by Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor
October 31, 2025

2025 Voter Guide

Where NJ’s governor hopefuls stand on the issues

New Jersey Votes: 2025 POINT PLEASANT — Fox News host Sean Hannity riled up a crowd in this Ocean County town Thursday by reading off polls that show the governor’s race in New Jersey is a dead heat between Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill. 

“I came up here because this is a huge political earthquake. It will rock the nation. It will reverberate all across the country. I really believe it, and I’m fascinated by it, and the country’s fascinated by it,” Hannity said ahead of the taping of a town hall for his nightly show at the Crystal Point Yacht Club. 

Once Ciattarelli joined him on stage, Hannity asked the gubernatorial hopeful how he’s feeling going into Election Day on Tuesday.

“All I can tell you is when I go around the state, the energy is electric. The reception of minority communities has been overwhelmingly positive. And when Democratic mayors across the state are endorsing the Republican nominee, it does a world of good,” Ciattarelli said. 

Hannity’s appearance attracted an enthusiastic crowd. The influential conservative commentator told the crowd before the taping began that he had spoken to President Donald Trump and confirmed Trump would be watching the town hall later.

Hannity asked the crowd of 200 people if they could trust Sherrill. They booed and said “no.” He also referenced allegations that Sherrill was caught up in a cheating scandal during her time at the Naval Academy (she did not participate in her 1994 graduation ceremony, an act she says was punishment for not turning in her classmates).

“We invited Mikie Sherrill on this program to respond to these allegations, but her team just never gets back to us. They must be very busy,” Hannity said.

A spokesperson for the Sherrill campaign did not respond to a request for comment.Republican Jack Ciattarelli, left, appearing with Fox News anchor Sean Hannity at the Crystal Point Yacht Club in Point Pleasant on Oct. 30, 2025. (Photo by Amanda Brown for New Jersey Monitor)

Most public polling shows Ciattarelli trailing behind Sherrill by single digits. They’re vying to succeed Gov. Phil Murphy, a term-limited Democrat who will leave office in January.

Both campaigns have brought out big names for the final stretch of the election cycle. Ciattarelli has made stops with Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) and Vivek Ramaswamy of Ohio, and held a tele-rally with Trump last week. Sherrill is set to appear with former President Barack Obama in Newark on Saturday.

Throughout the hour-long taping with Hannity, Ciattarelli repeated much of his regular stump speech, touting his plans to do away with the state’s Immigrant Trust Directive, get rid of cashless bail, pull out of the regional greenhouse gas initiative, and prevent wind turbines from being constructed off the Jersey Shore. 

“Executive order No. 1, on day one, no town in this state will be a sanctuary city. We will not be a sanctuary state,” Ciattarelli said. 

He added that many of Murphy’s policies were done by executive order, like the Immigrant Trust Directive, and never became law, which means he can do away with them immediately.

“Having sanctuary cities and us being a sanctuary state encourages illegal immigration, and it handcuffs our local police in certain ways. We’re not doing that,” he said.

Hannity criticized New Jersey’s high taxes, reading off the corporate business tax, gas tax, inheritance tax, and top individual tax rate. 

“I refuse to be the governor of that state. We’re going to change that when we win, I’m telling you that right now,” Ciattarelli said.

The two men were joined by Harris Faulkner, a Fox News anchor and New Jersey resident. She said New Jerseyans are worried about affordability, lamented about her utility bills, and griped about a gas station in Edgewater that charges $5 a gallon. The Lukoil on River Road in Edgewater was charging $4.55 a gallon for premium gas on Friday (regular was $2.89).

“It feels like they’re trafficking in high taxes, because the current governor said when he ran the last time, ‘If taxes are your issue, then New Jersey is not for you,’” she said.

Ciattarelli stressed the importance of attracting independent voters and people who typically only turn out for presidential elections every four years.

“We say to them, ‘Do you love this state? Are you angry about everything that’s going on? You got to turn out in the governor’s race too,’” he said. “We’ve done a magnificent job.”

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