The 2013 New Jersey elections were an interesting anomaly. Governor Chris Christie won 61.2% of the two-party vote and yet Democrats in the state legislature came out of it with the same 24-16 State Senate majority and 48-32 General Assembly majority they went in with. Only one incumbent Democrat went down, Assemblyman Nelson Albano of LD-01, but Democrats compensated by defeating an incumbent Republican in LD-02, Assemblyman John Amodeo, in an upset. Democrats even gained a bit of ground in county government elections and Christie being on the ballot had little effect on the Republicans.
Contrast that to Gov. Tom Kean, Sr.'s mega landslide victory in 1985 when he beat Democrat Peter Shapiro 69.6%-29.3%(!) and flipped the Assembly from a 44-36 Democratic majority to an astounding 50-30 Republican majority (the Senate was unchanged as it was not up for election that year). Even in 2009, when Christie won narrowly over Gov. Jon Corzine, Republicans only netted 1 Assembly seat (which Democrats promptly netted back in 2011) and gained significant ground in county elections. The dearth of coattails in 2013 were made even more surprising by these comparisons. Although during the campaign itself, most insiders predicted Democrats would probably decline to narrower majorities. Polls showed Democrats leading the generic ballot, but Christie's strong leads was thought too powerful for a few Democrats.
All throughout the campaign was the controversy over Christie having any downballot coattails. Republicans constantly played up the possibility of Christie having strong coattails, despite polling showing that was not the case. Polling all throughout showed Democrats leading the generic ballot by at least mid-single digits. Democrats, not to be complacent, concentrated a lot of campaign finance on keeping the majority and minimizing coattails as much as possible. The biggest players in this effort were a D.C. super PAC called the "Fund for Jobs, Growth and Security" and a super PAC funded by the powerful NJEA (teachers' union).
Two leading players for the Republicans were Senate Minority Leader (and 2006 U.S. Senate candidate) Tom Kean, Jr. (R-21) and Assembly Minority Leader Jon Brammick (R-21). Tom Kean and his lieutenant Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-13), along with Assemblyman Brammick, raised good sums of money for the GOP legislative campaign committees. Being in safe Republican districts, they were also able to make ample monetary and in-kind donations from their large campaign coffers to candidates that needed a shot in the arm to be competitive.
Leading the Democratic side was Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3), Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-37), and Senator (and ex-Senate President and ex-Acting Governor) Dick Codey (D-27). All three being fundraising magnets, they were also able to lend monetary and in-kind assistance to their fellow Democrats. Sweeney, however, was in a competitive district (Obama won it 55%-44% in 2012). Tom Kean tried to run a strong campaign against him, but in the end, it was all for naught.
After the election and the Democrats in the Senate were confirmed to go back with the same 24-16 seat majority they went out with, Sweeney took time to rub Kean's failure in his face. He trolled and teased the Minority Leader, even buying this cheap web ad of himself below on the Politicker NJ website.
Shortly after the elections, there was a power struggle behind the scenes about whether or not Tom Kean should be kept on as Minority Leader. Having failed to pick up any Senate seats for Republicans under his watch since taking the position in January 2008, some Republicans felt it was time to switch to Senator O'Toole (R-40), a trusted Christie confidant. Although Christie claimed to not take a side, he did meet with the GOP caucus in private and everyone can tell he put his thumb on the scale for O'Toole, not liking Kean's go-it-alone approach for running elections. In the end, Kean held on in a caucus vote by 10-6. Ex-Gov. Tom Kean, Sr., a longtime friend of Christie, struck back at Christie for daring to dethrone his boy.
Now, without further ado, let's analyze the 2013 NJ legislative elections. It should be disclosed off the bat that I am registered to vote in LD-08 and did canvassing for the Democratic candidates in LD-18 (near my university). In this diary I will cover the "Big 6" (LD-1,2,3,14,18,38), the most competitive legislative districts this year. I will also occasionally discuss a few local elections (e.g. some county Boards of Chosen Freeholders elections) in certain counties. Let's begin.
(Note: Statewide NJ legislative map and profile photos taken from the legislature's website. The 2012 federal election results for each legislative district were taken from this useful spreadsheet courtesy of DK Elections. The official 2013 NJ election results are archived here.)
Before going further, it should be noted that in New Jersey, we use an uncommon system where we divide the state into forty legislative districts and each district elects two Assemblymen and one Senator. Assemblymen are up for election every year that ends in an odd number and Senators are up for election in all years that end with 1, 3, and 7. It's been this way since 1965, when we saw the application of 1964's Reynolds v. Sims decision setting the legal principle "one person, one vote." Before that, the legislature was far simpler. Each of the 21 counties voted one representative each to the legislature regardless of their populations. By the mid-60s, this meant that Cape May County was having the same level of representation as Essex County (home of Newark) despite the latter being 19 times more populated. Thanks to the Supreme Court's ruling, this was now ruled unconstitutional.
Part 1: South Jersey
LD-01: Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Dennis Township)
2012 Federal Elections: 52.6% Obama, 54.2% Senator Menendez
All Cape May County
Atlantic County: Corbin City, Estell Manor, Weymouth
Cumberland County: Commercial, Downe, Fairfield, Greenwich, Hopewell, Lawrence, Maurice River, Millville, Shiloh, Stow Creek, Vineland
Atlantic County: 977 Van Drew, 792 Adelizzi-Schmidt, 52 Greto
Cape May County: 17,743 Van Drew, 13,368 Adelizzi-Schmidt, 421 Greto
Cumberland County: 15,904 Van Drew, 8675 Adelizzi-Schmidt, 352 Greto
Total: 34,624 Van Drew (D) (59.4%), 22,835 Adelizzi-Schmidt (R) (39.2%), 825 Greto (I) (1.4%)
Total: 29,958 Andrzejczak (D), 27,539 Fiocchi (R), 26,611 Albano (D), 25,903 Gabor (R)
Jeff Van Drew is anomalous in New Jersey. He represents the only legislative district in the state represented by a Democrat where registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats (and by a significant margin, although there are a lot of left-tilting independents). Before entering the legislature, he was the Mayor of red Dennis Township in Cape May County and even became the first Democrat elected to the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders (NJ's name for the county council) in decades. He was then elected to the Assembly after 2001 redistricting and helped bring more Democratic successes. He helped get Democrat Nelson Albano elected to the Assembly in 2005 and, in 2007, Van Drew defeated incumbent Republican Senator Nicholas Asselta in 2007 55.7-44.3. Replacing him in the Assembly was Democrat Matthew Milam. Sen. Van Drew was re-elected in 2011 by 54-46, a closer race than people expected.
All throughout his political career, Van Drew has carefully threaded the needle. Although his district voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012, off-year elections have low turnout (and Cumberland County, a blue county that buoys Dems in LD-01, has a large Latino population that isn't consistent in its turnout). Van Drew has made himself known as a conservative Democrat. He is pro-gun, has a 50% rating from the American Conservative Union, supported Christie's tax proposals, and opposes same-sex marriage. However, he did endorse Barbara Buono for Governor, ironically making him a better Democrat than Sen. Brian Stack (D?-33), the one state legislator to outright endorse Chris Christie (even campaigning hard on his behalf).
Republicans recruited businesswoman Susan Adelizzi-Schmidt for Senate and Freeholders Sam Fiocchi and Kristine Gabor for Assembly. However, this Senate challenge largely fell flat as Adelizzi-Schmidt couldn't give a reason to be elected aside from helping Republicans win the majority. When you add in Adelizzi-Schmidt's facepalm-worthy misunderstanding of the word "suffrage," you also get the impression that she wasn't very bright either. In the end, and despite Christie's massive win in LD-01, Jeff Van Drew was re-elected by his largest margin ever, winning all three counties in his district.
Earlier in 2013, Assemblyman Milam resigned to better manage his business. Van Drew recruited Army Sergeant Bob Andrzejczak, an Iraq War veteran with a purple heart from a grenade explosion and a Bronze Star with Valor. Van Drew used his campaign apparatus to back up the political neophyte and Andrejczak won the most number of Assembly votes. Assemblyman Nelson Albano, on the other hand, was embroiled in a troopergate snafu that likely became the reason for his loss. He came in third after Sam Fiocchi, who became the only Republican pickup in the legislature.
LD-02: Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic City)
60.0% Obama, 59.9% Menendez
Atlantic County: Absecon, Atlantic City, Brigantine, Buena, Buena Vista, Egg Harbor City, Egg Harbor Township, Folsom, Hamilton, Linwood, Longport, Margate City, Mullica, Northfield, Pleasantville, Somers Point, Ventnor City
Total: 29,337 Whelan (D) (55.0%), 24,008 Balles (R) (45.0%)
26,022 Brown (R), 25,182 Mazzeo (D), 25,131 Amodeo (R), 23,921 Russo (D), 1394 Stein (I)
This began as a tough-looking race. After former Atlantic City Mayor Jim Whelan's close re-election in 2011 over then-Assemblyman Vince Polistina, Republicans recruited Atlantic County Sheriff Frank X. Balles, noted for his getting elected in a blue county in 2008. Although Atlantic County is blue and this district is slightly bluer, Atlantic City turnout tends to crater in off-year elections and the Atlantic City region used to be a Republican bastion (which can be seen in the TV series "Boardwalk Empire"). Before Whelan, LD-02 had a string of long-serving Republicans including Bill Gormley (1982-2007) and Frank Farley (1941-1972). In the 1970s, Republicans outnumbered Democrats 4-1 in LD-02, an edge which cratered over the decades. Furthermore, Republicans here are usually pro-labor and are able to get union endorsements. For instance, ex-Assemblyman John Amodeo (R) was a unionized crane operator full-time before he got into politics.
Democrats hit hard to drag down Balles. A Dem super PAC hit Balles with accusations of him indirectly jacking up property taxes in order to pad his departmental budget. Furthermore, Balles got in trouble in mid-October at a pro-gun activist meeting where he joined in on someone's "joke" about pulling a gun on Democratic campaign canvassers. In order to push back at various attack ads against him, Balles put his own daughter in front of the camera in a TV ad to awkwardly tell Whelan "shame on you" and to tell everyone how awesome her father is. The DeBlasio kids she ain't. In the end, Whelan won 55-45.
It should also be noted that in Atlantic City, Republican Don Guardian beat Democrat Lorenzo Langford in the race for mayor. However, this is nothing to Democrats since Langford has a history of being a backstabbing prick. In 2011, he ran as an Indie for State Senate, threatening to split the Dem vote and electing Republican Vince Polistina. He dropped out in September though after he was unable to get any traction. Whelan and Langford were political enemies when Whelan was the Mayor of Atlantic City (and a popular one at that). Here's a sample of the hatred from Langford in 2011:
Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford's presence lingers in the 2nd District state Senate race long after he dropped out as an independent candidate, with the Democrat encouraging resort residents to cross party lines and vote for Republican candidate Vince Polistina.
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Democrats said Langford, who is black, was also behind a campaign flier that leveled charges of racism against Whelan, who is white. The flier says it was paid for by Langford's Senate fund and accuses Whelan of targeting black workers for layoffs when he was mayor of Atlantic City in the 1990s.
Unlike 2011, Democrats recruited a strong duo for the Assembly races with Longport Mayor Nick Russo and Northfield Mayor/
grocer Vince Mazzeo. Both ran closely with Whelan's campaign and raised a strong sum in their consolidated campaign account although it
didn't look like they would win. After election day, both incumbent Republican Assemblymen were leading with Amodeo narrowly ahead of Mazzeo by about 300 votes.
The gap between Amodeo and Mazzeo came down from about 300, to 74, and finally down to a 2 vote lead for Amodeo as provisional ballots were counted. Republican election commission members blocked the counting of provisional ballots in heavily Democratic Pleasantville and Atlantic City. It went to court and the judge ordered that almost all of them be counted. After the count, Mazzeo pulled into second place with a 33 vote lead over Amodeo. Amodeo requested a recount, but he only lost further ground and was down to a 51 vote deficit when the final official election results were certified. Thus, Democrats compensated for the loss of Asm. Albano in LD-01.
Amodeo's colleague Assemblyman Chris Brown (R-2) claimed there was an agreement between Christie and George Norcross III (healthcare magnate and Democratic political machine master in South Jersey) to leave Democrats in South Jersey alone. Norcross and Christie often cut deals for their mutual benefit despite the fact that Christie once almost indicted Norcross when he was U.S. Attorney. In return, it appeared that Christie left Norcross' Democrats largely alone. He would stump for the GOP candidates if he was in the region, but that's all. Minority Leader Sen. Tom Kean, Jr. also seemed to think that was the case as he sent a bunch of his party's money to South Jersey GOP candidates. Christie denied this charge, but finished his denial with the damning statement: "If there was a deal, I wouldn't tell Chris Brown about it."
LD-03: Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford)
55.0% Obama, 57.2% Menendez
All Salem County
Cumberland County: Bridgeton City, Deerfield Township, Upper Deerfield Township
Gloucester County: Clayton Borough, East Greenwich Township, Elk Township, Franklin Township, Glassboro Borough, Greenwich Township, Logan Township, National Park Borough, Newfield Borough, Paulsboro Borough, South Harrison Township, Swedesboro Borough, West Deptford Township, Woodbury Heights Borough, Woolwich Township
Salem County: 9694 Sweeney, 9052 Trunk
Cumberland County: 3079 Sweeney, 1966 Trunk
Gloucester County: 18,272 Sweeney, 14,581 Trunk
Total: 31,045 Sweeney (D) (54.8%), 25,599 Trunk (R) (45.2%)
Eager to humiliate his nemesis, Tom Kean recruited Republican attorney Niki Trunk and constantly trolled Steve Sweeney all throughout 2013. It is usual protocol for party leaders to not directly campaign against their counterpart on the other side of the aisle, but Kean broke it and flooded Trunk with many tens of thousands of dollars and gave her in-kind assistance. His goal was to force Sweeney to spend a large amount of his campaign coffers on his re-election rather than helping out fellow Democrats and hopefully even defeat him. However, Sweeney won strongly, Kean looked like a whiny fool, and Republicans were left largely shut out of the South Jersey LDs.
Concurrent to this victory, Democrats won a unanimous 7-0 majority on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
On a side note, I knew Sen. Sweeney's son all throughout my undergraduate college years, but had no idea of this fact until my graduation commencement when Sen. Sweeney showed up for his son's commencement.
Before we leave South Jersey, a key local election to note is in Brick Township in Ocean County, a town of some 75,000 residents on the shore that voted for McCain in 2008 by 58%-40%. Democrats swept the town council races in 2011, going from a 0-7 shut-out to a 4-3 majority. This was largely due to taxpayer unrest over the large salaries of the councilmembers and especially the Mayor, also a Republican. In 2013, with Hurricane Sandy issues at the forefront, Democrats sealed the deal and won a unanimous 7-0 council majority and won the mayoral election with over 60% of the vote while Christie carried the town by a 50% spread. It seems for once that Democrats in largely red Ocean County have established a decent bench.
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Leaving South Jersey, let's move on to Central and North Jersey and the 14th, 18th, and 38th Legislative Districts, where Christie actually put his heft behind Republican candidates in the week leading up to election day. This included stumping for the candidates and cutting ads for them through his campaign.
Part 2: Central Jersey
LD-14: Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro)
57.5% Obama, 57.6% Menendez
Mercer County: East Windsor, Hamilton, Hightstown, Robbinsville
Middlesex County: Cranbury, Jamesburg, Monroe, Plainsboro, Spotswood
Mercer County: 19,359 Greenstein, 18,819 Inverso, 758 DeZarn
Middlesex County: 12,027 Greenstein, 11,084 Inverso, 258 DeZarn
Total: 31,386 Greenstein (D) (50.4%), 29,903 Inverso (R) (48.0%), 1016 Dezarn (L) (1.6%)
After then-Assemblywoman Greenstein defeated interim State Senator Tom Goodwin (R-Hamilton) in 2010's special election and defeated touted Republican candidate Richard Kanka (the father of the late Megan Kanka, the inspiration for Megan's Law) in 2011, she had established herself as "battle-tested." She also made herself a top target for Republicans.
Although LD-14 is quite blue and has a significant union presence, those unions used to endorse in both parties depending on who brought them the most benefits and work. From 1992-2008, they were all united behind then-Senator Pete Inverso (R-Hamilton) and Democrats could never get any traction against him. In 2007, Republican Senator Bill Baroni was elected after Inverso retired to work for Roma Bank. Baroni got all the union endorsements and Democrats lost a bid for his district by a landslide in 2007. Bill Baroni resigned in early 2010 when Christie appointed him to head the Port Authority (which he recently resigned from in the wake of Bridgegate). By then, Democrats had both Assemblymen in LD-14 with Linda Greenstein and Wayne DeAngelo (also a union powerhouse), the former of which won the special election for the rest of Baroni's term.
In the wake of a likely landslide victory for Christie, local Republicans tried hard to recruit former Senator Inverso to run against Linda Greenstein, which he was considering to do after the merger of Roma Bank with an investment firm was completed. He soon announced he was running and immediately was assured the nomination. By this point, Greenstein had locked up a lot of union support and Inverso was all but shut out from any union endorsement, a stark reversal from his earlier political career. Although he initially did very poorly with fundraising, he received a lot of support from Kean's campaign funds and NJ GOP PACs. Democrats waded in too with their super PAC called the "Fund for Jobs, Growth, and Security."
As it got closer to election day, Republicans worked hard for the LD-14 ticket, hoping to also drag down Assemblyman Benson along with Sen. Greenstein. The campaign got increasingly heated and fierce as it came down to the final stretch, with both sides pummeling the other with attacks.
The focal point of the campaign was the vote in Hamilton, an upscale, swingy township just outside of Trenton. Traditionally, this was the bastion that helped keep Republicans elected in LD-14, but with Greenstein swung slightly to Democrats. There was also a competitive Mayoral election in 2013 to fill the rest of the term of the previous mayor, a Republican, who was arrested for corruption crimes. Democrats looked competitive initially, but ended up losing on that end by a landslide.
On election day, Greenstein and Inverso split the vote in Hamilton with Inverso ahead by a hair, but she won narrowly overall. Libertarian candidate and war veteran Don DeZarn was not even a spoiler. Inverso, however, was sore from the negative campaigning and his losing. He considered a recount, but later nixed it as provisional ballots bolstered Greenstein's lead. In the interim, he was a total jerk and accused Greenstein's side of running a dirty campaign (even though his side did the same against Greenstein) with this statement:
“I will never concede to her. I will never congratulate her because of the campaign she ran,” Inverso said on Tuesday. “She should hold her head in shame for what she put me through.”
I guess it's safe to assume he's going to stay retired from now on. It must be hard losing when you have an entitlement complex from all of your past successes.
Middlesex County
LD-18: Sen. Peter Barnes III (D-Edison)
60.7% Obama, 61.3% Menendez
Middlesex County: East Brunswick, Edison, Helmetta, Highland Park, Metuchen, South Plainfield, South River
Total: 25,063 Barnes (D) (52.0%), 23,184 Stahl (R) (48.0%)
This was a race that surprisingly came alive. This is Barbara Buono's district, but she couldn't run again due to her run for Governor. Democratic East Brunswick Mayor David Stahl defected to the Republicans in March 2013 in order to run for Senate due to his constantly being recruited by Republicans as well as his past grievances with Democratic Party organizations (the linked video mentions a time he endorsed a Republican Assembly candidate and got penalized for it). His public reason for switching parties was because he supports lower taxes and wants to bring bipartisan leadership to Trenton. A trite justification, but nevertheless, a race that should not have been on the radar suddenly became competitive.
Shortly thereafter, Democrats chose Assemblyman Peter Barnes III to run for Senate, setting the stage for an expensive race for Senate. Stahl raised a lot of money out of the gate, even outraising Barnes at points. He and his ticket ran on the banner of being "Bipartisan Reformers" and used the color green on all campaign paraphernalia, trying to marginalize the fact that they were running as Republicans in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans 3:1.
In the end, it was pretty close, but a victory for Peter Barnes. However, it should be noted that redistricting saved this district for Democrats. In redistricting, this district lost red Spotswood to LD-14 and gained dark blue Highland Park (where I did canvassing work for them) from LD-17. I subtracted the Highland Park numbers from Stahl's and Barnes' vote totals and Barnes was ahead by a paltry 284 votes. I then gave Inverso's share of the Spotswood vote to Stahl and Greenstein's share of the Spotswood vote to Barnes and Barnes ends up losing by 171 votes. Stahl might even have done better in Spotswood than Inverso did due to Spotswood being nestled up to East Brunswick, his home base. A bullet was dodged and LD-18 remains completely blue. I don't know what's in the future for Stahl, but at least he was graceful in defeat, unlike Inverso.
Part 3: North Jersey
LD-38: Sen. Robert Gordon (D-Fair Lawn)
54.5% Obama, 56.8% Menendez
Bergen County: Bergenfield, Fair Lawn, Glen Rock, Hasbrouck Heights, Lodi, Maywood, New Milford, Oradell, Paramus, River Edge, Rochelle Park, Saddle Brook
Passaic County: Hawthorne
Bergen County: 25,508 Gordon, 23,079 Alonso
Passaic County: 2271 Gordon, 2688 Alonso
Total: 27,779 Gordon (D) (51.9%), 25,767 Alonso (R) (48.1%)
Bergen County: 24,135 Lagana, 23,905 Eustace, 23,259 Scarpa, 23,153 Fragala
Passaic County: 2144 Lagana, 2116 Eustace, 2706 Scarpa, 2683 Fragala
Total: 26,279 Lagana (D), 26,021 Eustace (D), 25,965 Scarpa (R), 25,836 Fragala (R)
Last, but not least, we come to LD-38 up in mid-Bergen County. Redistricting in 2011 turned this district from a blue district into the most competitive in the state, so naturally Republicans put this near the top of their target list. In 2011, Republicans fell short by 47-53, but this time they had Christie running strongly at the top of the ballot. Prior to the nominating convention, 2011 GOP Senate candidate John Driscoll (R-Paramus) and 2011 GOP Assembly candidate Fernando Alonso (R-Oradell) collided over who would get the nomination to lead the LD-38 ticket this year. In the convention, Alonso shocked the attendees when the two candidates tied at 120 votes each. In the next round, Alonso won by 143-130, leapfrogging the attorney to the top. Driscoll conceded and the field was set.
Then, suddenly, Assemblywoman Connie Wagner (D) decided to retire to move to Florida for her grandchildren. On October 1st, she resigned. This was a loss because she was the top vote getter on the LD-38 ticket and our chances of holding this district retreated. Democrats appointed Paramus Council President Joseph Lagana to replace her in the interim and run for a full term that November.
This district was a top target for Chris Christie too, who has had a great dislike for Bob Gordon. He even bashed Gordon in a private fundraiser, going on about how he can't stand him. Lots of Republican money flowed here on things like mailers and TV ads. In the end, Gordon prevailed. However, things were not as clear in the Assembly races.
After initial counting, Republican Assembly candidate Scarpa was in 2nd place and, like in LD-01, the newcomer (Lagana) came in 1st. Scarpa's lead over the incumbent Asm. Tim Eustace (D) was a mere 38 votes, though. After provisional ballots were all counted, Eustace now led Scarpa by 49 votes. After wrangling over ballots was done, Eustace was ahead by 54 votes. I presume that two more votes were found for Eustace since the state elections board says he leads by 56 votes, the data I used in my vote count above. Republicans asked for a recount and it netted Scarpa 19 votes, giving Eustace a 35 vote ultimate lead.
It should also be noted that while Democrats failed to win back the Bergen County Sheriff office, they did pick up a seat on the Board of Freeholders. Former Paramus Mayor James Tedesco defeated incumbent Freeholder John Mitchell, giving Democrats a 5-2 majority on the board. With this, Democrats now can override the vetoes of the (corrupt) Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan (R). Despite these losses, embattled Bergen County GOP Chairman Bob Yudin deflected, even as the increasingly incompetent GOP there had suffered an overall defeat.
In neighboring Passaic County, Democrats held on strongly to the Sheriff office despite strong Republican efforts to win there. Also, in a big upset in Passaic County, Democrats won two council seats in red North Haledon, a borough which McCain won 62%-34.5% in 2008. This was largely due to some incompetence in the local government's handling of Hurricane Sandy relief.
With that, we come to an end of all of the most important downballot New Jersey elections held last November. When Christie's coattails did not manifest, he shouldered the blame on the Republican legislators running the campaigns, who could only grumble and move on. Almost all were too afraid to openly criticize Christie at the time. However, it should be noted that Christie waited until the week before election day to go in deep for GOP candidates in the 14th, 18th, and 38th LDs. If he truly wanted to flip them, he would have started lending them aid a month before election day, not a week.
Before I bring this diary to a close, I will quickly list the election results for all of the other Senate races.
LD-04: 58% D – 42% R
LD-05: 58% D – 42% R
LD-06: 63% D – 37% R (my home district in my K-12 days)
LD-07: 60% R – 40% D
LD-08: 63% R – 37% D (my current home district)
LD-09: 71% R – 29% D
LD-10: 70% R – 30% D
LD-11: 60% R – 40% D
LD-12: 65% R – 35% D
LD-13: 68% R – 32% D
LD-15: 63% D – 37% R
LD-16: 60% R – 40% D
LD-17: 60% D – 40% R
LD-19: 63% D – 37% R
LD-20: 100% D (uncontested)
LD-21: 70% R – 30% D
LD-22: 60% D – 40% R
LD-23: 68% R – 31% D – 1% I
LD-24: 70% R – 30% D
LD-25: 87% R – 13% I
LD-26: 65% R – 35% D
LD-27: 59% D – 41% R
LD-28: 76% D – 24% R
LD-29: 78% D – 18% R – 4% I
LD-30: 70% R – 30% D
LD-31: 73% D – 27% R
LD-32: 70% D – 30% R
LD-33: 81% D – 19% R
LD-34: 73% D – 27% R
LD-35: 74% D – 26% R
LD-36: 60% D – 40% R
LD-37: 68% D – 32% R
LD-39: 64% R – 36% D
LD-40: 66% R – 34% D
Here are the blue/red partisan maps showing which party has which legislative seats in each LD for the Senate and the General Assembly, respectively:
And that's it for 2013 downballot elections in New Jersey. If you have any more you wish to share, feel free to in the comments section.