Polling suggested a tight election but did not consider how President Donald Trump would galvanize voters to the polls.

In a parking lot in the Monmouth County town of Hazlet on Sunday afternoon, a little more than 100 people met GOP gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor in New Jersey, is surprised at a campaign stop at Murph's Tavern in Totowa, N.J., by the appearance of his son, Jake, an Army captain who traveled home from his deployment in the Middle East.

A win for Democrats in blue New Jersey’s gubernatorial race was not surprising, but the victory was attributed to a larger trend at play: Republicans desperately need to work on voter turnout, and President Donald Trump needs to rethink how he conveys his policies.

They believed the stars had finally aligned, pointing to Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli’s narrow loss in 2021, Donald Trump’s surprising gains with urban Hispanic voters in 2024 and a summer spike in energy rates that angered voters.