Here are the general election matchups in New Jersey’s competitive legislative races

After last night’s primary elections, New Jersey Democrats and Republicans alike now have gubernatorial standard-bearers they can rally behind in November: Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) for the blue team, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-Somerville) for the red.

Just as importantly, both parties now also officially have nominees in the state’s competitive legislative districts, which will determine what kind of State Assembly either Ciattarelli or Sherrill will be working with. Democrats currently have solid majorities in both chambers, but they’re hoping to grow their Assembly majority even further after a successful 2023, while Republicans will be vying to shrink it. (Only the Assembly and one single State Senate seat are up this year.)

In almost every district, party-endorsed candidates on both sides of the aisle won their respective nominations, though the Democratic primaries in two potentially competitive districts have yet to be firmly resolved. There’s also always the possibility that some candidates are switched out this summer – either because they don’t want to run anymore or because their local parties think they’ve found someone better – so not every slate is truly set in stone yet.

Those caveats aside, here’s what the matchups look like heading into November.

South Jersey

South Jersey has, in recent cycles, been the center of the world when it comes to legislative elections: six of the eight seats Republicans flipped in 2021 were in South Jersey, as were four of the seven seats Democrats flipped right back in 2023. This year, as many as eight South Jersey Assembly seats could be up for grabs, with incumbents from both parties under threat.

The 2nd district (Atlantic) is one of the few districts where the primary outcome is still unknown. Republican incumbents Don Guardian (R-Atlantic City) and Claire Swift (R-Margate) are running for third terms, but they don’t yet know which Democrats they’ll face.

Retired attorney Maureen Rowan, who was backed by the county party, has snagged one slot, but her running mate, Pleasantville Councilwoman Joanne Famularo, is locked in a tight race against former Atlantic City Councilman Bruce Weekes, who ran on a slate allied with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s gubernatorial campaign. Famularo currently leads Weekes by just 82 votes, with hundreds more still to be counted; Weekes’s running mate, Linwood school board member Lisa Bonanno, is further behind.

Who ultimately wins could determine whether South Jersey Democrats make a serious play to flip the district in November. The party has shown in the past that it’s willing to abandon swing-district Democrats from outside their organization; in 2023, when 8th district Democrats chose Gaye Burton as their State Senate nominee instead of a party machine-backed candidate, Burton was left to fend for herself and South Jersey Dems focused entirely on the district’s two Assembly seats instead.

In the 3rd district (Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland), the state’s reddest district held by Democratic legislators (with one unusual exception), the general election matchup has already been known for months.

Assemblymembers David Bailey (D-Woodstown) and Heather Simmons (D-Glassboro) are running for re-election against Gloucester County Commissioner Christopher Konawel (R-Glassboro) and Harrison Township Committeeman Lawrence Moore. Konawel and Moore were originally going to face a potentially serious primary challenge from former Assemblywoman Beth Sawyer (R-Woolwich), but that collapsed shortly before the filing deadline.

The 4th district (Camden, Gloucester, Atlantic) hosted primaries on both sides, but the end result was the general election matchup most local party organizations wanted from the beginning.

Freshmen Assemblymen Dan Hutchison (D-Gloucester Township) and Cody Miller (D-Monroe) beat Fulop-backed challengers Brian Everett and Vonetta Hawkins by a combined 62%-37% margin; their Republican opponents, 2023 nominee Amanda Esposito and Winslow school board member Jerry McManus, beat Barbara McCormick, who had the support of the Camden GOP, 38% and 34% to 28%.

Lastly, the 8th district (Burlington, Atlantic) – one of only two across the state with legislators from different parties – will be an exact rematch of the district’s extremely close 2023 race. Assemblywoman Andrea Katz (D-Chesterfield) will run alongside Hammonton Education Association President Anthony Angelozzi, while former Assemblyman Brandon Umba (R-Medford) will vie for a comeback alongside Assemblyman Michael Torrissi (R-Hammonton).

Umba and Torrissi were unopposed in the GOP primary, but Katz and Angelozzi had to get past former Evesham Councilman Eddie Freeman, who ran on Fulop’s slate and targeted Angelozzi specifically; Katz got 48% of the primary vote, Angelozzi got 33%, and Freeman got 19%.

Central Jersey

Yes, it exists.

In 2023, the 11th district (Monmouth) hosted the third-most expensive legislative race in New Jersey history. This year, freshman Assemblywomen Margie Donlon (D-Ocean Township) and Luanne Peterpaul (D-Long Branch) will face real estate professional Jessica Ford and former Neptune City Mayor Andrew Wardell; none of the four faced any primary opposition.

The 14th district (Mercer, Middlesex) and 16th district (Somerset, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Mercer) have both started to inch off the competitive playing field in recent years, but they could still be worth watching.

14th district Assemblymembers Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) and Tennille McCoy (D-Hamilton) will face Republicans Marty Flynn and Joseph Stillwell, both of whom are involved in local Mercer GOP politics; 16th district Assemblymembers Mitchelle Drulis (D-Raritan Township) and Roy Freiman (D-Hillsborough) will go up against two GOP nominees from their hometowns, Hillsborough Township Committeewoman Catherine Payne and Raritan Township Committeeman Scott Sipos. Drulis and Freiman had a primary challenger in 24-year-old activist Mahmoud Desouky, but they won easily.

Perhaps nowhere are Republicans more endangered than the 21st district (Union, Somerset, Morris, Middlesex), where Assemblywomen Michele Matsikoudis (R-New Providence) and Nancy Muñoz (R-Summit) are running for re-election in what’s by far the bluest district to be held by Republicans. Democrats are running a ticket of former prosecutor Andrew Macurdy and Garwood Councilman Vincent Kearney.

And in the 30th district (Ocean, Monmouth), Assemblymen (R-Sean Kean) and Avi Schnall (D-Lakewood) are running on opposite tickets, but they may both end up winning in a landslide anyways.

That’s because the deep-red district is dominated by Lakewood, where local Orthodox Jewish leaders with tremendous sway over the electorate have decided that a one-Republican, one-Democrat Assembly delegation is best for them. Former Assemblyman Ned Thomson (R-Wall), who lost to Schnall in 2023, and former Democratic Belmar Councilwoman Claire Deicke were also nominated on Tuesday, but don’t expect them to make much headway unless the Vaad changes its mind.

North Jersey

The last time a North Jersey Assembly seat flipped parties was in 2005, but the region’s legislative races may be more competitive this year than they’ve been for a while.

Democrats might try to make a play for the 25th district (Morris, Passaic), but with an unusual slate. The Morris County Democratic organization didn’t officially field any candidates, so Fulop’s slate of Morristown Councilman Steve Pylypchuk and Morristown Planning Board member Marisa Sweeney got the nominations uncontested; they’ll go up against Assemblymembers Aura Dunn (R-Mendham) and Christian Barranco (R-Jefferson).

Republicans, meanwhile, could look to flip the 36th district (Bergen, Passaic) and 38th district (Bergen), both of which unexpectedly voted for Donald Trump last year, and the party got its preferred nominees in both districts. Carlstadt Councilwoman Diane DeBiase and former Lyndhurst school board member Christopher Musto defeated the Auriemma twins in the 36th district, and Paramus Councilman Robert Kaiser and 2023 nominee Barry Wilkes trounced lone challenger Jerry Taylor in the 38th district.

36th district Democratic incumbents Clinton Calabrese (D-Cliffside Park) and Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) were uncontested; in the 38th district, Assemblymembers Lisa Swain (D-Fair Lawn) and Chris Tully (D-Bergenfield) defeated Fulop-aligned challengers Damali Robinson and Donald Bonomo by a hefty margin.

Finally, 39th district (Bergen) Assemblymen Bob Auth (R-Old Tappan) and John Azzariti (R-Saddle River) easily beat what had seemed like a competitive challenge from former congressional candidate Frank Pallotta – Pallotta ended up with just 22% of the vote – but the Democratic race was far closer.

Former Dumont Mayor Andrew LaBruno, a Fulop running mate, locked down one seat with 28.4% of the vote, while party-backed former Woodcliff Lake Councilwoman Donna Abene is currently leading Fulop-aligned Demarest Councilman David Jiang 26.4% to 25.9% for the second spot, a margin of 177 votes. Former Dumont Councilman Damon Englese, Abene’s running mate, came in last with 19.2%.

This list may not be fully comprehensive, depending on what happens at the top of the ticket come November. Could Democrats take a closer look at the 40th district, where they have a shotgun marriage ticket of one party-backed candidate and one Fulop-backed one? Might Republicans try to compete in the 19th district, where Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge) holds a seat that only barely voted for Kamala Harris last year?

It’s possible, and recent surprise election results in 2021 and 2023 show that neither party can take anything for granted.