New Jersey Advocates Mobilize Voters As Tight Governor’s Race Hinges On Turnout

Advocates are racing to mobilize New Jersey voters ahead of a razor-thin gubernatorial race. Turnout among marginalized communities, already low in the 2024 presidential election, plummets even further in off-years.

On Sunday, Make the Road Action NJ joined with unions and advocacy groups in Elizabeth to launch a door-to-door push aimed at reaching 100,000 voters of color and newly naturalized citizens, raising awareness that the stakes include potential ICE raids, rising energy costs, and healthcare cuts for hundreds of thousands of residents.

Most of the attendees were volunteers who would be canvassing neighborhoods in Elizabeth with lists of registered voters, asking about their plans to vote. The groups will also be endorsing Mikie Sherrill and collecting voter information. After the rally and speeches, the volunteers split into smaller teams led by designated leaders.

“It’s important for our communities to come together, to organize, to know their rights. Not only as people who are immigrants, working class, but also rights as voters, and to know what is at stake,” said Diego Bartesaghi, senior communications manager for Make the Road Action New Jersey.

The mobilization comes as the race remains extremely competitive: recent polling has Ciattarelli and Democratic candidate Mikie Sherrill essentially tied, each drawing around 43% of support, with 11% of voters still undecided. Polls highlight that turnout among people of color, immigrants, and independent voters will likely decide the outcome, with large numbers in these blocs still up for grabs.

Matthew Buckley, the executive council of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT and a professor of physics at Rutgers University, spoke in support of Make the Road New Jersey and the election of  Mikie Sherrill for governor. Buckley warned that deep federal funding cuts for science and scholarships threaten the future of New Jersey students and workers.

“New Jersey gets about half a billion dollars from DC to do science and to do research,” said Buckley. “And so those cuts are going to be just absolutely devastating, not just for the people who are working in the lab, but for everybody around us.”

He also highlighted growing threats to academic freedom and free speech, citing recent high-profile firings of educators.

“[Gov. Phil Murphy and state Attorney General Matthew Platkin]  are protecting us as much as they can, because it’s the Constitution and we have those rights. And if we have Jack Citarelli as Governor, I don’t really believe that that’s going to happen.” Buckley mentioned.

Raquel Morsy, a Make the Road member and volunteer originally from Peru, described her excitement at leading outreach efforts after voting in every election since 1990.

“We want to keep working hard with the guarantee that we will get strength from Sherrill, and to work without being scared. That we can triumph like many others. We are all immigrants, and we want to work without being scared,” said Morsy, translated from Spanish.

Despite the energy around Election Day, advocates say the real challenge will be sustaining organizing efforts long after the polls close.

“The work would not end there. The work would then start because we need to keep our coalition together and work in alliance with working-class communities to make these changes happen,” said Dena Mottola Jaborska, the executive director of the New Jersey Citizen Action.