Interview with Kennith Gonzalez: 'The Hispanic vote will be key in the New Jersey elections'

Along with Virginia, the governorship of New Jersey is the other big 2025 electoral prize. After strong results in 2021 and in 2024, where Donald Trump had the best showing for a GOP presidential candidate in 37 years, local Republicans are are hoping to stain the Garden State red once again.

The Republican Party has good news and bad news regarding the upcoming Nov. 4 election. For starters, Governor Phil Murphy will not be eligible for a second term, so Democrats cannot count on the incumbent card. The last time New Jersey elected the same party to more than two consecutive terms was in 1965. According to this statistic, the next governor should be a Republican.

However, New Jersey also has a habit of not having governors from the same party as the president. This happened only twice since 1989.

The primary is scheduled for next Tuesday, June 10. On the Republican side, Jack Ciattarelli is expected to have little difficulty winning the nomination again. In addition to his wide name recognition for his good 2021 election, he has the backing of President Trump.

The Democrats' primary is rather more hotly contested. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill is leading all polls, although strong names include her colleague Josh Gottheimer and Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark.

In this context, VOZ spoke with Kennith Gonzalez, executive director of the New Jersey Republican Party. The young man of Cuban origin was confident about November 4 and assured that Hispanic voters are the key to the election.

The importance of the Hispanic vote in New Jersey

Gonzalez, who assumed his current post in January of this year, began by describing the changes the local electorate has been undergoing in the state since 2018.

"We've seen a pretty drastic change in certain demographics here in this state, primarily in the Hispanic community, which used to be a vote that the Democratic Party counted on year after year. And we're seeing now that, year after year, the Hispanic community is moving more and more toward the Republican Party. Simply because we seem to have recognized our conservative values by nature. We have also seen that the Democratic leadership has simply destroyed this state the last 25 years in the legislature and everything," he explained.

At the same time, he said that these voters' priorities are taxes, fighting crime and illegal immigration, and creating opportunities for young people.

He also pointed out that the Republican Party has closed the gap with the Democrats among registered voters. In 2020, there were one million more Democrats than Republicans, which shrunk to 825,000 by 2024.

Trump's popularity in New Jersey

In 2024, Trump was up nearly five percentage points, gaining more than 100,000 votes compared to the 2020 election. His 46% of the vote was the best performance for a Republican in New Jersey since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Nearly seven months later, he maintains relatively high popularity among the state's voters. According to Gonzalez, this is because he is delivering on what he promised during the campaign.

Therefore, he noted that voters are looking for a candidate who manages to emulate the president's leadership.

"The Hispanic community cares a lot about two things. Number one is the economy, because we came to this country for better economic opportunities. And security is number one. Many immigrants come to this country out of fear that in their hometowns and in their countries they were going to get hurt, violence, gangs, etc. And they don't want to see the U.S. become the same thing. So they want something different, a conservative leader who is going to protect the citizens and improve our economy," he added.

The impact of the border crisis in New Jersey

Although New Jersey is far from the southern border, the state has also been impacted by the border crisis for the last four years. That's precisely how the state's Hispanic voters let them know.

"Last year, when we were campaigning for President Trump, when we were talking to Hispanic people, that's what mattered most to them. They were saying, 'I came here from El Salvador, I came here from Honduras for a more secure opportunity, for a better future for my children,'" the local GOP executive director recounted.

"So it's like a different feeling, because so much work that legal immigrants went through to do things the right way, to come here the right way and now to see that there are people who can just cross the border and are being given absolutely everything. (...) People who have sweated for decades to give their children and grandchildren a better opportunity, now they are seeing that other people are being given it as a gift. So, it was a great injustice," Gonzalez continued.

A message to the Hispanic community

Finally, Gonzalez was confident that Republicans would win the November elections, something that has not happened since 2013 with Chris Christie's re-election campaign.

He also left a message to the state's Hispanic voters, whom he called the deciding factor: "I tell everyone to listen to the message of the Democratic Party, which is that same message we've been talking about, the leftist message, the socialist message, the message we heard in our countries before everyone left."

"The Republican Party is here for better economic opportunity, for more safety in our neighborhoods, for a better future for our children, for the younger generation and for this entire state. And it is very important that you get out to vote, not only in the Republican primary on June 10, but also in the general election this November to elect a Republican governor who will give a better future to our country," he concluded.

The complete interview with Kennith Gonzalez