NJ Decides 2025: Free voter guide content and resources for New Jersey newsrooms
Partnership with NJ Spotlight News provides statewide election coverage available for republication
New Jersey has an election coming up, and it’s up to voters to decide who will be the next governor. But there’s more: voters will also decide who will represent them in the state’s legislature because all 80 Assembly seats and one Senate seat are up for grabs.
The Center for Cooperative Media is proud to continue its partnership with NJ Spotlight News for NJ Decides 2025, a comprehensive election coverage initiative that has officially launched to provide New Jersey newsrooms with high-quality, republishable content for the upcoming gubernatorial and legislative races.
Free statewide voter guide now available
NJ Spotlight News has officially launched its 2025 voter guide. The best part? It’s free.
You can either link directly to the full guide from your news products or social media platforms, or pick up individual pieces of content and republish them in your news products or social media platforms.
If you choose to link to the guide, you can use this NJ Decides image (white background) or this NJ Decides image (transparent background).
The comprehensive guide includes:
- Information on candidates for governor in New Jersey and where they stand on major issues.
- Tools to help voters find their legislative district.
- Detailed profiles of candidates running to represent each district.
- Essential voting information to help New Jersey residents make informed decisions at the polls.
Free republication for NJ newsrooms
All NJ Spotlight News election coverage — including articles, analysis, and live/video embeds — is available for republication by New Jersey news organizations that are members of the NJ News Commons at no cost.
This content-sharing agreement allows local newsrooms to supplement their election coverage with professionally reported statewide content and stay with ongoing coverage of these races.
📢 Important note: While articles and video content are freely republishable, this DOES NOT INCLUDE photos or images, especially those from Getty Images or Associated Press. Videos can be republished by using the YouTube embed code.
Republication requirements
When republishing NJ Spotlight News content, please include the following tagline somewhere on your article page (typically above or below the body text):
“This story was [originally published](INSERT URL TO ORIGINAL STORY) by NJ Spotlight News and is being republished as part of the NJ Decides 2025 content-sharing agreement with NJ Spotlight News and the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.”
⚠️ Be sure to replace [INSERT URL TO ORIGINAL STORY] with the actual link to the original NJ Spotlight News article and hyperlink the text (without the brackets and parentheses).
Local school board coverage resources
In addition to statewide races, many New Jersey communities will also hold school board elections in 2025. The Center has developed a school board voter guide starter kit to help local newsrooms create comprehensive coverage of these important local races.
The kit includes:
- Template questionnaires for school board candidates
- Instructions for creating voter guides
- Best practices for election coverage
Building on last year’s success
The NJ Decides 2025 initiative builds on the successful partnership from 2024, when New Jersey newsrooms collaborated to provide voters with comprehensive, accessible election information.
This year’s coverage ensures that residents across the state have access to the information they need to participate effectively in the democratic process.
And most importantly, don’t forget to vote.
🤔 Questions and support
For questions about republishing NJ Spotlight News content or accessing election coverage resources, contact the Center for Cooperative Media at info@centerforcooperativemedia.org.
Joe Amditis is the associate director of operations at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. Contact him at amditisj@montclair.edu or on Twitter at @jsamditis.
About the Center for Cooperative Media: The Center is a primarily grant-funded program of the College of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. Its mission is to grow and strengthen local journalism and support an informed society in New Jersey and beyond. The Center is supported with funding from Montclair State University, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, the Independence Public Media Foundation, Rita Allen Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation, Google News Initiative, and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more information, visit centerforcooperativemedia.org.
