How to run for local office in New Jersey: the 2027 guide

The short answer

Every candidate whose name is printed on a New Jersey ballot gets there by filing a nominating petition signed by voters. In 2027 the ballot includes all 40 seats in the State Senate and all 80 seats in the General Assembly, county offices such as county commissioner, municipal governing bodies, and school boards. The primary is on Tuesday, June 8, 2027, and the general election is on Tuesday, November 2, 2027, both based on state law. For Democratic and Republican candidates for the Legislature, county office and partisan municipal office, petitions are due by 4 p.m. on Monday, March 29, 2027.

Not every candidate follows that calendar. Some municipalities elect their governing body in a nonpartisan election on Tuesday, May 11, 2027, with petitions due by Thursday, February 25. School boards elect members in April or in November, depending on the district, and independent candidates file by 4 p.m. on primary day. The first step in any New Jersey race is finding out which of these elections your office is in.

This guide walks through each step in order. The rules come from the New Jersey Constitution, the election laws in Titles 19 and 40 of the New Jersey Statutes (N.J.S.A.), and the Division of Elections' published timelines. The Division had not posted its 2027 timelines when we checked in November 2026, so the 2027 dates here are computed from the statutes and marked "based on state law." Signature numbers changed in 2025, so older guides and forms may show different numbers. This is not legal advice; confirm anything specific to your office with your filing officer. If you have never run before, our post on how to run for local office with no experience covers the groundwork that applies in any state.

What is on New Jersey's 2027 ballot.

The Legislature. Members of the General Assembly serve two-year terms, so all 80 seats are elected in every odd-numbered year. Senators usually serve four-year terms; the senators elected in 2023 serve until January 2028, so all 40 seats in the Senate are on the 2027 ballot. Each of the 40 legislative districts elects one senator and two Assembly members. Our guide on running for the New Jersey Senate or Assembly covers the qualifications and petitions.

County offices. Each county is governed by a board of county commissioners (the office state law still calls "chosen freeholder"). Commissioners are elected at the general election and generally serve three-year terms. Counties also elect a sheriff for three years and a county clerk and a surrogate for five years each, so whether those offices are on your county's 2027 ballot depends on its term cycle. See how to run for county commissioner in New Jersey.

Municipal offices. Each municipality elects its governing body on the schedule set by its form of government. Under the standard borough form, for example, there is an election every year. Step 1 below explains the three election systems. Our guides on running for council and running for mayor cover each office.

School boards. Type II school districts elect board members at an annual school election, held either on the third Tuesday in April (April 20, 2027) or with the general election in November, depending on the district. School board elections are nonpartisan. See how to run for school board in New Jersey.

Key 2027 dates at a glance.

Our New Jersey 2027 election calendar lists every date in order, including objection deadlines and runoffs.

Step 1

Find out which election your office is in.

New Jersey municipalities elect their governing bodies in one of three ways.

Partisan elections in November. In a partisan municipality, candidates of the parties that hold primaries are chosen at the June primary, and the governing body is elected at the November general election. Under current law, only the Democratic and Republican parties hold primaries. A borough under the standard borough form, for example, elects a mayor at large for four years and six council members for three-year terms, two of them each year, with an election every November (N.J.S.A. 40A:60-2).

Nonpartisan elections in May. Municipalities whose charter or plan of government calls for regular municipal elections on the second Tuesday in May follow the Uniform Nonpartisan Elections Law (N.J.S.A. 40:45-5 and following). They can include municipalities under the Optional Municipal Charter Law (often called the Faulkner Act), the commission form of government (the Walsh Act), the municipal manager form and the village form. No party labels appear for these offices, and every candidate files the same kind of petition.

Nonpartisan elections in November. A municipality under the Uniform Nonpartisan Elections Law may move its election to the November general election day by ordinance, and it then cannot move back to May for at least 10 years (N.J.S.A. 40:45-7.1).

Some nonpartisan municipalities have also adopted runoff elections. Where they have, a mayor or ward council candidate who does not win a majority faces the second-place finisher in a runoff. In 2027, a runoff after the May 11 election would fall on Tuesday, June 15, and a runoff after a November nonpartisan election on Tuesday, December 7 (both based on state law).

Your municipal clerk can tell you which system your municipality uses, which seats are on the 2027 ballot, and whether your seat is at large or by ward. For county offices, ask your county clerk. County clerks and municipal clerks exchange official notices of the county and municipal offices to be elected in November on Monday, March 29, 2027.

Step 2

Check that you qualify.

Be a resident and a legal voter of the district. A primary 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), and so does an independent candidate's (N.J.S.A. 19:13-8). Ask your filing officer whether your office has any additional residency period.

Meet your office's own rules. Some offices have specific qualifications:

• State Senate: at least 30 years old, a citizen and resident of New Jersey for four years, and a resident of the district for one year before the election (N.J. Const. Art. IV, Sec. I, par. 2).
• General Assembly: at least 21, a citizen and resident of New Jersey for two years, and a resident of the district for one year before the election (same section).
• School board: a citizen and resident of the district for at least one year before the election, able to read and write, registered to vote in the district, and not disqualified by any of the criminal convictions listed in N.J.S.A. 18A:12-1.

Candidates for the Senate and the General Assembly also attach a signed statement that they have not been convicted of a crime of the first to fourth degree, or disclose any such conviction (N.J.S.A. 19:23-15).

Choose one route for each office. A candidate who has signed an acceptance for a party primary petition cannot also accept an independent petition for the same office, and the reverse is also true (N.J.S.A. 19:13-8; N.J.S.A. 19:23-15). A person on the primary ballot for a municipal office cannot be another party's candidate for that office in November (N.J.S.A. 19:13-14.1). In a nonpartisan municipal election, you may accept nomination for only one municipal office (N.J.S.A. 40:45-11).

Step 3

Collect signatures on the right petition.

New Jersey has four kinds of candidate petitions. The numbers below are minimums set by state law as amended in 2025 (P.L.2025, c.20). Collect a margin above your minimum, because unqualified signatures do not count.

Party primary petitions

Democratic and Republican candidates are nominated "exclusively by the members of the same political party by petition" (N.J.S.A. 19:23-5). The minimums are:

• State Senate or General Assembly: 250 signatures.
• County office: 1 percent of the party's total vote at the last primary for General Assembly in the county, or 300, whichever is less, but never fewer than 150.
• Municipal office, based on the population of the municipality, or of the ward for a ward seat, at the last federal census: 100 above 50,000; 75 above 25,000 up to 50,000; 50 above 10,000 up to 25,000; and in smaller places 25, 10 or 5, or 5 percent of the party's last Assembly primary vote if that is less (N.J.S.A. 19:23-8).

Signers are voters of the district who are members of the party and intend to affiliate with it; a member of one party may not sign another party's petition (N.J.S.A. 19:23-7; 19:23-10). Ask your filing officer how voters who are not affiliated with any party 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 that each signature is in the signer's own handwriting (N.J.S.A. 19:23-11). You may sign and circulate your own petition.

Direct nomination petitions

Independent candidates, and candidates of any party that does not hold a primary, file a petition for direct nomination. It needs signatures from voters of the district equal to 5 percent of the total vote for General Assembly at the last election for the whole Assembly, but no more than 250 for any office below statewide (N.J.S.A. 19:13-5). Your filing officer can tell you the number for your district. The circulator does not need to be a registered voter but must be at least 18, a New Jersey resident and a U.S. citizen (N.J.S.A. 19:13-7). Each voter may sign one petition for each office, and signers state that they have not signed a primary or other petition for that office (N.J.S.A. 19:13-4; 19:13-6).

Nonpartisan municipal petitions

Nonpartisan candidates file a petition made of individual certificates, one signature per sheet of paper, each with the signer's name and address (N.J.S.A. 40:45-8). The minimums follow population, without the 5 percent option: 100, 75, 50, 25, 10 or 5. Signers are registered voters of the municipality, and for a ward seat they must live in the candidate's ward. Instead of a circulator's affidavit, the candidate and the candidate's campaign manager swear that each signature is genuine.

School board petitions

A school board petition needs at least 25 signatures of qualified voters of the district, and one of them may be the candidate's own (N.J.S.A. 19:60-7). Two or more candidates may file a joint petition.

The election statutes describe petitions signed by hand on paper, and we found no electronic signature option for candidate petitions. Beacon's guide to New Jersey nominating petitions covers each form line by line, with advice on collecting signatures door to door.

Step 4

File your petition and protect it.

File with the right office. Primary petitions for the Legislature go to the Secretary of State (the Division of Elections in Trenton), county petitions to the county clerk, and municipal petitions to the municipal clerk (N.J.S.A. 19:23-6). Independent petitions for the Legislature go to the Secretary of State and all others to the county clerk (N.J.S.A. 19:13-3). Nonpartisan municipal petitions go to the municipal clerk. School board petitions go to the board secretary for April elections and the county clerk for November elections.

Meet the deadline. Most deadlines close at 4 p.m. For the primary, that is 4 p.m. on Monday, March 29, 2027, and at the Division of Elections in 2026 a filer had to be in the building before 4 p.m. File early so there is time to fix a problem.

Attach the candidate's papers. Primary and independent candidates file a signed acceptance with the oath of allegiance, taken before an officer authorized to give oaths, such as a notary. Use the current form from your filing officer. Each petition form also carries a notice about the Election Law Enforcement Commission, so check with the Election Law Enforcement Commission for any other filings.

Know the objection window. Any petition that appears to meet the law is treated as valid unless someone files a written objection in time. For the primary, objections are due by 4 p.m. on Friday, April 2, 2027, and you may amend a defective petition, but not add signatures, until 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 1 (based on state law; N.J.S.A. 19:23-20, 19:23-20.1). Keep a copy of every page you file and your own count of signatures.

Step 5

Plan the campaign around your election.

For a Democratic or Republican candidate, the stretch from the March 29 filing deadline to the June 8 primary is about ten weeks. Four voter dates shape it:

• Wednesday, April 14, 2027: the deadline for voters to file a change of party affiliation for the primary.
• Tuesday, May 18, 2027: voter registration closes for the primary.
• Tuesday, June 1 to Sunday, June 6, 2027: in-person early voting, with sites open at least 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
• Tuesday, June 1, 2027: the last day to apply for a mail-in ballot by mail.

Candidates in May nonpartisan elections campaign from the February 25 filing deadline to May 11. Their voter registration closes on Tuesday, April 20, and early voting happens only where the municipality has adopted it by ordinance.

Much of a local campaign happens at the door. One simple approach is to divide your district into areas, visit each area once before early voting opens, and return to households that were undecided. Our campaign plan to the June 8, 2027 New Jersey primary turns these dates into a week-by-week schedule.

Step 6

Text the supporters who asked to hear from you.

Text messages help you reach supporters at the moments that matter: when early voting opens, before an event, and in the last days of the campaign. Set texting up in this order with CampaignCNX+.

1. Form your committee and get an EIN. Campaign Verify is the check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that a political sender is a real campaign. It is open to 527 committees (527 is the federal tax status of a political committee) that have an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Candidates with no committee, and sole proprietors, are not eligible.
2. Check that your filing is viewable online. Before you request Campaign Verify, confirm that your committee filing can be found online; the Election Law Enforcement Commission can tell you where New Jersey committee filings are published. If you cannot find yours, contact Campaign Verify Support before you pay. Campaign Verify decides eligibility, and we cannot promise it.
3. Request at the right time. Campaign Verify costs $95 per two-year cycle, and the PIN goes only to the contact details on your filing. A request made before Sunday, November 15, 2026 expires on Sunday, January 31, 2027. A request made on or after November 15, 2026 lasts until Wednesday, January 31, 2029, which covers every 2027 New Jersey election.
4. Open your account and let CampaignCNX+ file your registration. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration for you, either 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number, a one-time $75 for your first local line) or toll-free. For a toll-free number, the carrier review usually takes about three business days. You buy the $95 Campaign Verify token from Campaign Verify, and CampaignCNX+ files it with your registration.
5. Add only people who gave written permission. Text supporters who gave prior express written consent, for example on a sign-up sheet that plainly says they agree to receive campaign texts, with the date recorded. Record the consent date and source in a custom field, tag where you met each person, and put supporters in a group. Never text everyone who signed your petition or everyone on a voter list.
6. Write short messages and schedule them. Keep each text under 160 characters, name the campaign, and end the first message with "Reply STOP to opt out." STOP, HELP and START replies are handled automatically. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone.

100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month, and the free texts can be used once your number is bought and approved. After that, pay-as-you-go texting costs $0.06 per SMS segment, and the Basic plan is $55 a month for 1,000 texts. For the full setup, read texting voters in a New Jersey local race. Our post on Campaign Verify for local candidates explains verification in more depth, and our political texting page covers texting for campaigns in every state.

Guides for each part of the race.

• New Jersey 2027 election calendar for candidates
• How to run for council in New Jersey: city, borough and town
• How to run for mayor in New Jersey
• How to run for school board in New Jersey
• How to run for county commissioner in New Jersey
• How to run for the New Jersey Senate or Assembly in 2027
• A campaign plan to the June 8, 2027 New Jersey primary
• Texting voters in a New Jersey local race: consent and setup