Incumbent mayors in Atlantic City, Edison, Parsippany, and Plainfield are among the most hotly contested municipal races in the June 10 primary election, with six other mayoral primaries on the ballot.
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, Sr. faces a Democratic primary challenge from Bob McDevitt, the former president of Unite Here Local 54, the casino workers union.
Small became mayor in 2019 following Frank Gilliam’s resignation after admitting to stealing nearly $100,000 from a youth basketball program. He’s currently battling allegations that he physically and mentally abused his teenage daughter, but has still won endorsements from local Democrats — even though he’s running on gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop’s Democrats for Change slogan — and the Atlantic City police union. Each candidate has three running mates for at-large city council seats.
Incumbent Sam Joshi is up against businessman Lav Patel and Councilman Richard Brescher in the Democratic primary for mayor of Edison. Joshi has the backing of the Middlesex County Democratic organization and is running on a slate allied with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill; Patel and Fulop, who grew up in Edison, endorsed each other.
Four years ago, Joshi won 61%-32% in the primary against then-Democratic Municipal Chairman Mahesh Bhagia; Patel comes from the Bhagia faction of the local party.
In Parsippany, Mayor James Barberio faces an intense challenge in the Republican primary from Justin Musella, a 33-year-old first-term councilman. The winner will face Democrat Pulkit Desai.
Barberio lost his bid for a third term in 2017 by six points to Democrat Michael Soriano, but won a 2021 rematch by five points after winning a four-point victory in the Republican primary.
Both candidates are running with two council candidates.
Democrat Adrian Mapp, the three-term mayor of Plainfield, faces a rematch against Councilman Richard Wyatt. Wyatt lost to Mapp in the 2021 primary by 269 votes, and five percentage points, 45%-40%.; he won a city council seat in 2022.
In 2013, Mapp ousted incumbent Sharon Robinson-Briggs in the primary with the support of the Union County Democratic organization.
Other mayoral primaries include:
Camden: Mayor Vic Carstarphan is being opposed in the Democratic primary by former school board member Theo Spencer, who has already lost three bids for mayor. Carstarphan, a high school basketball legend elected in 2021, supports Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for governor.
Cresskill: Councilwoman Leslie Kaplan faces software engineer Skyler Cohen in the Democratic primary; the winner will face Republican John Morgan, who took office after longtime Mayor Benedict Romeo died in March in a race for an unexpired term.
East Orange: Democratic Mayor Ted Green, seeking a third term, has a primary rival, Harda Morant.
Fieldsboro: Mayor David Hansell, who took office in 2012 after 30-year incumbent Buddy Tyler died in office, faces a Democratic primary challenge from John Errigo III.
North Wildwood: Council President Sal Zampirri, Sr. is being challenged by Edward Heuser in the Republican primary. The local Republican organization is backing Zapirri to replace Patrick Rosenello, who is not seeking re-election after twelve years in office.
Wayne: The local Democratic organization-endorsed candidate for mayor, Donald Robert Pavlak, Jr., is up against James Freeswick in the primary. The winner will face four-term Republican Mayor Christopher Vergano.