With more than 10 candidates running this year to become New Jersey’s next governor, a new poll shows Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill as the early front-runners less than six months to the big primary election. Still, many, many voters still don’t know who they want to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

In the race to be New Jersey's next governor, no clear Democratic frontrunner has materialized in early polling. On the Republican side, name recognition helped give an early bump to former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli.

Candidates across the board for New Jersey governor are struggling with name recognition, leaving an open — and crowded — playing field nearly five months before the primary election, new poll numbers suggest.

A 2023 overhaul of campaign finance law opens the floodgates for outside groups, with limited public disclosure.