Trump endorsement could make or break key GOP gubernatorial primary

President Donald Trump’s support could drastically shape the results of New Jersey’s GOP primary for its 2025 gubernatorial election.

Trump — a part-time New Jersey resident — has yet to endorse any of the state’s Republican gubernatorial candidates, leaving the majority of the contenders anxiously seeking out his support ahead of the June 10 primary. Although New Jersey has been considered a stronghold for the Democratic Party for many years, the state’s upcoming race for governor comes amid a nationwide shift toward the Republican Party after the party gained control of the White House and both chambers of Congress in the 2024 election cycle.

“Donald Trump is the X factor in this GOP primary,” Ben Dworkin, director of the Rowan Institute for Public Policy & Citizenship, told the Associated Press on Saturday. “His endorsement right now could make or break, depending on whom he gives it.”

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is term-limited and thus cannot run for reelection in November, making the race to replace him even more competitive. After former New Jersey State Sen. Edward Durr announced on March 24 that he was dropping his bid for governor, the four remaining Republican candidates are State Sen. Jon Bramnick, former State Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac, and Bill Spadea, a former radio talk show host.

While both Spadea and Ciattarelli have previously criticized Trump, the two candidates have recently begun to express support for him, the AP reported. Moreover, Kranjac has been a vocal supporter of Trump, even referring to himself as a “forever Trumper” in a Feb. 4 interview with the New Jersey Monitor.

Meanwhile, Bramnick has been a vocal critic of Trump, previously condemning the president’s decision to pardon more than 1,500 Jan. 6 protestors.

“President Trump has taken many encouraging actions on infrastructure, energy, securing the border, and making the federal government more efficient in the first days of his administration,” Bramnick said in a January statement. “However, I do not support his pardon of the violent participants who attacked police in the actions of January 6th, 2021.”

Notably, New Jersey is the only state besides Virginia that is holding a gubernatorial election this year, making it an even more highly anticipated race. For the state’s Republican primary, 26% of voters said they favor Ciattarelli, while 13% supported Spadea and no other candidate reached 5% of votes, according to a poll from Emerson College/PIX11/The Hill released Jan. 23.

The last Republican New Jersey governor was Chris Christie, who left office in January 2018. While Trump lost New Jersey in the 2024 presidential election, with former Vice President Kamala Harris notching 52.0% of the state’s votes while Trump secured 46.1%, he notably narrowed the margin from 2020.

Many conservatives have been campaigning to flip New Jersey’s governor’s mansion red, such as Scott Presler, a conservative activist, who has been encouraging New Jerseyans to get out and vote early for Republicans in recent weeks, Politico reported.

The 2025 New Jersey gubernatorial election is set to take place on Nov. 4.

Ciattarelli’s campaign, Bramnick’s campaign, Spadea’s campaign, and Kranjac’s campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.

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