Sherrill Shocker: Approval Ratings For NJ Governor Released

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is getting what very few politicians can claim these days, a poll says: the benefit of the doubt.

Earlier this week, Fairleigh Dickinson University released results for one of the first independent polls on Sherrill’s approval ratings as governor.

Sherrill, a former U.S. Congress member, was elected as New Jersey’s 57th governor in November 2025. She got 1,896,610 votes in the election, while her Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, saw 1,417,705 votes.

Sherrill was inaugurated as the state’s new governor in January.

How has the Democrat been polling with New Jersey residents since taking over the hot seat in Trenton? Pretty well, researchers said – even among some conservatives and MAGA voters.

Overall, 58 percent of New Jersey voters approve of Sherill’s performance as governor so far. About 34 percent disapprove, and eight percent said they weren’t sure or didn’t answer.

As comparison, former Gov. Phil Murphy hovered around 40 percent approval during his second term.

Sherrill is even finding some support from the other side of the aisle, the Fairleigh Dickinson poll found:

“Sherrill’s approval among her base nears 90 percent: 88 percent of Democrats, 88 percent of progressives and 85 percent of liberal voters in New Jersey approve of how she’s handling her job as governor. Her numbers are also relatively high among groups that weren’t supportive during last year’s election, with 22 percent of Republicans, 25 percent of conservatives, and even 14 percent of MAGA voters currently approving.”

“Sherrill is getting what no politician on the national level gets these days: the benefit of the doubt,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of government and politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

“Independents – and even some Republicans – have nothing bad to say about her yet, and that approval is political capital in her talks with the legislature,” Cassino said.

However, with the state facing a $3 billion budget crisis, Sherrill may see these numbers drop as some tough choices are made about spending in the upcoming months, he added.

“The question is: what Sherrill does with her high support while she has it,” Cassino asked.

The survey was conducted by Braun Research of Princeton between March 20 and March 28 using a list of registered voters in New Jersey. Surveys were conducted in English only.

The simple sampling error for 805 registered voters is +/-3.4 percentage points, at a 95 percent confidence interval. Including the design effects, the margin of error would be +/-3.9 percentage points, though the figure not including them is much more commonly reported, pollsters said.

View the full poll and see its methodology here.

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WORKING WITH TRUMP

Another round of nationwide “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump took place on March 28. Thousands of New Jersey residents attended rallies across the state, with demonstrators including abolishing ICE, “taxing the rich” and ending the military conflict in Iran among their demands.

Sherrill – who has been a vocal critic of many of the president’s policies – attended a local protest in Princeton.

“No kings. No thrones. No crowns,” she said. “I’ll keep fighting the president to defend what we believe in here in New Jersey – the Constitution, the rule of law, and We the People.”

However, while Sherrill has repeatedly clashed with Trump, most New Jersey voters want her to work with the president – at least sometimes, the Fairleigh Dickinson poll found.

The survey asked New Jersey voters whether Sherrill should “try and work with President Trump,” or if she should use “lawsuits and other means to defy him.” Forty-two percent of voters said that she should work with him, and 31 percent said that she should defy him. Another 26 percent said that “it depends” on the situation at hand, and 2 percent weren’t sure.

“Voters in New Jersey may not like Trump very much, but they’re pragmatic,” Cassino said.

• Related: NJ Lawmakers Find Common Ground On 5 Bipartisan Bills
• Related: When Donald Trump And Cory Booker Agreed: 5 Years Of ‘First Steps’

THE MAGA CONNECTION

While MAGA voters almost universally say that Sherrill should work with Trump, there are a lot fewer of them than there used to be, pollsters noted.

In January of 2024 – during the run up to Trump’s re-election – 27 percent of voters in New Jersey identified as MAGA, including a majority (54 percent) of Republicans, and a sizeable portion of independents (31 percent).

Today, only 16 percent of Garden State voters identify as MAGA – including 37 percent of New Jersey Republicans and just 11 percent of independents, pollsters reported.

“Being a MAGA voter isn’t like being a conservative or a libertarian,” Cassino theorized.

“The MAGA coalition is real, but the fact that it’s so tied to an individual means that people move pretty freely in and out of it depending on how they’re feeling about Trump at the moment,” he said.

• Related: NJ Republicans Overwhelmingly Support MAGA Movement, Poll Finds

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