NJ Legislative Update
New Jersey Election Update:
Governor’s Race by the Numbers
This year, the Governorship and General Assembly are on the ballot. The gubernatorial election is to succeed Governor Murphy who is term limited. This year’s primary election was a political shift from the past because it is the first state primary without the advantage of preferred ballot positioning known as the county line. Now Senator Andy Kim, sued to abolish the county lines while running for Senate last year stating it gave an unfair advantage to candidates backed by the party establishment. His lawsuit ultimately overturned the county line system, putting the strength of county parties to the test.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill and former Assemblyman Jack Ciatarelli won the Democratic and Republican nominations for Governor. Sherrill is a current Congresswoman and was considered by many to be the more establishment candidate and one of the more moderate Democrats in the field.
Jack Ciattarelli won by a large margin and will continue as the Republican nominee for the Gubernatorial race. Ciattarelli is a former state Assemblyman and was seen as a frontrunner in the race, especially after receiving President Trump’s endorsement in the final weeks of the campaign.
Below is a breakdown of the vote margins according to the Associated Press with 96% of votes reported.
Democratic Primary
- Mikie Sherrill- 34%
- Ras Baraka- 20.4%
- Steve Fulop- 15.9%
- Josh Gottheimer- 11.8%
- Sean Spiller- 10.7%
- Steve Sweeney- 7.2%
Republican Primary
- Jack Ciattarelli- 67.8%
- Bill Spadea- 21.9%
- Jon Bramnick- 6.2%
Assembly Races
In addition to the Governorship, the State Assembly is on the ballot this year. Incumbents lost to challengers or races remain too close to call in the following districts.
District 20 (Union)
Incumbent Annette Quijano has won re-election. With Assemblyman Atkins not seeking re-election there is an open Assembly seat. The race for the second seat is still too close to call between Ed Rodriguez and Union County Commissioner Sergio Granados.
District 28 (Essex and Union)
Chigozie Onyema and Cleopatra Tucker won the Democratic nomination for State Assembly in the 28th district, with freshman incumbent Garnet Hall losing her race. Hall ran on the non-party backed Steve Fulop ticket.
District 31 (Hudson)
Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker has won the nomination for one of the Assembly seats in the 31st district. The second nomination is still up for grabs between incumbent two term Assemblyman and Walker running mate William Sampson, incumbent freshman Assemblywoman Barbara McCann Stamato and Bayonne Councilwoman Jacqueline Weimmer. McCann Stanton and Weimmer ran on a ticket with gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop.
District 32 (Hudson)
Katie Brennan has won the first Democratic nomination for the Assembly in the 32nd district. The second nomination is still too close to call between Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla (Brennan’s running mate) and incumbent freshman Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez who ran on the Fulop ticket.
District 33 (Hudson)
In the Assembly race in District 33 there was a Senator Stack backed Assembly slate vs a former Senator Sacco backed Assembly slate. The Stack backed slate of incumbent Gabe Rodriguez and Larry Wainstein beat the Sacco backed slate decisively.
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Kenyatta Stewart won one of the Democratic nominations for the Assembly in the 35th district following longtime Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter’s decision not to run for reelection. Incumbent Assemblyman Al Abdelaziz is leading for the second nomination, but the race has yet to be called.
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