A newly released poll of New Jersey voters conducted 12 days after the murder of conservative leader and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk shows the Democrat candidate for governor losing her massive lead in the race.
Just a few months ago, Democrat congresswoman and former intelligence officer Mikie Sherrill was leading by 20 percentage points. Now, the race is tied.
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The WPIX television and Emerson College poll shows Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli tied at 43% with 11% of voters undecided.
“The first Emerson College general election survey of New Jersey’s 2025 election for governor reveals a tightly contested race in the Garden State,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.
The interesting thing is that Ciattarelli, a former representative in the New Jersey General assembly and the Trump-endorsed GOP candidate, has not yet seen a bump in support from the Turning Point USA demographic group. He only gets 18% of 18- to 29-year-olds and 28% of 30- to 39-year-olds.
If that demographic turns out the way the 20-somethings did at a Turning Point USA rally at Virginia Tech last week, look out.
I bring this up not just because New Jersey is the only other state besides Virginia that has gubernatorial and statewide elections this year but because there are similarities in the governors’ races in both states.
Sherrill was a relatively unknown congresswoman outside of her 11th district in the Garden State. Before that, she worked on Russian policy analysis for the Navy in Europe. Ciattarelli is a political outsider who many New Jersey Republicans have complained is running too “safe” of a race and is not being aggressive enough in his campaigning. These are very similar to the backgrounds and concerns swirling around Virginia’s gubernatorial race.
The polling group co/efficient conducted a survey of just over 1,000 likely voters in Virginia over the same period as the Emerson College poll, and Democrat Abigail Spanberger’s lead over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is down to seven percentage points.
Close to 3000 students attended the Turning Point USA “Prove Me Wrong” event at Virginia Tech on Sept. 24 that Kirk originally was scheduled to headline before his assassination. There they heard Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin tell the crowd his answer to the most frequently asked question since Kirk’s death: “Who will replace Charlie?”
“You will,” Youngkin said to the crowd.
If they do, it will be a turning point (pun intended) in these two gubernatorial elections.
Related posts:
- Megyn Kelly and Glenn Youngkin Honor Charlie Kirk’s Legacy at Virginia Tech
- ‘Donald Trump Wouldn’t Be in the White House Without Charlie Kirk’
- Inquiries About Starting Turning Point USA Chapters Surge in Wake of Kirk’s Slaying