This is One Thing, I'm David Rind, and Trump's biggest pickup of 2024 might not be a Jersey Shore thing for Republicans in 2025.

Don't necessarily believe that Hispanics or Latino are leaning towards the right. I think it's more that the right or Republicans are leaning toward Latinos.

What brought you out here tonight?

The, the, the potential governor, okay, Mikie, she our next governor. Next governor. I'm very sure that she is going to win this.

You're confident?

Yes, I am very.

Tuesday is election day. Yes, election day, we've got a big ballot measure about redistricting in California, a high profile mayoral race in New York City, but there are also two consequential governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey that could tell us something about the national mood more than nine months into President Donald Trump's second term.

Oh, looks like she's here.

That is how I found myself on the roof of a local brewery in Jersey City, just across the river from Manhattan on Tuesday night.

How are you doing tonight? Sounds like you're a little chilly. I am too, I am to. It's sweater weather, we're getting into it.

'The Democratic candidate, Congresswoman Mikje Sherrill, was on the final stop of a four-county get-out-the-vote bus tour.

Everywhere in the world it is known as the American Dream. That's what we're fighting for. And that's what were fighting against because everything coming from Washington is shutting it down.

I wanted to see how voters there felt about her and, by extension, the Democratic Party.

I believe that she's going to do good by the state of New Jersey, yes.

So you're excited to vote for her?

I am very excited and already voted for her too and I'm picking people up to take them to vote for as well.

Do you guys have top issues that motivate you to stay involved and pay attention?

I would say whoever is going to fight against Trump the most. Yeah. Yeah.

'So the anti-Trump is motivating.

That's a big one, yeah.

I'm very green, and I know that she's very green and I hope that she kind of supports all of our little stances as well.

She brings in a whiff of fresh air. I think the Democratic Party really requires someone.

Trump has kind of made some gains in Jersey. Do you think that might continue?

I'm not so much into statistics, but it is up for grabs. So I don't know, I'll do my job, I will do my duty as a citizen and I just hope things work out.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

I appreciate it, thank you.

Now, New Jersey has been reliably blue for decades in the presidential race, but they do have a history of picking Republican governors. And President Trump lost New Jersey last fall by just six points. The closest the state has come to picking a Republican president in 32 years. That's something the Republican candidate in this race, Jack Cittarelli, is looking to build on.

How about we elect the Jersey Guy?

Unlike Sherill, Ciattarelli does not mention the current president or Trump's endorsement very much, unless he's mocking Sherrill.

If you get a flat tire on the way home today, it's President Trump's fault. There's nothing this woman won't blame on President Trump.

And that's a key part of his message, that he can deliver on local issues, like electric bills, transportation, and schools. Cittarelli has also been heavily courting Latino voters across the state. They make up more than 20 percent of the population. Remember, Trump made major inroads with Latinos across the country in 2024. He lost the group by only three points after losing them by 25 points in 2020. Never since he took office in January, his policies, especially his massive immigration enforcement and deportation push, have had an outsized impact on Latinos in this country. So we wanted to see how this race in New Jersey, which could be the closest of the night, is being shaped by this group of voters.

I'm living in Jersey this November, I'm going to turn 25 years.

Voters like Orietta Fernandez. She lives in Clifton.

And what made me move to the United States is my husband was a victim of terrorism in Peru, and, you know, by that time, everybody that involved with a terroristic actions or victims, they have visas to come to United States, you to escape from violence.

Orietta voted for Trump last year, and she voted early for Jack Cittarelli this year.

My decision to vote Republican is because I want an improvement. I want a change in the cost of living, taxes, I own a house, so we need big changes.

Orietta has since become a U.S. Citizen since coming here from Peru, and she has been happy with how President Trump has handled illegal immigration in the second term. She believes too many people weren't following the legal process that she went through, and she is fully bought into the Republican message of law and order.

We are full of crime wherever we go, and we need to remove that. Whomever candidate offers the best option for us to live in peace, work hard, and have safety is the one that really deserves to be in charge.

But even beyond the specific policies, Orietta says Mikie Sherrill wasn't even able to get her on the fence.

I have good friends that are Democrats. However, I believe that Mr. Jack is offering much more Mrs. Mikie. I really, it doesn't inspire me to vote for her. It doesn't inspired me.

But there are others who are on the fence. So how are Republicans trying to convince them to come over to their camp? I called up someone on the front lines of that mission.

My name is Kenny Gonzalez. I'm the Hispanic spokesperson for the New Jersey Republican State Committee. Working very hard, all day, every day to get Jack Jenerelli elected this year.

So after the 2024 election, there was a lot of talk about how President Trump really closed the gap with Latino voters nationally and in New Jersey as well. So can you describe what your outreach to Latino voters looks like this cycle and like how has it differed from previous years?

Yeah, so I'd say it's first off, it's extremely different. Usually, as long as I've been involved in New Jersey politics ever since I was in high school, Republican statewide candidates and Democrats statewide candidates alike, their Hispanic outreach strategy is always couple ads in Spanish, do a couple events, kind of a check the box strategy. And this year we have totally changed the game with Jack. Jack has been... Visiting Hispanic neighborhoods. Jack has been to every single Hispanic cultural parade in the state of New Jersey. We take that very seriously here. We have a parade season. We celebrate every single nationality, almost every single flag. And I think it's been making a lot of waves in the community. They're not used to politicians coming around very often.

Yeah, that's what I was gonna ask. Are there certain areas where you are, where people are like, oh, I've never had a Republican operative come to our town before?

I think so. Yeah. I think, look, Jack has visited small businesses in Passaic, the city of Passaac, which President Trump flipped for the first time ever last year. But like I said, the Hispanic cultural parades that take place every single year, that's not a check the box strategy. The feedback that Jack is getting by just being there and celebrating with people and shaking hands and getting into the community is very unique. And that's something that I personally have just never seen before in New Jersey politics.

I understand that Latinos, you know, they're not a monolith, many different issues can be motivating for people, like you say. So where does the immigration issue fit in all this? Because certainly a lot of these folks that you're talking to will have seen these videos of ICE immigration enforcement taking place around the country, just across the river in downtown Manhattan. You know, there was this skirmish over the ICE detention facility in Newark earlier this year. So I guess I'm wondering what they're telling you about those kinds of things that they're saying.

Sure. What we hear here on the ground is that Hispanics are focused on a number of other issues. Hispanic voters are not extremely concerned about what's going on with the immigration, and those who are are very content with the fact that the law is being enforced. And I think Hispanics who are noticing that violent criminals, people who have committed crimes and are scamming the system, are being deported.

There's also been US citizens taking up in some of these things, and you know, you tell me they don't see these videos and are at least a little bit scared of what it means for them.

'I don't think so because here in Hudson County, New Jersey, for example, with our Hispanic population, this is one of the areas where you would assume that ICE is coming in to do their job. So we live it every single day and we're just, we're not seeing the few odd cases that get reported about in the media or videos that you see on social media. Our day-to-day lives, Hispanics' day-today lives here in Hutchison County, just as an example, have not changed. I know you, you have a

got to do, and that is to spin things for Chittarelli. I mean, tell me honestly, you must hear from some folks who aren't quite sure. They see these immigration raids playing out, or they see rising health care costs, and they hear Democrats in Washington kind of banging the drum on this stuff. And there was just a poll conducted by AP NORC in October, which found 25% of Hispanic adults nationally have a somewhat or very favorable view of the president. It's down from 44% in January, just before Trump took office. So. Those folks who are expressing like, I don't know about the Republicans this time around. Things aren't great. Like, what do you tell them?

It's just, it's just not what we're seeing here. What we're saying here is that it's not only the Hispanic community, but New Jerseyans in general are fed up of paying the highest property taxes in the nation, they're fed up with the public school curriculum, they've fed up with rising crime in our, in our neighborhoods, they just want solutions. They want a change. Hispanics understand that ever since people like my family and others came to this country, they have been voting Democrat. They decided to make a switch, some of them last year and give, give president Trump a chance. Most of them, from what we are hearing here on the ground, are happy with that decision they made. I don't believe that there is some sort of large movement of Hispanic New Jerseyans who gave President Trump a chance last year, who now regret it. That's just not the case.

You heard Gonzalez mention Passaic, New Jersey. Well, when we come back, I'm gonna talk to that city's mayor about why Jack Cittarelli is singing his praises even though he's voting for his opponent. Stick around.

Here are some facts about Passaic County, New Jersey. It has the largest concentration of Latinos in the state, about 43% of the population. In the city of Passaac, more than 70% of residents are Hispanic. In 2020, former President Joe Biden won the city by nearly 5,000 votes. Trump then flipped the city in 2024, defeating Kamala Harris by over 1,000 vote. But at the same time, Passaak elected a Democratic Congresswoman. So how the candidates performed there on Tuesday night could tell us a lot about where things are headed.

I'm supporting gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill.

Hector Lora is the mayor of Passaic. He's supporting Mikey Sherrell, but he understands why so many of his residents gravitated to Trump last November.

There are some things that President Trump may have seemed to have gotten right when he speaks about public safety. I think that many individuals can agree with that. The idea that he would focus his immigration enforcement on violent criminals, but the implementation of the policies that he presented, they don't seem to be necessarily aligned with what he communicated when he ran. So in terms of the Latino community, I don't believe that they approve of that approach. But not just Latinos, whether you're Republican, Democrat, conservative, if you're a human being, and you're seeing footage of mothers being dragged out of their cars or a father being detained, that's going to affect you. So I think the approach isn't necessarily supported. In fact, let me be very candid. It's not supported. Doesn't mean that they reject everything that the president does or stands for.

Well, you say some Latinos aren't on board with the tactics that the Trump administration has to use when it comes to immigration, but, you know, Jack Cittarelli was in Pasaic a few weeks ago and he posted on Instagram, thanks to Mayor Laura's leadership, Pasaac is not a sanctuary city, and when I'm governor, New Jersey will not be a sanctuary state. I guess I'm wondering if the implied message will be that Pasaak will not immune from these kind of raids if Cittcarelli wins, and if that scares your constituents at all.

That's an interesting point. I don't know whether Pesic would be immune from raids, but let's play that out. What city is immune from rates? Because declaring sanctuary city doesn't result in you being immune from a raid. It's not like a mayor can order his police force to take arms against federal agents and not allow them inside. I think what we're discussing is to what extent you will cooperate with initiatives or an operation being executed within your city. Here's what I would say, David. I will cooperate fully with federal agents, whether it's FBI, ATF, immigration enforcement, or local law enforcement representatives, whether its the county or the state, if their goal is to ensure that violent criminals or those that would engage in criminal behavior, whether transporting drugs, weapons, I'll cooperate fully. So I just want to ensure we're speaking about the same thing. When it comes to sanctuary city, I believe there are some mayors who genuinely, for real reasons and desires to defend their community, declare sanctuary city. But me standing outside and screaming, we're a sanctuary city like Michael Scott in the office saying, I declare bankruptcy, doesn't change anything, right? I mean, there has to be policy, programs, and an approach that actually results in something. I'll cooperate with agents, but at the same time I've met with their supervisors and say, reach out to us because if you're not working with us and the community doesn't know what's going on, they fill in the gap themselves. That creates chaos in our community, a great deal of anxiety, and opens up a door for intimidation.

Yeah, I definitely hear you on some of the fine distinctions between the sanctuaries and such, but I imagine the Cheryl campaign was not, you know, super pleased to see that Instagram post though. I understand.

I'll be clear, I don't support Mikey Sherrill because every single policy position she holds is one that I agree with 100%. It's because I believe that she would be the best to represent our state. I do not think that the success of our state requires our uniformity, but it does require us to be united with a common vision and goal. So, I support her and I support Lieutenant Governor Choice of Dr. Dale Caldwell.

We hear from a lot of Latino voters and voters of all stripes that affordability is also just a key issue for people. Do you feel like the Democratic Party writ large has done enough to win back Latinos who felt swayed by those cost of living arguments that the Republicans made in November and that Jack Chiarulli is making currently?

'I think it's had an impact, David, but the Democratic Party, if I may, I think we need to work our way back to the center. I'm glad that we can have debates, philosophical and otherwise, but most of the residents of New Jersey, they reject extremism on either side of the aisle. And what we want is to talk about those issues, as you mentioned, those very important issues of affordability for the Latino community, for the Hispanic community. We're not a monolithic community. So talk to us about different issues. It's not just immigration. We wanna know about your economic plans. We wanna about incorporating technology in education. What's gonna happen with children with special needs who are aging out of programs now? That's a big concern in the Hispanic community. But in terms of Latinos, yes. I think that they've done a good job. I don't necessarily believe that Hispanics or Latino are leaning towards the right. I think it's more that the right of Republicans are leaning towards Latinos and minorities. They're beginning to address more of their issues. They've learned not just to put up a candidate who's Latino or a candidate who looks the part, but rather to engage the communion. I think that one area that they've been pretty strong in is reaching out to the faith-based community. The Latino community is a deeply religious community. And genuine outreach to the faith-based community.

'Well, finally, last week, the Department of Justice said it's going to be monitoring polling sites in six counties in California and New Jersey and Passaic County is one of them. Now, this kind of thing does happen from time to time, but the backstory here is important. New Jersey Republicans have baselessly raised concerns about election irregularities. The DOJ says the monitoring will help ensure transparency and ballot security. But this all comes as- Trump has tried to assert even more authority over elections, which are administered by the states. Critics say this amounts to voter suppression. What do you know about what this monitoring will look like in your county?

I don't think anyone knows what it will look like in the county. I think that we all have our opinions and some are concerns and legitimate concerns. What are your concerns? If it's just surveillance, if you want to add cameras where ballots are being stored or mailing ballots, I think this is good transparency and additional layers of accountability. We should all be okay with. But if the goal is to sow seeds of doubt... Then that's a problem. And even if you're not directly interfering with the election, the process of voting, if you execute operations in proximity to where elections are occurring, where you may create any delays, or you may have the perception that there's gonna be a delay, I might say, well, I don't really need to vote. Everyone should come to vote and our goal should be to make it easier. And if you're going to make it harder for individuals who have a right to vote, then I think it's counterproductive for our state and our nation.

Well, we'll see how it all plays out on Tuesday. Mayor Lora, thank you so much for taking the time. I really appreciate it.

Thank you very much, David.

That's all for us today. If you're interested in election night coverage, CNN has a lot of it over at cnn.com slash watch. Head there, click around, you'll find a lot of good stuff and we will be back right here on Wednesday. I'll talk to you then.