How you run for mayor in New Jersey depends on how your municipality chooses its mayor. In several forms of government, the voters elect the mayor directly. Under the standard borough form and city form, for example, the mayor is elected at large for a four-year term at the November general election (N.J.S.A. 40A:60-2; 40A:61-2). Under some Optional Municipal Charter Law plans, the council chooses the mayor from among its own members, so there is no separate race for mayor (N.J.S.A. 40:69A-14).
Where the mayor is elected directly, you get on the ballot with a nominating petition signed by voters from across the municipality. In a municipality with partisan elections, Democratic and Republican candidates file a primary petition with the municipal clerk by 4 p.m. on Monday, March 29, 2027, for the primary on Tuesday, June 8, 2027. In a municipality with nonpartisan May elections, every candidate files a petition of individual certificates by Thursday, February 25, 2027, for the election on Tuesday, May 11, 2027. All of these dates are based on state law, and the number of signatures ranges from 5 to 100 depending on the municipality's population.
The rules below come from the election laws in Titles 19 and 40 of the New Jersey Statutes (N.J.S.A.), as amended in 2025. For the full picture of a 2027 race, see our guide to running for local office in New Jersey.
Step 1: Find out how your mayor is chosen, and when
Ask your municipal clerk three questions.
Is the mayor elected by the voters or chosen by the council? When voters adopt an Optional Municipal Charter Law (Faulkner Act) plan, the ballot question states whether the mayor will be "elected directly by the voters" or "by the council from among its members" (N.J.S.A. 40:69A-14). If your council chooses the mayor, the way to become mayor is to win a council seat first. Our guide on running for council in New Jersey covers that race.
Is the mayor's seat on the 2027 ballot? Mayors in the borough form and the city form serve four-year terms, so the seat is not up every year, and some cities kept the two- or three-year mayoral term they had before the current city law (N.J.S.A. 40A:61-2).
Is the election partisan or nonpartisan? In a partisan municipality, mayoral candidates of the parties that hold primaries (under current law, the Democratic and Republican parties) are chosen in June and elected in November. In a municipality governed by the Uniform Nonpartisan Elections Law, there is no primary, no party label appears for the office, and the election is held on the second Tuesday in May or, if the municipality chose it by ordinance, in November (N.J.S.A. 40:45-7; 40:45-7.1).
Step 2: Check that you qualify
A candidate's acceptance certifies that the candidate is "a resident of and a legal voter in the jurisdiction of the office" (N.J.S.A. 19:23-15; 19:13-8). On a nonpartisan petition, each signer certifies that they know the candidate to be a registered voter of the municipality "for the period required by law" (N.J.S.A. 40:45-8), so ask your clerk what period applies.
In a nonpartisan election, no one may accept nomination for more than one municipal office (N.J.S.A. 40:45-11), so you cannot run for mayor and council on the same ballot. In a partisan municipality, a person on the primary ballot for mayor cannot be another party's candidate for mayor in November (N.J.S.A. 19:13-14.1), and a primary candidate cannot also file as an independent for the same office (N.J.S.A. 19:13-8).
Step 3: Collect signatures from across the municipality
A mayor represents the whole municipality, so the signature number is based on the population of the whole municipality at the last federal census, and any registered voter in the municipality who meets the rules for your petition may sign.
| Population of the municipality | Primary petition (party voters) | Nonpartisan petition (individual certificates) |
|---|---|---|
| More than 50,000 | 100 | 100 |
| More than 25,000, up to 50,000 | 75 | 75 |
| More than 10,000, up to 25,000 | 50 | 50 |
| More than 5,000, up to 10,000 | 25, or 5 percent of the party's last Assembly primary vote if less | 25 |
| More than 2,500, up to 5,000 | 10, or 5 percent if less | 10 |
| Up to 2,500 | 5, or 5 percent if less | 5 |
Sources: N.J.S.A. 19:23-8 and 40:45-8, as amended by P.L.2025, c.20.
On a primary petition, signers are voters of the municipality who are members of your party and intend to affiliate with it, and a member of one party may not sign another party's petition (N.J.S.A. 19:23-7; 19:23-10). Ask your clerk how unaffiliated voters are treated. The circulator (the person who collects the signatures) must be a registered New Jersey voter of the same party and swears before a notary or other officer authorized to give oaths that each signature is in the signer's own handwriting (N.J.S.A. 19:23-11).
On a nonpartisan petition, each signature goes on its own certificate, a separate sheet of paper with the signer's name and address. Each signer is a registered voter of the municipality who has not signed more certificates for mayor than there are seats to fill (N.J.S.A. 40:45-8; 40:45-9).
You may sign and circulate your own petition in either system. Collect a comfortable margin above your minimum, because signatures from people outside the municipality, or who are not registered, will not count. Beacon's guide to New Jersey nominating petitions covers each form line by line.
Step 4: File with the municipal clerk
Partisan primary: file with your municipal clerk before 4 p.m. on Monday, March 29, 2027, with your signed acceptance and the oath of allegiance taken before a notary or another officer authorized to give oaths (N.J.S.A. 19:23-6; 19:23-14; 19:23-15). Amendments, which may not add signatures, are due by 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, and objections by 4 p.m. on Friday, April 2, 2027 (based on state law).
Nonpartisan May election: file with your municipal clerk on or before Thursday, February 25, 2027 (based on state law). The candidate and the campaign manager each swear that the statements are true and every signature is genuine, and the candidate's signed oath is the acceptance of the nomination (N.J.S.A. 40:45-8). Ask your clerk for the closing hour. In nonpartisan municipalities that vote in November, the deadline is Thursday, August 19, 2027 (based on state law).
Independent candidates in a partisan municipality file a petition for direct nomination with the county clerk by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8, 2027 (N.J.S.A. 19:13-3; 19:13-9). The number is 5 percent of the last full General Assembly vote in the municipality, up to 250, and the county clerk can tell you the exact figure.
Check with the Election Law Enforcement Commission for any other filings, and keep copies of what you file.
Step 5: Know whether your municipality holds runoffs
Some nonpartisan municipalities have adopted runoff elections. In those municipalities, if no candidate for mayor wins a majority of the votes cast, the two candidates with the most votes meet again in a runoff (N.J.S.A. 40:45-19). After the May 11, 2027 election, the runoff would be on Tuesday, June 15, 2027, because the usual date falls on primary day. After a November nonpartisan election, it would be on Tuesday, December 7, 2027 (both based on state law). If your municipality has runoffs, plan for a possible second election.
Step 6: Plan a municipality-wide campaign
A mayoral campaign covers every neighborhood, so it needs more volunteers than a ward race. In a partisan municipality, the primary campaign runs from March 29 to June 8, with voter registration closing on Tuesday, May 18 and early voting from Tuesday, June 1 to Sunday, June 6, 2027. In a May nonpartisan municipality, voter registration closes on Tuesday, April 20, and early voting is held only if the municipality adopted it by ordinance.
As an example only: a candidate and six regular volunteers, each knocking on 50 doors a week for ten weeks, would reach about 3,500 doors. Our general post on how to run for mayor, and what it costs covers budgeting and staffing in more detail.
Step 7: Keep supporters informed by text
How a new number gets approved
- Open your account100 free SMS included
- Buy your number$5 a month. Nothing sends until the account has one.
- Verify your campaignCampaign Verify, $95 per two-year cycle. Needs your committee's EIN and filing.
- We file the registrationToll-free verification, or 10DLC for a local number ($75 one time)
- The carriers review itAbout three business days for a toll-free number
- Send your first textStart with a small test group
In a municipality-wide race, texting helps you stay in touch with the supporters you meet at doors and events. Set it up in CampaignCNX+ before early voting begins.
- Settle your committee first. Campaign Verify, the check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that you are a real campaign, needs a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee) with an EIN (its federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Check that your filing is viewable online before you request it, and contact Campaign Verify Support if it is not. A request made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 lasts until January 31, 2029. It costs $95, and Campaign Verify decides eligibility.
- Open your account. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration, as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or toll-free, and files your Campaign Verify token with it. For a toll-free number, the carrier review usually takes about three business days.
- Add only supporters who agreed in writing. A petition signature is not permission to text. Use a sign-up sheet that plainly says the person agrees to receive campaign texts, with the date recorded, and note the consent date and source in a custom field.
- Schedule your reminders. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and STOP replies are handled automatically. For example:
Hi [First name], it's [Name], running for Mayor of [Town]. Voter registration for the primary closes Tue, May 18. Reply STOP to opt out.
100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. For texting rules that apply to every campaign, see our page on political texting.
Start with a call to your municipal clerk
Before anything else, confirm how your mayor is chosen, whether the seat is on the 2027 ballot, and which deadline applies to you. When you are ready to keep supporters informed by text, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.
