The New Jersey Globe’s 2025 Convention Tracker

The gubernatorial primary campaigns are in full swing, and so too is the county-to-county trot that candidates must take if they want the endorsement of county parties. 

County endorsements were once invaluable to statewide candidates: Victory at a county convention usually meant an advantageous ballot position under a system known as the county line. Now that a federal judge has ruled that system to be unconstitutional, county party endorsements are expected to be much less valuable for the gubernatorial candidates seeking to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy.

They won’t be completely useless, though; county convention victors will still be able to use the county party’s slogan on the ballot and could receive resource advantages.

But now that party endorsements mean less, the conventional wisdom (no pun intended) has gone somewhat by the wayside: participation in the conventions has been shaky. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop is running an anti-establishment campaign and has refused to compete in the conventions (he has often still shown up, though, sharing letters that explain his decision not to compete). Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) and former Senate President Steve Sweeney have also sat out of various conventions.

The results of county conventions will not provide flawless insight into how June 10 will go, but they can provide notable takeaways nonetheless. The first several conventions, for example, showed Sherrill’s strength within the Democratic Party apparatus. Sweeney has shown strength in South Jersey, as expected, and Baraka’s consistent top-two finishes show his campaign can pose a threat throughout the state.

For now, this tracker will only focus on Democratic conventions. Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is the only candidate competing in GOP conventions, meaning most are anticlimactic (though that doesn’t mean there haven’t been notable results).

This tracker—which will be regularly updated—displays the dates, results, and other notable details of each county convention. Some dates are unavailable, and the tracker will be updated when conventions are scheduled. The New Jersey Globe’s articles about each convention are linked in the tracker.

County	Result	Notes	Tally
Hunterdon Feb. 9	Mikie Sherrill def. Ras Baraka in runoff	Fulop did not compete; top-two vote-getters in first round qualified for runoff	First ballot: Sherrill 81; Baraka 65; Gottheimer 13; Spiller 11; Sweeney 7 Second ballot: Sherrill 89; Baraka 68
Mercer Feb. 19	Mikie Sherrill wins on first ballot	Fulop, Gottheimer, and Sweeney did not compete; Sherrill had backing of Mercer Democratic chair	Sherrill 224; Baraka 133; Spiller 47
Monmouth Feb. 22	Mikie Sherrill wins on first ballot	Fulop, Gottheimer, and Sweeney did not compete	Sherrill 338; Baraka 96; Spiller 30
Sussex March 1	Mikie Sherrill wins on first ballot	Fulop and Gottheimer did not compete	Sherrill 113; Baraka 9; Sweeney 2; Spiller 0
Burlington March 1	Steve Sweeney wins with 45%—no runoff held per convention rules	Fulop and Gottheimer did not compete	Sweeney 119; Baraka 69; Sherrill 52; Spiller 27
Atlantic March 2	Steve Sweeney wins after two rounds of ranked-choice voting	Fulop and Gottheimer did not compete	First round: Sweeney 81; Baraka 38; Spiller 29; Sherrill 23 Second round: Sweeney 90, Baraka 46, Spiller 37
Ocean March 9	No victor; no candidate won a majority of votes, and only one ballot was held	Fulop and Gottheimer did not compete	Sherrill 63; Sweeney 31; Baraka 26; Fulop 23 (write-ins); Spiller 21
Cumberland March 10	Steve Sweeney wins vote in favor of recommendation to endorse
Cape May March 10	No endorsement
Bergen March 11	Josh Gottheimer wins	Fulop did not compete	Gottheimer 616; Sherrill 148; Baraka 95; Spiller 45; Sweeney 29
Middlesex March 12	Mikie Sherrill wins	Fulop, Gottheimer, and Spiller did not compete	N/A; Middlesex uses a show of hands
Gloucester March 13	Steve Sweeney wins	Sweeney was sole competitor	Sweeney won by acclamation
Morris March 14	Mikie Sherrill wins	Fulop and Gottheimer did not compete	Sherrill 385; Baraka 88; Spiller 20; Sweeney 8
Salem March 15	Steve Sweeney wins	Fulop, Gottheimer, and Spiller did not compete	Sweeney 24; Baraka 3; Sherrill 2
Warren March 15	Josh Gottheimer wins	Fulop did not compete; Spiller was not nominated	Gottheimer 19; Baraka 7; Sherrill 5; Sweeney 2
Passaic March 15	Mikie Sherrill wins in screening committee vote	Fulop and Gottheimer did not compete	Sherrill won screening committee vote unanimously
Camden March 18	Steve Sweeney wins		Sweeney won by acclamation
Union March 19	Mikie Sherrill wins in screening committee vote	Fulop did not compete	Sherrill 12; Baraka 4; Sweeney 3; Spiller 1
Somerset March 20	All five candidates who participated can use the Somerset organization slogan	Fulop did not compete; Somerset Democrats called the field an “an embarrassment of riches”	N/A
Essex		March 22