New Jersey residents think Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill should focus first on taxes, an issue that has taken the top spot for New Jerseyans for 15 years straight, according to the latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.
Twenty-eight percent say Sherrill should address taxes, with poll responses heavily dominated by residents specifically mentioning property taxes. Another 19% say Sherrill should focus first on affordability or cost of living in the state. The umbrella theme of affordability pervaded other topics such as housing and health care.
Results are from a statewide poll of 1,570 New Jersey adults contacted through the Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel from Dec. 29, 2025, to Jan. 6, 2026. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.6 percentage points.
“While affordability was the all-encompassing buzzword of the 2025 governor’s race, taxes remain New Jerseyans’ No. 1 priority,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
“Taxes topped the list at the start of both Gov. Christie’s and Gov. Murphy’s first terms, and they’re still at the top because the problem hasn’t gone away. Taxes have consistently ranked as one of the most important issues for decades, and, much like her predecessors, Sherrill faces a challenge that may prove difficult – if not impossible – to solve.”
Other issues don’t come close. Nine percent say she should focus on utility costs, 7% say housing and housing affordability, 5% say the economy, including inflation and jobs, and 4% say health care and associated costs. Three percent each point to education and government issues, including inefficiency, corruption and spending. Two percent say Sherrill should focus on combating President Donald Trump administration’s agenda and actions and another 2% mention immigration. Twelve percent point to different issues.
“New Jerseyans overwhelmingly want Sherrill to zero in on Jersey-centric, everyday issues that directly affect their lives, many of which fall under the umbrella of affordability,” said Koning. Sherrill starts her first term with a net favorable rating, with numbers similar to those of other recent New Jersey governors when they first started out.
New Jerseyans are more favorable (40%) than unfavorable (22%) toward Sherrill, 32% have no opinion and 6% say they don’t know who she is. This is a marked difference from October 2025, when, weeks before the gubernatorial election, 42% of voters held a favorable view of Sherrill, and 45% held an unfavorable view. At that time, 11% said they didn’t have an opinion.
“With the heat of the election now cooled, a notable portion of New Jerseyans – and, in fact, the largest we’ve seen since tracking Sherrill’s ratings – are currently undecided about the governor,” Koning said. “This could work in Sherrill’s favor as she begins her first term, suggesting many residents are open to what she brings to the table. But it also poses a challenge: She’ll need to deliver tangible results to turn that uncertainty into positive sentiment.”
In November, New Jersey voters said their biggest concern is kitchen table issues such as cost of living, taxes and the economy, according to the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll in collaboration with AARP New Jersey. Nine in 10 say accessibility to quality health care and housing affordability are at least somewhat important.
