Filing Day News (Updated)

This post will be updated throughout the day.

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

In a rematch of a 2023 Cumberland County Sheriff’s race, Republican incumbent Michael Donato will face the Democrat he ousted by 2,291 votes, Robert Austino.  Austino returned to win a county commissioner seat in 2024, unseating a Republican incumbent.

In the county commissioner race, eight Democrats are facing off for three seats, including former Freeholder Joseph Pepitone, now a Millville school board member, and former Vineland Councilman Ronald Franceschini, Jr.  The other Democrats who filed are Darwin Cooper, Jr., Eddie Bonner, Tanisha Gomez, Jasmine Gomez-Demby, LaRue Smith, and Praful Thakkar.

Republicans are seeking to protect a fragile 4-3 majority that has been winnowed down after GOP loses in 2024 and 2025.  County Commissioners Arthur Marchand, James Sauro and Sandra Taylor are seeking re-election.

BERGEN COUNTY

There will be a contested Republican primary for Bergen County Surrogate, where 82-year-old Joseph Conte will face Daniel Ng.  Conte, a late entry into the race, spent 20 years as a Superior Court Judge, and was elected to the Franklin Lakes Borough Council last year after knocking out a GOP incumbent in the primary.

The winner will face the Democratic candidate for surrogate, former Oakland Mayor Linda Schwager, 77.  The longtime incumbent, Democrat Michael Dressler, died last December.

Three-term County Executive James Tedesco, a Democrat, will face Republican Todd Hennessy.  Democrat John Hogan, the three term county clerk, will be challenged by Republican Timothy Walsh.

Two Democratic commissioners, Joan Voss and Rafael Marte, are seeking re-election.  The Republican candidates are John Dinice and Maria Soledad Laman.

BURLINGTON COUNTY

Neither party has a primary for county commissioner: incumbent Randy Brolo and Jonathan Chebra are unopposed in the Democratic primary; Joseph Abeff and James Melton have no opposition for the Republican nomination.  Chebra, a former deputy commissioner of Human Services, is seeking the seat of Democrat Tom Pullion, who is not seeking re-election after three terms.

SUSSEX COUNTY

Republican Christopher Carney, a county commissioner and labor leader, is unopposed in his bid to replace retiring County Clerk Jeff Parrott.  Democrats have put up Clare Golden as their county clerk candidate.

County Commissioner Jack DeGroot, who unseated an incumbent in the 2023 GOP primary, is unopposed. He’ll face Philip DeStefano in the general election.   The last Democrat to win a countywide race in Sussex was James DeBosh in 1999.

OCEAN COUNTY

Republican County Commissioner Frank Sadeghi will face Democrat Kia Phua.  Democrats haven’t won a county office in Ocean since 1989.

ESSEX COUNTY

Former Montclair Mayor Robert Russo, who made his first bid for Essex County Commissioner (then freeholder) in 1978 when he was 31-years-old, filed petitions to run for one of the four at-large seats.

At their convention on Saturday, Democrats nominated Verona Councilwoman Christine McGrath, Livingston Mayor Shawn Klein, incumbent Wayne Richardson and West Orange Democratic Municipal Chairman Abdur R. Yasin  Russo finished ninth in a field of eleven candidates.

He called his decision to run in the June 2 Democratic primary “a symbolic gesture to all of our hundreds of supporters in Montclair, who want continued representation on the Essex County Board of Commissioners.”

Russo won the District 5 Democratic primary by 48 votes, and then, after initially winning the general election by 13 votes, wound up losing by 39 after a recount.  He ran again in 1987, and lost the Democratic primary by about 300 votes in 2007.

None of the five district county commissioner candidates face a primary challenge: Wilson Pichardo, who is replacing Robert Mercado in District 1; A’Dorian Murray-Thomas in District 2, Medinah Muhammad in District 3, incumbent Leonard Luciano in District 4, and incumbent Carlos Pomares in District 5.  Pichardo, Murray-Thomas and Muhammed, a former East Orange school board member, have no general election opposition.

Former Newark Public Schools Advisory Board member Marques Aquil Lewis, who finished sixth at Saturday’s convention, and former Maplewood Township Committeewoman Deborah Engel, who finished eighth, also filed to run.

Maritza Mathews has filed for the Republican nomination to challenge six-term Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr.  Mathews lost races for State Senate in 2024 and County Clerk in 2025.  DiVincenzo has no primary opponent.

Essex Republicans are backing Demtrius Eley, Daniela Ferreira Almeida, Douglas Freeman and Sahwa Frank for County Commissioner-At-Large, Adam Kraemer for County Commissioner in District 4, and Frank Contella for County Commissioner in District 5. This is Kraemer’s sixteenth bid for public office.

The GOP has not won a county executive race since 1998 and a commissioner (then freeholder) at-large contest since 1971.

SALEM COUNTY

Salem County Commissioner Ed Ramsay will face a challenge from Lew Merryfield in the Republican primary Charles Hassler, a former freeholder, is unopposed in the Democratic primary.   Ramsay was unopposed at the GOP convention earlier this month.

In the race for a one-year unexpired term, incumbent Paul Collier, a Republican, will face Democrat John “Buddy” Ayars.

PASSAIC COUNTY

Four Democrats are seeking two seats on the Passaic County Board of Commissioner: incumbent Orlando Cruz and Clifton Democratic Club President Nick Veliky, the organization-endorsed candidates; Ali Aljarrah, a senior advisor to CAIR Action NJ who has the support of New Jersey Working Families; and Ralph Feliciano

Democratic incumbent Bruce James is not seeking re-election.

Republicans are running Daniel Sagan and Bill Rodriguez.

Passaic County Surrogate Zoila Cassanova, a Democrat, faces no primary opposition.  The Republicans are running Jessica Sprague, a prominent attorney.

Aljarrah submitted over twice the required number of signatures to run for county commissioner.

“This campaign is powered by the people of our county,” Aljarrah said. “Submitting more than 700 signatures is a powerful testament to our work so far as a campaign: reaching voters where they are and reimagining what county government can look like. Voters are ready for leadership that fights for working families, lowers costs, and delivers real results.”

ATLANTIC COUNTY

Two first-term Republicans, County Clerk Joe Giralo and Sheriff Joseph “Tokyo” O’Donoghue, will face challenges from Democrats Sean Riggin and Lisa Bender, respectively.

County Commissioners-At-Large John Risley and June Byrnes, both Republicans, will face Democrats Kyle Gornick and Jonathan Marcellus.  In District 3, GOP incumbent Andrew Park will face Democrat Richard Healey.

GLOUCESTER COUNTY

Three Democratic county commissioners – Jim Jefferson, Matt Weng and Joann Gattinelli – will face Republicans Katherine Falcone, Barbara McCormick and Martino Cartier in what could be a control election.  Democrats have a 5-2 majority.

MORRIS COUNTY

Republican County Commissioner Tayfun Selen has filed for re-election.  He will face Morristown Council Vice President Christopher Russo.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY

Middlesex County Surrogate Claribel Cortes, a Democrat, will face Republican Harold Kane, Jr., a Republican.  Democratic County Commissioners Charles Tomaro and Leslie Koppell, will face Republican challengers Jack Mikolajczyk and Andrew Zaborney.  Republicans have not won a countywide election in Middlesex since 1991.

MONMOUTH COUNTY

Republicans Erik Anderson and Tony Perry have filed their petitions for Monmouth County Commissioner and Maureen Raisch, also a Republican, has filed for a second term as Monmouth County Surrogate.  Anderson, a former mayor of Shrewsbury, is seeking his second term; Perry, the mayor of Middletown, wants to replace retiring County Commissioner Ross Lacitra.

Democrats are running Benjamin Miller for surrogate, and Soia Ugarte and Chelsey Tanner for county commissioner.

CAPE MAY COUNTY

Former North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello and 2024 Republican U.S. Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw have filed a joint petition to seek two open county commissioner seats in Cape May County.  Incumbents Will Morey and Melanie Collette are not seeking re-election.   Two Democrats filed: David Temple and Eric Morey.

In the race for sheriff, only incumbent Robert Nolan has filed.

Democrats have not won a countywide race in Cape May since Jeff Van Drew ousted Republican incumbent Mark Videtto in 2000.

MERCER COUNTY

Democrats will face a three-way fight for two Mercer County Commissioner seats, with incumbents Lucylle Walter and John Cimino facing Nakia White Barr in the Democratic primary.  All three are running with the Mercer County Democratic organization slogan after the Democratic convention earlier this month produced no clear winner.  Walter has been a county commissioner since 1998, and Cimino since 2008; Barr is a former assistant vice president of Princeton University.  Two Democratic incumbents, Sheriff Jack Kemler and Surrogate Diane Gerofsky, are seeking re-election.

Republicans have filed a full slate of candidates: David Meiswinkle for sheriff, Priscilla DeVine for surrogate, and Shaolin Brown and Donald Ober for county commissioner.  Republicans have not won a countywide race since 2000.

CAMDEN COUNTY

Two Democrats seeking re-election as county commissioners in Camden County, Louis Cappelli, Jr., and Jonathan Young, will face a primary challenge from Vonetta Hawkins and Constance Mercedes, who are running on the South Jersey Progressive Democrats slogan.

SOMERSET COUNTY

Somerset County Republicans Dan Gallic and Rocky Ganta have filed to run for county commissioner against Democratic incumbents Paul Drake and Elizabeth Graner.  Both Republicans have lost county commissioner races in the past: Gallic in 2023 and Ganta in 2024.

Republicans have not won a countywide election in Somerset since 2017, when voters split, electing Democrat Steve Peter as county clerk over Republican Brett Radi and re-electing two GOP county commissioners.  Democrats are undefeated since 2018.

HUDSON COUNTY

Hudson County Register Jeffrey Dublin faces a Democratic primary challenger: Melissa Alexander.  Republican Qamar Raza is unopposed for the GOP nomination.

Hudson County Commissioner Robert Baselice has filed for re-election to his District 8 seat.  He won a special election in 2023 after Anthony Vainieri, Jr., gave up his seat to become a North Bergen Town Commissioner.  Baselice is part of a unity slate in Hudson County and has the backing of County Executive/County Chairman Craig Guy, Union City Mayor/State Senator Brian P. Stack, and Jersey City Mayor James Solomon.  Baselice’s name was on the statement endorsing the unity ticket.

“I am running for re-election because I care deeply about the people I represent and the communities we call home,” Baselice said. “Over the past three years, I have worked to deliver real results, from improving our parks and infrastructure to supporting families, seniors, and veterans. I’m grateful for the support of Democratic leaders throughout Hudson County, and I’m excited to be running alongside several new candidates who will bring valuable perspectives to the Board of Commissioners as we work to represent the people of our communities.”

North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, who was not included in the unity statement, has also endorsed Baselice.

Three Democrats are running for the District 9 seat: Alex Valdez, who is part of the unity slate; Mina Ekladious, and Larrry Bennett.  The winner will face Republican Anmol Gopalak, the lone GOP county commissioner candidate in Hudson County.

LITTLE FALLS

Little Falls Councilman Chris Vancheri is seeking re-election on a slate with newcomers Nancy Friedrich, a library board trustee, and Daniel Beck, a local coach.  The three Democrats have the backing of Mayor James Damino.

The other two seats are held by Republicans Michael Murphy and Janya Patel.

“Improving everyday life for the people of Little Falls is the priority that brings us together, whether through public safety improvements, public space enhancements, or neighborhood outreach,” the three candidates said in a joint statement.  “We are eager to continue the Damiano Team’s record of delivering results that directly improve quality of life and enhance services for Little Falls residents.”