Participation measured against the same-year citizen voting-age population. Audited cycles count total general-election participants — ballots or participating voters, not presidential candidate votes. Cycles before 2016 predate that series and are derived from the certified presidential returns instead; they are marked everywhere they appear and are excluded from the figures below.
2004–20248 cycles · 5 audited
2024 turnout
67.2%4,321,921 participants ÷ 6,433,714 CVAP
2020→2022 drop-off
+32.7 ptsPresidential-dependent
Drop-off vs state
0.0 ptsPositive means a larger decline than the statewide pattern
Mechanical 2026
34.4%–44.9%Recent-cycle and two-cycle persistence scenarios; not a forecast
Participation by cycle
Presidential Midterm Derived, pre-2016
0%20%40%60%80%
53.1%
41.4%
20042008201220162018202020222024
Select a presidential cycle to show it on the map and results ledger above.
Cycle
Participants
CVAP
Turnout
Series
Quality
4,321,921
6,433,714 ± 12,363
67.2%
Audited
B/A
2022Mid
2,658,149
6,420,959 ± 11,345
41.4%
Audited
B/A
4,564,234
6,156,380 ± 12,440
74.1%
Audited
C/A
2018Mid
3,248,642
6,117,615 ± 9,934
53.1%
Audited
B/A
3,957,303
6,087,275 ± 10,136
65.0%
Audited
B/A
3,651,140
5,918,655
61.7%
Derived
—
3,868,237
5,812,473
66.6%
Derived
—
3,612,137
5,706,291 extrapolated
63.3%
Derived
—
Sources and methods
Audited cycles (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024) count total general-election participants against the same-year CVAP special tabulation, each cell carrying its own numerator and denominator quality grade. Derived cycles (2004, 2008, 2012) come from the certified presidential returns on this page over the ACS 5-year CVAP series, so they measure presidential votes cast rather than ballots — a floor on participation. Where a derived cycle predates the ACS its denominator is extrapolated rather than read, and says so on its own line below. They are shown for the longer arc and are excluded from the drop-off, excess-drop-off, and 2026 scenario figures above.
2024: numerator source 158, denominator source 157; total voters participating; eavs-f1a-state-v1:observed:aggregated; allocation share 0.0%; series 288/227.
2022: numerator source 158, denominator source 157; total voters participating; eavs-f1a-state-v1:observed:aggregated; allocation share 0.0%; series 285/182.
2020: numerator source 159, denominator source 157; top ticket votes; canonical-complete-contest-floor-v1; allocation share 0.0%; series 151/1.
2018: numerator source 158, denominator source 157; total voters participating; eavs-f1a-state-v1:observed:aggregated; allocation share 0.0%; series 279/137.
2016: numerator source 158, denominator source 157; total voters participating; eavs-f1a-state-v1:observed:aggregated; allocation share 0.0%; series 276/110.
2012 (derived): Certified presidential returns · ACS 5-year CVAP (B05003); presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count.
2008 (derived): Certified presidential returns · ACS 5-year CVAP (B05003); presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count.
2004 (derived): Certified presidential returns · extrapolated CVAP denominator; presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count; 2004 predates the ACS, so the denominator is a linear back-extrapolation from the 2008 and 2012 CVAP values, not a read figure.
presidential history
Party record book
New Jersey · the strongest Democratic and Republican presidential performances recorded here, measured three ways.
1892–2024 · 34 presidential cycles
Highest vote share
Largest share of the presidential candidate vote cast here.
Democratic
Lyndon B. Johnson1964
65.6%
1,867,671 votes · D+31.7
Runner-up · Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936 · 59.6%
Republican
Warren G. Harding1920
67.7%
611,451 votes · R+39.2
Runner-up · Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1956 · 64.7%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Joe Biden2020
2,608,400votes
57.3% of the vote · D+15.9
Runner-up · Kamala Harris, 2024 · 2,220,713 votes
Republican
Donald Trump2024
1,968,215votes
46.1% of the vote · D+5.9
Runner-up · Ronald Reagan, 1984 · 1,933,630 votes
Best relative to the U.S.
This Place’s margin against the national margin in the same election — positive when it leaned toward the party more than the country did.
Democratic
Al Gore2000
+15.3pts D vs U.S.
Place D+15.8 · U.S. D+0.5
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2012 · +13.9 pts
Republican
William McKinley1896
+17.6pts R vs U.S.
Place R+23.6 · U.S. R+6.1
Runner-up · Herbert Hoover, 1932 · +15.9 pts
2026 election
On the ballot
U.S. Senate
DCory BookernomineeRJustin Murphynominee
Sen. Cory Booker (D) seeking a third full term; Republican Justin Murphy won the June 2 primary (33.3%).
Senate and governor results are in the Office selector at the top of this page.
U.S. House
Source · MIT Election Lab (MEDSL), House. CC-BY 4.0. Seat totals count district winners; vote shares aggregate every district.
Year
Seats won
D %
R %
Total
D 9 · R 3
52.4%
45.3%
4,037,126
D 9 · R 3
54.3%
44.5%
2,609,716
D 10 · R 2
57.3%
41.6%
4,432,923
D 11 · R 1
59.9%
38.7%
3,098,743
presidential primaries
Nominating contests
New Jersey · which candidate this place backed in each party’s presidential nominating contest, cycle by cycle. A primary is a contest inside one party, so it has no Democratic–Republican margin and is not part of the general-election record above.
Akashic reports votes cast, not delegates awarded. The two can disagree: Clinton led the 2008 national primary popular vote by less than half a point and did not win the nomination.
Presidential nominating contests in New Jersey, by party and cycle.
○no contest record — Akashic holds no result for that party and cycle here. It is not a claim that no contest was held. Telling apart a contest that was cancelled, one that went uncontested, and one simply not yet ingested needs a nominating-contest calendar, which is a separate ingest from results and does not exist yet.
Republican presidential primaries are not yet ingested — the Republican series runs from 1856 and is in scope. The row is kept so its absence is visible: a Democratic-only panel would otherwise read as though no one else held a contest.
Akashic carries 10 states for 2012 and 3 states for 2024. Cycles in which an incumbent president seeks renomination are thin by nature — few states run a contested primary — so a sparse column is politics, not a hole in the record.
2020 field
966,397 votes cast across 21 counties reporting. The universe is the party's primary electorate, not everyone who lives here, so this is not comparable to a general-election turnout without that in mind.
Biden✓814,68084.3%
Sanders140,57914.5%
All others11,1381.1%
“All others” is a residual bucket, not a candidate: it holds every name past the ones listed, including candidates who had already withdrawn but still drew votes. Shares are of the 21 counties reporting, and describe the contest as a whole — not any one county inside it.
Earlier cycles — 2016, 2008
2016 field
896,221 votes cast across 21 counties reporting. The universe is the party's primary electorate, not everyone who lives here, so this is not comparable to a general-election turnout without that in mind.
Clinton✓566,24763.2%
Sanders328,05836.6%
All others1,9160.2%
“All others” is a residual bucket, not a candidate: it holds every name past the ones listed, including candidates who had already withdrawn but still drew votes. Shares are of the 21 counties reporting, and describe the contest as a whole — not any one county inside it.
2008 field
1,141,199 votes cast across 21 counties reporting. The universe is the party's primary electorate, not everyone who lives here, so this is not comparable to a general-election turnout without that in mind.
Clinton✓613,50053.8%
Obama501,37243.9%
All others26,3272.3%
“All others” is a residual bucket, not a candidate: it holds every name past the ones listed, including candidates who had already withdrawn but still drew votes. Shares are of the 21 counties reporting, and describe the contest as a whole — not any one county inside it.
Ctrl/⌘ + scroll · drag to pan
2020Democratic primary leaderBidencolor = leader · depth = size of the lead
Every county with reported returns, filled by the candidate who led it — the most recent cycle Akashic carries here. Depth is the size of the lead, not a party margin; the surrounding faint geography is context, not coverage.
A county's fill says who led it and by how much. It does not say how the rest of the field did there — those shares are published statewide only.
voter registration
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Party registration · 2026D+13.2
vs
Presidential vote · 2024D+5.9
Registration leans Democratic; the presidential vote runs 7.3 points more Republican than the rolls.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
New Jersey. Akashic. https://akashic.app/state/NJ/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
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In 2024, New Jersey voted Democratic by 5.9 points (D+5.9), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 4,272,725 votes cast, 2,220,713 went Democratic and 1,968,215 went Republican.
When did New Jersey last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which New Jersey voted Republican was 1988.
How many people live in New Jersey?
New Jersey has a population of 9,343,809 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in New Jersey?
Median household income in New Jersey is $103,556 — above the national median of $80,734. The New Jersey state median is $103,556.
What is the political history of New Jersey?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in New Jersey from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 17 went Democratic and 17 went Republican.
