Republican voters will decide Tuesday which of their four candidates will challenge Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in November.

Polls will be open from 6AM to 8PM.

The primaries include races for the Democratic-controlled Legislature as well as a slew of county and local races.

The election comes a year after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which saw Murphy's approval rating skyrocket even as he faced Republican and even some Democratic criticism of his handling of the crisis. Murphy is unopposed on the ballot on the Democratic side.

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While New Jersey is an increasingly Democratic state, the last Democratic incumbent governor to win re-election in the Garden State was Brendan Byrne in 1977.

The Republican field, meanwhile, has been marked by a battle over which candidate is most or least aligned with former President Donald Trump, who after two impeachments remains the GOP's standard-bearer.

The favored candidate among the party's establishment is former Somerset County Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, who has led in the fundraising race. He lost the gubernatorial primary four years ago to former Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.

Hudson County pastor Phil Rizzo and Atlantic County engineer Hirsh Singh, who has been unsuccessful in past elections, and former Franklin mayor and Somerset County freeholder Brian Levine also are on the ballot.

NJ Republican gubernatorial candidates

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