Voters choose candidates today

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, 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.

Three candidates are competing for two seats on the Sussex County Board of County Commissioners: Republicans Chris Carney and Alan Henderson and Democrat Jason Boehm.

In Vernon, seven people are running for three seats with full three-year terms on the Vernon Township Board of Education. They are Melissa Brock, Brian Fisher, Joanne Houghtaling, John Kraus, Ariel Lazo, Emmett McDowell and Carolyn Ross. Brock, Kraus and Ross are incumbents.

Two candidates - Raymond Zimmerman and Debbie Coulson - are running for one seat with a two-year term.

Three people - Rose Ahearn, Alice Nickalls and Stephanie Vecharello - are running for one seat with a one-year term.

Four people are running for three seats with full three-year terms on the Sussex-Wantage Regional Board of Education. They are Alissa Cecchini and Leah Marrocco, who are running on a slate; Joseph Gaccione; and Dorothy Witte.

In Branchville, three candidates are competing for two Borough Council seats. They are Republicans Russell Bellis Jr. and Troy Orr and Democrat Jeffrey Lewis.

How to vote

Early in-person voting continues through Sunday, Nov. 3. Sussex County residents may vote early at three locations:

• Cochran House Building, Level PL, 83 Spring St., Newton.

• Sussex-Wantage Branch Library, 69 County Road 639, Wantage.

• Louise Childs Branch Library, 21 Sparta Road, Stanhope.

The hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

During the first weekend, Oct. 26-27, 5,246 Sussex County residents voted early in person, according to the county clerk’s office.

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 one of the 14 official drop boxes by 8 p.m. on Election Day. The list of drop boxes is online at sussexcountyclerk.org/ballot-drop-box-locations-in-sussex-county/

Residents may vote early by paper ballot at the clerk’s office until 3 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at Cochran House Building, Suite 304, 83 Spring St., Newton.

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.