New Jersey’s political scene has always been filled with colorful characters: the power players, the national figures, the trend-setters, the loud-mouths, and, of course, the occasional boss who gets indicted. All that got amplified in 2025, a once-in-a-generation election year that found New Jersey at the center of the national political world because its governor’s race became a crucial test for some time-resident Donald Trump’s earthshaking return to the White House. In addition, New Jersey’s political world had just been shaken to its core by a court decision that weakened the power of party bosses to sway primaries. The result: nearly a dozen big-name candidates jumped into the governor’s race, the most in a generation. All this added to the drama of an unpopular governor’s last year in office, an unsteady state budget – and how the president’s decisions in Washington rippled through the state every week. With so much happening so fast, we decided to create a weekly politics newsletter, What Makes Jersey Run, to give readers a way to digest it all. Written by NJ.com’s Brent Johnson, New Jersey’s most trusted and well-sourced political reporter, our goal for this one-of-a-kind newsletter was to give readers one-stop shopping for all things Jersey politics during turbulent times. We wanted to keep it lively, give readers a full view they couldn’t find anywhere else, and to make it a force in Jersey journalism and politics.
We knew a weekly one stop shopping newsletter could be attractive to readers overwhelmed by rapid news cycles and chaotic politics in Jersey and Washington. As our team of designers created a reader-friendly template and we set up a marketing plan, Brent spent months priming the pump for What Makes Jersey Run’s debut by letting his sources know what was coming. By the time we launched, New Jersey’s top politicians all wanted in, giving him remarkable access. We also worked to make this newsletter unique: giving it the right voice with a Jersey feel, featuring views from across the political spectrum so all readers could trust it, and keeping it lively. It leads off with Brent’s take on breaking news (often delivering well-reported scoops), political analysis or discussions with top politicians. The expansive “Hot Takes” section highlights all the latest inside talk of New Jersey’s crazy political world. There are links to what other news organizations are saying, polls aimed at engaging readers, and even something for political trivia lovers. We also wanted it to be more than a recitation of the week’s events. To make it a must-read, we had to deliver original reporting; Brent accomplished this by fiercely working his sources and regularly hitting the road with candidates and top officials. An example: What Makes Jersey Run subscribers were the first to read about the fierce behind-the-scenes battle between two Republicans candidates for governor to get Trump’s endorsement, with each employing close associates of the president to make their case.
The non-stop campaign for governor proved our early hunch was right. Jersey was indeed at the center of American politics. Republicans began 2025 with great hope because Jersey voters regularly switched parties in governor’s races for decades, and there was clear unhappiness with eight years of Democratic rule. But they ultimately sent a foreboding message to Trump by electing the Democrat in a landslide. As we hoped, What Makes Jersey Run became a force, providing readers with an inside look as the campaign took many dramatic twists and turns. Top movers and shakers from Jersey past and present knew Brent was the reporter they wanted to talk to. So did the national media. The newsletter consistently gained subscriptions throughout the year and grabbed impressive open rates. As Brent provided analysis and not opinion, many readers described it as a breath of fresh air as they try to navigate a political world filled with acrimony. In the end, What Makes Jersey Run passed its toughest test: It appealed to both political insiders and people who simply want to catch up on what’s happening at the Jersey Statehouse and beyond.
And both learned a thing or two every week.
