26th district ballot draw puts organization lines at top of ballot

Brian D. Levine drew the top ballot position in Morris County, with the newly-formed Republican organization line – headed by Jack Ciattarelli — getting the second column on the June 8 primary ballot.

Hirsh Singh will run in column three and Phil Rizzo in column 4.

In the hotly-contested Republican primary for State Assembly in the 26th district, that means the two candidates backed by the Morris GOP organization, incumbent Jay Webber (R-Morris Plains) and challenger Christian Barranco, will run in column two with Ciattarelli and State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Montville).

Incumbent BettyLou DeCroce (R-Parsippany), who lost party support for her re-election bid, will run in column five.  Another Assembly candidate, Morris County Commissioner Tom Mastrangelo, will run in column six.

Morris County makes up about 78% of the total votes cast in a Republican primary in the 26th district.

Essex County Clerk Christopher Durkin drew Line A for Ciattarelli, with Levine on Line B, Rizzo on Line C and Singh on Line D.

In the Assembly race, only DeCroce is on the organization line.  She’ll run on Lin A with Ciattarelli and Pennacchio.  Webber and Barranco are on Line C with Rizzo, and Mastrangelo on Line D with Singh.

Essex makes up approximately 10% of the GOP primary vote in the 26th.

In Passaic County, which comprises about 12% of the primary vote, County Clerk Danielle Ireland-Imhof drew column 1 for Ciattarelli, 2 for Levine, 3 for Rizzo and 4 for Singh.

That puts DeCroce in the top slot with Ciattarelli and Pennacchio, Webber in the third column with Rizzo, and Mastrangelo in column 5.