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When asked what issues matter most, respondents made it clear: kitchen-table economics are driving this election.
A staggering 66 percent listed cost of living and inflation as their top concern. Another third pointed to high taxes, while 21 percent cited the economy and jobs.
Outside financial issues, 21 percent named immigration as a key priority, and nearly the same number listed education — both topics that have dominated debates and campaign ads throughout the fall.
The Atlas Intel results confirm what other pollsters have been hinting at — a tightening race.
An Emerson College poll released Thursday put Sherrill ahead 50 to 48 percent, while an October 29 survey from Quantus Insights found her up by less than three points. Every recent poll has shown the same pattern: the race is shrinking fast.
Ciattarelli, who nearly shocked the political world in 2021 by coming within a whisker of defeating Murphy, appears to be riding a late-breaking wave of Republican enthusiasm.
The Atlas Intel survey also reveals overwhelming loyalty among Trump’s base.
“The new poll has Ciattarelli running away among Trump 2024 voters, 99 percent of whom said they will be backing his campaign.”
That near-unanimous support, combined with small defections from the other side — “three percent of voters who backed former Vice President Kamala Harris indicated that they have switched” — could prove decisive in such a close contest.
Despite Democrats’ numerical advantage, New Jersey’s political map is shifting.
In 2020, Democrats made up 38 percent of registered voters, compared to just 22 percent for Republicans. But by 2024, the GOP share had climbed to 24 percent, cutting into both Democratic and unaffiliated blocs.
The shift mirrors national trends seen during the 2024 election cycle, when New Jersey delivered one of the biggest rightward swings in the nation.
That year, Kamala Harris defeated Donald Trump by less than six points — 51.8 to 45.9 percent — a stunning drop from Joe Biden’s 16-point margin in 2020.
With fewer than 48 hours to go, the Garden State’s gubernatorial showdown has become the most closely watched race in the country’s off-year election cycle.
If Ciattarelli manages to flip deep-blue New Jersey, it would send shockwaves through the Democratic establishment — and mark yet another sign that the political tide in America’s bluest suburbs is turning.
