NJ Democrats will likely retain the legislative majority after closely fought races

Democrats in New Jersey appeared likely to retain a comfortable majority in the Assembly and Senate, according to early results from The Associated Press in Tuesday’s races.

“It was a great night,” said Democratic Senate President Nick Scutari. “We had good candidates. That’s why I went into this week with confidence.”

Two years ago, when the state’s Democratic governor, Philip D. Murphy, was at the top of the ticket, Republicans gained seven seats in the Legislature. Voters angry about the administration’s Covid-19 mandates flocked to the polls, a turnout that many losing Democrats called a “red wave.” Mr. Murphy became New Jersey’s first Democratic governor in 44 years to be re-elected, but he won by just three points.

On Tuesday, all 120 seats in the Democratic-led state Legislature were back on the ballot, and Republicans hoped to make even more gains.

But as of 11:30 p.m., Democrats had held on to victory in competitive districts in southern and central New Jersey and held the lead in other key races.

Before Tuesday’s vote, Democrats held a 25-15 majority in the Senate and a 46-34 lead in the Assembly; it has been twenty years since Republicans had a majority in both houses.

Two years ago, the most spectacular loss for Democrats came in South Jersey, where Stephen M. Sweeney, a Democratic labor leader who was then president of the Senate, lost his seat to Edward Durr Jr., a conservative candidate running for office. for an election battle. small budget.

Mr. Durr, a furniture store driver who embraced the nickname Ed the Trucker, lost by six percentage points to the Democratic candidate, John J. Burzichelli. Mr. Burzichelli represented the district in the General Assembly for 20 years before losing in 2021.

There was always a good chance that Republicans would overtake Democrats in the State House.

“We’re close enough to the goal,” Alexandra Wilkes, spokeswoman for the Republican Party of New Jersey, said last week about the possibility of winning majorities in both houses, “but we have to hit the target every time.”

In Monmouth County, a largely conservative area on the Jersey Shore, three Republican incumbents lost seats, according to the AP results.

Shaun Golden, the chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Committee, acknowledged that the candidates “came up short.”

“Our legislative record has been, to put it bluntly, a mixed bag,” he said in a statement.

Much of the campaign rhetoric revolved around cultural wedge issues, including abortion rights and whether schools should be required to tell parents about the way students express their gender. State policies intended to reduce residents’ dependence on gas-fired stoves and vehicles have also been used by Republicans to energize their base.

On Tuesday evening, Senator Andrew Zwicker, a Democrat who was first elected in District 16, near Princeton, N.J., by fewer than 100 votes, was still knocking on doors in South Brunswick after sunset, hoping to convince residents to go to vote. During the campaign, he was attacked for legislation he introduced against book bans in schools and in support of transgender youth.

Mr. Zwicker, a scientist who works in Princeton University’s plasma physics lab, said he was hopeful that the District’s residents would “see through that.”

Apparently they did. He defeated his Republican opponent, Mike Pappas, a former congressman, by about 12 percentage points.