After a dramatic primary, New Jersey voters turn to the Tuesday, Nov. 5 general election to resolve several races for federal offices up and down the state.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, Republican former President Donald Trump and seven third-party candidates will compete for the state’s 14 electoral votes in the race to replace outgoing President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
New Jersey has favored the Democrat in presidential elections since 1992. In 2020, Biden carried the state with 57 percent of the vote; in 2016, Hillary Clinton carried it with 55 percent.
Nonetheless, the Garden State was home to more post-primaries presidential campaign activity than in previous years, thanks to Trump. In May, he held a rally in Wildwood on the Jersey Shore, in between New York court appearances. In August, he held a press conference at his Bedminster golf club just before the Democratic National Convention.
In the U.S. Senate race, Rep. Andy Kim, D-3, and Republican Curtis Bashaw are vying to fill the open seat that former Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez vacated after his conviction on bribery charges.
Kim is a three-term congressman, and Bashaw is a hotel developer and first-time candidate from southern New Jersey. Four independent candidates also are on the ballot.
Since 2000, Democrats have had an average margin of victory of about 12 points in New Jersey’s U.S. Senate elections.
The past two New Jersey Republicans to serve in the U.S. Senate were both appointed to the position and served only a few months each.
New Jersey’s most recent elected Republican senator left office in 1979.
Kean vs. Altman
Among the most competitive U.S. House races is the 7th District seat. Republican Tom Kean Jr. is seeking a second term against Democrat Sue Altman, a former leader of the state’s progressive Working Families Alliance. Kean is the son, grandson and great-grandson of former New Jersey elected officials.
In the 5th District, which includes West Milford, incumbent Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat, faces token opposition from Republican Mary Jo Guinchard and third-party candidates Beau Forte, James Tosone and Aamir Arif.
Six people are running for three seats on the Passaic County Board of County Commissioners. They are Republicans Nicolino Gallo, Assad Mujtaba and William Cytowicz, a current member of the West Milford school board, and Democrats Cassandra Lazzara, Rodney De Vore and John Bartlett.
Vying for county sheriff are Republican Marla Saracino and Democrat Thomas Adamo.
In West Milford, five candidates are running for two Township Council seats. They are incumbents Ada Erik and Marilyn Lichtenberg, both Republicans; Democrats Karen Phelan and Brian Zlotkin; and Steve Jarvis, an independent.
Claire Lockwood and Teresa Dwyer are seeking re-election to the Board of Education without opposition. A third seat is available because Kate Romeo is not running for a new term and no one else filed to run for that seat.
How to vote
Early in-person voting continues through Sunday, Nov. 3 at the West Milford Public Library, 1470 Union Valley Road.
The hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Polls will be open on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Residents who received ballots in the mail may return them by mail or place them in the official drop box in front of the municipal building, 1480 Union Valley Road, by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Early in-person voting was only recently enacted in New Jersey. Early in-person and mail ballots accounted for 30 percent of the vote in 2022.
The first vote counts released on election night are expected to be a combination of those advance votes. Votes uncounted on election night can average 5 percent to 6 percent and higher in Cumberland and Bergen counties.
The urban north is by far the state’s most Democratic region, while the northwest is the most Republican.
As of Oct. 1, New Jersey had 6,659,963 registered voters. About 38 percent are Democrats, 24 percent are Republicans and 37 percent are unaffiliated.
Voter turnout in 2020 presidential election was 70 percent of registered voters.
In 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, about 93 percent of the total vote was cast before Election Day. In 2022, about 30 percent of the total vote was cast before Election Day.
By midnight after Election Day in 2020, about 32 percent of total votes cast were reported.