Beyond those races, there was still plenty of action to follow from top to bottom around the state.
One such race had Anna Little, former Highlands Mayor, looking to finish what she started two years ago in the 6th Congressional District. This time around she was facing a less known and non-establishment candidate in Ernesto Cullari. A different opponent for Little, but the same result as she will officially now challenge Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ6) once again. She fell short giving Pallone one of his toughest reelecton campaigns largely due to Little and her "Anna's Army", a Tea Party-based grassroots group. Little had a couple obstacles during the primary cycle including deciding to run and overcome losing the GOP nomination in her home county, Monmouth. Like two years ago, she will face an uphill battle in district that favors Pallone and Democrats.
Not far away from Little's race and the 6th Congressional District was another contested race in the 7th Congressional District. Congressman Leonard Lance (R-NJ7) found himself facing conservative opposition on his path to the party's nomination. He was squared off against David Larsen. Lance's more moderate opinions have gotten his negative attention from conservative operatives in the state and why they put Larsen up against him again. Helping Lance's efforts in the waning days and weeks of the race was the fact that Governor Chris Christie and Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI1) came out showing their support for him. The two men are much more popular among party's base than Lance. In the most competitive GOP primary of the day, Lance carried 60% of the vote to Larsen's 40%. Lance's journey again this year is not over with the primary victory. He will need to fend off a potentially dangerous Democratic opponent strictly based on the complexion of the district not changing much after redistricting. Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-17) was unopposed and is looking to be the one to beat Lance for the Democratic Party.
Moving up the state, Congressman Scott Garrett (R-NJ5) finally found which Democrat was going to be general election opponent after Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ9) left the district and likely matchup in November. Adam Gussen, Teaneck's deputy mayor, emerged from a three person field to be the one to challenge Garrett, who easily beat his two opponents. Gussen bested Jason Castle, an Iraq War veteran, and Diane Sare. Like Little's challenge of Pallone, the same could be said of Gussen's challenge of Garrett. The new 5th Congressional District is a bit more favorable of Democrats, but still provides Garrett with another of an advantage to be favored. Democrats, with having Rothman, were hoping to give Garrett his most serious reelection threat; but that was not to be when Rothman changed districts. Garrett cruised past Michael Cino and Bonnie Somer in the GOP primary in the district. Gussen got 55% of the vote compared to Castle's 35% and Sare's 10% while Garrett got 88% compared to the 7% for Cino and 5% for Somer.
In a less competitive race and district, Congressman Albio Sires (D-NJ13) won the Democratic nomination in the new 8th Congressional District. Sires was being challenged by Michael Shurin. The new 8th is favorable for Sires and the Democratic Party and made up of most of Hudson County and parts of Bergen and Essex Counties. In victory, Sires expressed;
"We have to keep battling. When we get back to Washington, we will go on fighting. We are going to try to bring money back to the District although there are no more earmarks. We can get grants by writing letters in support of projects in the District."
Sires will face the Republican nominee Maria Pineiro Karczewski of Bayonne, who ran unopposed. There will also be wildcards in the race with Independent candidates Stephen Deluca of Jersey City, Pablo Olivera of Newark, and Herb Shaw of North Bergen.
Recapping the rest of the action on the night's congressional races, Congressman Rob Andrews (D-NJ1) was barely challenged picking up nearly 90% of the vote against Francis Tenaglio. Andrews will face the GOP nominee, Greg Horton; who was not challenged. Sliding over to the 2nd Congressional District Congressman Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ2) had the same success as Andrews as he picked up roughly the same percent of the vote against his challenger, Mike Assad. LoBiondo will now move onto the general election to face the challenge of Cassandra Shober, who won a three-way Democratic primary. Shober got 65% of the vote compared to Viola Hughes with 26% and Gary Stein with 9%. Both Andrew and LoBiondo will be heavy favorites in their races. The same could be said of Congressman Christopher Smith (R-NJ4), who got 85% of the vote in his primary against Terrence McGowan. Smith will be challenged by Brian Froelich, who was unopposed.
Moreover, Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ11) was unopposed in his primary contest and will be challenged this November by John Arvanites, who had no challenger either. Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ12) was another idle incumbent on Tuesday and will get Eric Beck as his GOP challenger after he too faced no opponent. Both congressmen should be pretty comfortable like Andrews, LoBiondo, and Smith in their races. Holt was in a close race two years ago, but seems to be positioned to have an even more favorable race this year.
Lastly, there is the potentially competitive contest building in the 3rd Congressional District. Congressman Jon Runyan (R-NJ3) and Shelley Adler faced no opposition and their race sets up a potentially third straight flip in the district after Adler's late husband, Congressman John Adler, won the seat for Democrats after over a hundred years in 2008 which was followed by Runyan beating him in the only seat change in New Jersey in 2010. The race will likely, for that reason, be the only one worth watching in terms of the potential for a close race. The other eleven seem to be set up for incumbents to either rump to victory or face minimal opposition.
Besides all of the congressional, senatorial, presidential races; there were some local elections with ramifications for only New Jersey on the line. A couple unfortunate deaths have left voids and set up special elections. One such case was the death of Assemblyman Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-26) in early January before the new State Legislature session was about to begin. His death opened the door for his widow, Betty Lou DeCroce to win the Republican Party's support to fill his seat and now is poised to run for reelection this November in a special election after winning the Republican Party's nomination again this past Tuesday. DeCroce was challenged by Anthony PioCosta from Montville. Now, DeCroce will await a showdown with the Democratic nominee, Joseph Raich of Parsippany. The 26th Legislative District spans parts of Essex, Morris, and Passaic Counties and favors the Republican.
A similar circumstance has unfolding in the 16th Legislative District. Assemblyman Peter Biondi had just been reelected last November and not long after he was dead. It opened up much conversation in both parties for his successor. Donna Simon would emerge from the GOP nomination process as the new assemblywoman. She must face a reelection challenge of her own this November. Opposing her will be Marie Corfield, the elementary school teacher who became a YouTube star after a showdown with Governor Christie at a townhall. Corfield narrowly lost to Biondi last November and outlasted her Democratic primary opponent Sue Nemeth. The district will give Simon an edge, but Corfield ran well in it last year and could finish the deal against someone without Biondi's tenure. The district is made up of parts of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset Counties.
Besides those two special election-based primaries, there were county elections on tablet of the day's votes as well. In Morris County, the freeholder board got a shake up with John Cesaro, John Krickus, and David Scapicchio running as the Morris Conservative Team defeating incumbent Freeholder William Chegwidden. Chegwidden's defeat continued a trend in the county of three years in a row with an incumbent freeholder losing reelection. Challengers have used reigning in runaway spending as their core argument. Chegwidden is also the mayor of Wharton and became a symbol of what conservative are rallying against in their party. For Krickus, for instance;
"We ran as conservative reformers and the voters responded. We want less taxes and less spending. Our No. 1, 2 and 3 priorities are the taxpayers."
While Cesaro would add,
"Our message of more leadership in shared services, controlled spending, more transparency in county government resonated; but what really did it was a combination of the issues plus the courtesy of going to someone’s door."
Those two picked up 17% of the vote apiece while Scapicchio edged out Chegwidden by about 300 votes as each got 13%. Now the conservative trio will be lined up against the Democratic primary winners; Toshiba Foster, Wasim Khan, and Joy Singh. The Democratic group ran unopposed. It has been over 30 years since a Democrat has won a freeholder seat and this race presents a similar challenge for the Democrats running. Over in Essex County, Sheriff Armando Fontoura handily won the Democratic primary in the county with roughly three-fourths of the vote. The district strongly favors him and he should be on his way to an eighth term. Fontoura beat out three challengers and after winning stated,
“I love this job, I want to keep it. Clearly we’re very pleased that the Democratic voters in Essex County think that we’re doing a good job."
Fontoura's closest challenger was John Arnold Jr with 20% of the vote. Leading up to Tuesday's vote, Arnold lamented;
“We’re going against a political machine that has a lot of money. Nobody knew John Arnold ... they’re going to see that change is needed and they’re going to look to me.”
Surveying the state some more, there was a symbolic race in Elizabeth as Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage cruised to victory in his Democratic primary defeating his former top deputy, Oscar Ocasio. Bollwage picked up roughly 75% of the vote and continues his dominance in Elizabeth as he will serve the state's fourth largest city for a sixth term. As he joyful voiced,
"I’ve never won an election by a three-to-one margin. I attribute it to the great volunteer staff, as well as our message of moving the city in the right direction."
There was no one running on the Republican side and clears the way for his continued success. Bollwage had to deal with facing a former friend and fighting off Ocasio's allegations directed towards Bollwage. Bollwage potentially has bigger aspirations one day and this win will assist him build his name and legacy if he were to run for governor or another state office.
Some might have seen primary day in New Jersey as overall lacking suspense. But, the various levels of elections kept voters all over the state busy. The officially established some incumbents and nominees as the nominees for this November. Pascrell and Payne Jr won the big contests of the day. However, there were some changes in a couple places and preparations being made for some compelling general election races.
Like primary day on June 5th, this November will feature limited drama. But, expect a couple compelling races at the national level with the both the presidential and senatorial races that seem all but written. Furthermore, there are twelve congressional contests that overall seem set up for incumbent victories. 2010 gave the state three or four races that became close down the stretch. Could the same be said in similar places again?
Finally, special elections in LD-16 and LD-26 have state implications as Democrats hope to gain two more seats in the Assembly as Republicans hope to keep them as they continue to move towards potentially gaining the State Legislature back in the next couple election cycles.
For all the slack New Jersey gets with elections sometimes, not all is always what is seems. That is why every vote counts even in the Garden State with some races.
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