Trump Lost This State by 16 Points in 2020. This Year, He Lost by 5.

In New Jersey, Democrats outnumber Republicans and control every branch of government. But Tuesday’s vote reflected a shift to the right.

Four years ago, New Jersey voters rejected Donald J. Trump’s presidential re-election bid by a resounding 16-point margin.

On Tuesday, in a state where Democrats control every branch of government and outnumber Republicans by 900,000 voters, the gap between people who voted for Mr. Trump and his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, narrowed to roughly five points.

Mr. Trump garnered a nearly identical number of votes in New Jersey — 1.9 million — this year and in 2020, according to results tabulated by The Associated Press that are likely to change somewhat as mailed ballots are fully tallied.

But the number of voters who cast ballots for the Democratic candidate fell precipitously, resulting in a stark rightward tilt in the margin.

Ms. Harris, the first Black and South Asian woman to run as the nominee of the Democratic Party, got about 500,000 fewer votes than President Biden did in 2020 in New Jersey, one of the most ethnically and racially diverse states in the country.

Ms. Harris still managed to win the state and its 14 electoral college votes, even as Mr. Trump won the White House.