by Nikita Biryukov, New Jersey Monitor
New Jersey Democrats triumphed in Assembly races Tuesday, and are set to expand their majority next year after winning three long-sought seats in the 8th and 21st districts and threatening to flip four others.
The apparent victories will give Democrats a two-thirds supermajority in the lower chamber for the first time since 2019 and will expand their majority to its largest since the party won 66 seats in 1973 on the heels of President Richard Nixon’s impeachment.
“Tonight, voters decisively backed Democratic legislative leadership in New Jersey and sent a clear message to MAGA extremists whose policies have substantially driven the cost of living up,” said Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.
Democrats went into Tuesday night with 52 of the Assembly’s 80 seats, a majority just one vote shy of two-thirds of the chamber. That majority will likely expand to at least 55 — a historical high watermark — and could stretch further as election officials tally provisional and late-arriving mail ballots over the next week.
The party’s Assembly victories came the same night it held the governor’s mansion, with Democratic Mikie Sherrill winning a decisive victory in the gubernatorial race against Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
Support for Democratic Assembly candidates swelled everywhere, but it brought the party wins in New Jersey’s suburban districts.
The wave carried Garwood Councilman Vincent Kearny and Andrew Macurdy to victory over Union County Republican Assemblywomen Michele Matsikoudis and Nancy Munoz in the 21st District.
It pushed Hammonton High School teacher Anthony Angelozzi to victory in the 8th District’s repeat race. His running mate, Assemblywoman Andrea Katz (D-Burlington), also sailed to reelection, defeating Assemblymen Michael Torrissi (R-Burlington) and former Assemblyman Brandon Umba, who lost his seat to Katz two years ago in a nail-biter.
Though Republicans still hold the 8th District’s Senate seat, the Assembly victories are a coup for Burlington County Democrats. Their party has not held both of the 8th District’s Assembly seats at any point since 1973.
“New Jersey voters sent a clear message tonight,” said Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex). “They want leaders who put people first — not politics — and who focus on uniting our communities rather than dividing them. They believe in New Jersey’s Democratic Party to deliver results and invest in a future for all working families. Together with Governor-elect Sherrill and our legislative partners, we will keep building a stronger, fairer, and more affordable New Jersey for everyone.”
In the 3rd District, where a Republican truck driver’s surprise win ousted New Jersey’s longest-serving Senate president in 2021, Assembly members Heather Simmons (D-Gloucester) and Dave Bailey (D-Gloucester) led Republican challengers Tuesday night and were expected to win reelection, though their margin remained slim compared to other districts.
Two contests in Republican districts that were not expected to be competitive were too close to call Tuesday night.
Margins in the 25th District, where Republican incumbents Aura Dunn (R-Morris) and Christian Barranco (R-Passaic) faced challenges from nutritionist Marisa Sweeney and Morristown Councilman Steve Pylypchuk, were razor-thin.
Tuesday night, Dunn was in first place, about 650 votes ahead of Sweeney. Barranco was about 250 votes behind Sweeney, and Pylypchuk trailed the pack.
A Democratic victory in the 25th would make history. No Democrat has won an Assembly seat in the 25th district at any point since the state adopted its 40-district map in 1973.
The Republican State Legislative Committee said it always expected Tuesday’s races to be difficult and appeared to blame GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, at least partly, for the party’s losses.
“Despite underperformance at the top of the ticket we are proud of our investment in a robust get-out-the-vote operation that was crucial to maximizing GOP turnout and mitigating losses in key State Assembly races,” said Edith Jorge-Tuñón, the committee’s president.
New Jersey’s 2nd Legislative District also saw an unexpectedly tight race Tuesday. Incumbent Assemblyman Don Guardian (R-Atlantic), a former Atlantic City mayor, was in first place by about 1,000 votes Tuesday — but his running mate, incumbent Assemblywoman Claire Swift (R-Atlantic), ran behind both of their Democratic challengers.
Fewer than 300 votes separated Swift and attorney Maureen Rowan and Pleasantville Councilwoman Joanne Falmuro.
The contests in the 2nd and 25th Districts will likely be decided by provisional and late-arriving mail ballots, and results there could take a week or more to come into sharp relief.
Result tallies will shift over the coming days as election officials count provisional and late-arriving mail-in ballots. Under New Jersey law, officials must count mail ballots postmarked by Election Day that reach them no later than six days after the election.
Such ballots are typically few in number relative to overall turnout, and provisional ballots cannot be counted until after all valid mail ballots have been processed and tallied.