Civil rights attorney Tim Alexander has won the Atlantic County Democratic convention for New Jersey’s 2nd congressional district, convincingly beating tech entrepreneur Joe Salerno and engineer Carolyn Rush in the race to take on Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis).
Alexander, a resident of Galloway in Atlantic County who was the nominee against Van Drew in 2022, received 122 votes, or 58%. Salerno came in second with 64 votes, or 30%, while Rush got 25 votes, or 12%; a fourth candidate, Brandon Saffold, did not compete in the convention.
Prior to the convention, Alexander received endorsements from many of the county’s most prominent Democrats, among them Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, County Commissioner Ernest Coursey (D-Atlantic City), and Hamilton Township Committeewoman Thelma Witherspoon, the county party vice-chair. Salerno had former Atlantic County Commissioner Caren Fitzpatrick (D-Linwood) on his side.
Atlantic County makes up the largest share of votes of any county in the 2nd district, casting one-third of its total Democratic primary votes in 2022. Alexander’s win, then, puts him in a strong position to ultimately win the nomination, especially with Ocean County Democrats also backing him.
A third county in the district, Cape May County, already held its convention but chose not to make any endorsement. Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties have yet to hold their own endorsement processes.
But Van Drew will be a tough general election opponent for whichever Democrat emerges from the primary. He beat Alexander 59%-40% in 2022, and few outside observers expect this year’s race to be highly competitive.
Atlantic Democrats also officially chose their three candidates for county commissioner this year: Kim O’Brien for an at-large seat, Susan Lazarchick for the 5th commissioner district, and Pleasantville Councilwoman Joanne Famularo for the 2nd district, which was recently redrawn to be far more winnable for Democrats.
Joe Biden was chosen for another term as president; he was unopposed, aside from a pair of delegates who unsuccessfully attempted to put forward Bernie Sanders as an alternate option.