among Republicans, Ciattarelli, Spadea, and Jon Bramnick led in polling, endorsements, and fundraising.[4][5]
This was Ciattarelli's third run for governor. He first ran in 2017, when he lost in the Republican primary to Kim Guadagno. He won the Republican primary in 2021 and lost 51–48% to Murphy in the general election. Ciattarelli previously served on the Raritan Borough Council and the Somerset County Board of Commissioners before representing the 16th District of the New Jersey General Assembly.[6]
Ciattarelli's campaign website said, "When you compare the records of the announced and presumptive GOP gubernatorial candidates as individual vote-getters and party leaders, there is no comparison. By far, Jack Ciattarelli is superior."[7] President Donald Trump (R) endorsed Ciattarelli on May 12, 2025, writing on Truth Social, "Jack Ciattarelli is a WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement – HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, ELECT JACK CIATTARELLI!"[8]
Bramnick represented District 21 of the New Jersey General Assembly from 2003 to 2022, when he was elected to the state Senate. In the former role, he served as Assembly minority leader. Bramnick began his legal career as an attorney in New York City.[9] He was a lawyer, a business law professor, and founded the law firm Bramnick, Rodriguez, Grabas & Woodruff.[10]
Before the 2024 presidential election, Bramnick said, "If Donald Trump wins New Jersey, I will absolutely withdraw. Because if that’s what New Jersey wants, I ain’t your guy."[11] His campaign website listed the economy, community safety, sustainable energy, preventing overdevelopment, education, healthcare, and government efficiency as key issues.[12]
Spadea was a radio host, most recently of the Bill Spadea Show.[13] He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and hosted Chasing News with Bill Spadea.[14] Spadea's first run for office was for New Jersey's 12th Congressional District in 2004. He also ran in a 2012 special election for a state Assembly seat.[14]
Spadea's campaign website listed illegal immigration, the economy, and infrastructure as priorities.[15] In a campaign ad, Spadea said, "I'm a real conservative, tough on immigration, and will cut taxes. As your governor, I will put you and New Jersey first."[16]
Justin Barbera, Hans Herberg, and Mario Kranjac also ran. Ed Durr (R) dropped out of the race and endorsed Spadea in March 2025.[17]
Elections
2025
See also: New Jersey gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2025
General election
General election for Governor of New Jersey
Mikie Sherrill defeated Jack Ciattarelli, Vic Kaplan, and Joanne Kuniansky in the general election for Governor of New Jersey on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mikie Sherrill (D) | 56.9 | 1,896,610 |
 | Jack Ciattarelli (R) | 42.5 | 1,417,705 | |
 | Vic Kaplan (L) | 0.4 | 11,880 | |
| Joanne Kuniansky (Socialist Workers Party) | 0.2 | 8,164 | ||
| Total votes: 3,334,359 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Karen Zaletel (Independent)
- Lily Benavides (G)
- Stephen Zielinski (G)
- Gerardo Cedrone (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of New Jersey
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of New Jersey on June 10, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mikie Sherrill | 34.0 | 286,244 |
 | Ras Baraka | 20.7 | 173,951 | |
 | Steve Fulop | 16.0 | 134,573 | |
 | Josh Gottheimer | 11.6 | 97,384 | |
 | Sean Spiller | 10.6 | 89,472 | |
 | Stephen Sweeney | 7.1 | 59,811 | |
| Total votes: 841,435 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of New Jersey
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of New Jersey on June 10, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jack Ciattarelli | 67.8 | 316,283 |
 | Bill Spadea | 21.7 | 101,408 | |
 | Jon Bramnick | 6.2 | 29,130 | |
 | Mario Kranjac | 2.7 | 12,782 | |
 | Justin Barbera | 1.4 | 6,743 | |
 | Hans Herberg (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Total votes: 466,346 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- James Fazzone (R)
- Roger Bacon (R)
- Monica Brinson (R)
- Robert Canfield (R)
- Edward R. Durr (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Brinson in this election.
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Monica Brinson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ New York Times, "New Jersey Governor Primary Election Results," accessed June 10, 2025
- ↑ Decision Desk HQ, "2025 New Jersey Primaries," accessed June 10, 2025
- ↑ NJ Spotlight News, "Early analysis of NJ’s gubernatorial race," November 14, 2024
- ↑ NJ.com, "Who’s leading the 2025 N.J. governor race? New poll shows who leads the crowded battle," January 23, 2025
- ↑ New Jersey Monitor, "New Jersey governor hopefuls have raised $15.6M so far," January 17, 2025
- ↑ New Jersey Monitor, "Republican Jack Ciattarelli launches long-anticipated run for governor," April 9, 2024
- ↑ Jack Ciattarelli 2025 campaign website, "Who can REALLY help Republicans win in 2025?" accessed January 31, 2025
- ↑ Truth Social, "Trump on May 12, 2025," accessed May 13, 2025
- ↑ Linkedin, "Jon Bramnick," accessed January 31, 2025
- ↑ Jon Bramnick 2025 campaign website, "Meet Jon Bramnick," accessed January 31, 2025
- ↑ Politico, "Independez," March 22, 2024
- ↑ Jon Bramnick 2025 campaign website, "Issues," accessed January 31, 2025
- ↑ Bill Spadea 2025 campaign website, "Meet Bill," accessed February 3, 2025
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 New Jersey Globe, "Bill Spadea will enter GOP governor’s race on June 17," June 7, 2024
- ↑ Bill Spadea 2025 campaign website, "Priorities for NJ," accessed February 3, 2025
- ↑ Instagram, "Bill Spadea on July 30, 2024," accessed February 3, 2025
- ↑ New Jersey Globe, "Durr ends bid for governor, endorses Spadea for GOP nod," March 24, 2025
