Just 8% of New Jersey’s registered voters cast ballots in the ho-hum primary election that was decided Tuesday. Almost every incumbent won their race including Republican Sen. Ed Durr. He’s better known as “Ed the Trucker,” the guy who beat former Senate President Steve Sweeney in November 2021. Durr handily defeated challenger Beth Sawyer in South Jersey’s 3rd Legislative District.
In Essex County’s redrawn 27th District two long-serving veterans — Sens. Richard Codey and Nia Gill — were pitted against each other. Gill lost both the county line and the race. Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky said, “The line seems to have held in all the big races. … It seems like county-endorsed candidates in most of the large counties prevailed.”
Contested races that generated better voter turnouts included the 26th District in northwest New Jersey. Republican Sen. Joe Pennacchio won against Morris County Commissioner Tom Mastrangelo, who tried to brand the incumbent as a “woke” Republican. “Jersey Joe” Pennacchio, who chaired Donald Trump’s New Jersey campaign, beat Mastrangelo by about 20 points.
In another contested race, Nick DeSilvio lost to Republican challenger Christopher Del Borrello in Gloucester County’s 4th District. With candidates now set for general election campaigns in the fall, Republicans will get another chance to make inroads in Trenton, where Democrats control both Senate and Assembly. All 120 legislative seats will be on the ballot in November.
