| Every seat in the New Jersey State Senate and Assembly is up for re-election this year, and voters will be seeing a number of new names on the ballot. Many incumbents will not be seeking re-election this time around due to retirement, conflicts as a result of redistricting, or because they are seeking election to a different public office. There are several hotly contested races we’ll be keeping an eye on this year. The Democratic party currently controls the legislature 25-15 in the Senate and 46-34 in the Assembly. Republicans gained ground in the election two years ago, and are seeking to expand that growth this year. Senate Incumbents not running for re-election Democrats District 4, Fred Madden District 12, Samuel D. Thompson District 27, Richard Codey District 31, Sandra Cunningham District 34, Nia Gill Republicans District 8, Jean Stanfield District 9, Christopher J. Connors District 24, Steven Oroho There are also two Senate members who left office since the last election: the late Ron Rice, District 28, and Michael Doherty, District 23 (retired) Assembly Incumbents not running for re-election Democrats District 4, Gabriela Mosquera District 4, Paul D. Moriarty (running for State Senate) District 14, Daniel R. Benson District 16, Sadaf Jaffer District 17, Joseph V. Egan (retiring, his son is running to replace him) District 27, John F. McKeon (running for State Senate) District 27, Mila Jasey (redistricted into District 28) District 28, Jackie Yustein (redistricted into District 34) District 31, Angela V. McKnight (running for State Senate) District 32, Pedro Mejia (redistricted into District 33) District 32, Angelica M. Jimenez (redistricted into District 33) District 33, Annette Chaparro (redistricted into District 32) District 33, Raj Mukherji (redistricted into District 32; running for State Senate) District 34, Britnee Timberlake (running for State Senate) District 34, Thomas P. Giblin (redistricted into District 27) Republicans District 3, Beth Sawyer District 9, DiAnne Gove District 10, John Catalano (running for Mayor of Brick Township) District 24, Hal Wirths District 24, Parker Space (running for State Senate) District 39, DeAnne DeFuccio District 40, Kevin J. Rooney Two members who left office since the last election: the late Ron Dancer-R, District 12, and Ralph Caputo-D, District 28 (retired) Notable races we’ll be watching: District 2: This district flipped Republican in 2021, but has since been subject to re-districting that may shake things up again. District 3: After Senate President Sweeney’s stunning upset in the last election, Democrats are spending a lot more money here this time around, trying to unseat first-term GOP Senator Ed Durr. Durr is squaring off against former Assemblyman John Burzichelli, who has strong name recognition in the district. Parental rights has become a big topic during the campaign for the GOP side, while the Dems are focusing on Reproductive Rights. Durr is the subject of a blistering campaign ad featuring retired State Senator and political powerhouse Loretta Weinberg, calling out Durr for his views on abortion, including the infamous social media post where he advised women to “keep their legs closed” . District 4: Without retiring Senator Madden at the top of the ticket, Republicans are working to capture some ground. Assemblyman Moriarty is running for Madden’s open seat, and is favored to win, but with all newcomers running for the Assembly seats, including an Independent candidate whose backers have been questioned by the GOP, this is considered a race to watch. District 8: With Senator Stanfield stepping down, newcomer Latham Tiver is running with GOP Assembly Incumbents Mike Torrissi Jr. and Brandon Umba. Parental rights and the NJDOE sex ed curriculum have become hot campaign issues, and should help the GOP hold the district. District 11: The only district in NJ to be split between political parties, with a Democrat Senator and two GOP assemblymembers. Redistricting changes in January 2023 made this district more favorable to Democrats, but it’s still expected to be a close race. This is the district where the most campaign money has reportedly been spent so far: over $6.5 million. District 16: Senator Zwicker and his Assembly running mate Roy Freiman flipped this district for the Democrats when they ran for Assembly in 2017, and he became the first Democrat Senator in D16 when he won Kip Bateman’s open Senate seat in 2021. Republicans are hoping to recapture the district, and the campaigns have reportedly spent over $4.2 million so far this election season. District 17: Incumbent Assemblyman Joseph Egan is retiring, and his son Kevin Egan is running for the open seat. Considered a safe district for Democrats to hold. District 38: This district has been called “competitive” for the past few years but has nevertheless remained under Democrat control. This is another district where the issue of parental rights may play a factor, and we’ll be watching to see if the GOP candidates have enough support to unseat the incumbents. |
