13 newcomers win safe-seat legislative primaries unopposed

The New Jersey Legislature will be gaining dozens of brand-new members in this year’s elections – and a huge number of them just won their primaries unopposed.

In the 9th district, based in Ocean County, two new Republicans will soon be coming to Trenton: Berkeley Mayor Carmen Amato in the Senate and Stafford Mayor Greg Myhre in the Assembly. Incumbent Senator Chris Connors (R-Lacey) is stepping down, while Myhre and Assemblyman Brian Rumpf (R-Little Egg Harbor) beat out Assemblywoman DiAnne Gove (R-Long Beach) at the Ocean GOP convention.

One district to the north, Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul Kanitra is set to become the newest Republican assemblyman from the 10th district. In something of an upset, Kantira won the GOP convention to succeed Assemblyman John Catalano (R-Brick), who’s running for mayor of Brick this year.

In the 12th district, Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry was originally going to face State Sen. Sam Thompson (D-Old Bridge) in a Republican primary. But Thompson switched parties, then announced he wouldn’t be running for re-election after all, clearing Henry’s path to the Senate.

Tennille McCoy is uncontested in the Democratic primary to replace Assemblyman Dan Benson (D-Hamilton) in the 14th district after a fascinating three-way convention fight. (There is a chance that the 14th district will be competitive this year, but neither party is treating it like a top battleground right now.)

In the 24th district, Assemblyman Parker Space (R-Wantage) will succeed Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho (R-Franklin). Space was briefly locked in an intense primary fight against Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, but Lonegan unexpectedly dropped out of the race a few weeks before the filing deadline, leaving Space unopposed in the primary.

As part of a broader Hudson County legislative makeover, the 32nd district will be getting an entirely new legislative delegation this year. Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City) is ascending to the Senate, with John Allen and Jessica Ramirez set to replace him and Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro (D-Hoboken) in the Assembly.

The neighboring 33rd district is also seeing big changes. State Sen. Brian Stack (D-Union City) is helming the ticket after being double-bunked with State Sen. Nicholas Sacco (D-North Bergen), who chose to retire rather than face a brutal fight for renomination; Stack is running with former North Bergen Commissioner Julio Marenco and former West New York Mayor Gabe Rodriguez in place of incumbent Assemblymembers Pedro Mejia (D-Secaucus) and Angelica Jimenez (D-West New York).

In Essex County, the 34th district will soon have a new state senator in Assemblywoman Britnee Timberlake (D-East Orange) after State Sen. Nia Gill (D-Montclair) was moved into a neighboring district. Timberlake is running with Bloomfield Mayor Michael Venezia and Carmen Morales, who are also unopposed in the primary.

Finally, two Republican districts in North Jersey will each be getting a new assemblymember: Saddle River Councilman John Azzariti in the 39th district and Essex GOP chair Al Barlas in the 40th district. They’ll succeed Assemblywoman DeAnne DeFuccio (R-Upper Saddle River) and Assemblyman Kevin Rooney (R-Wyckoff), respectively. (Both the 39th and 40th districts voted for Joe Biden, so there’s some chance of a competitive general election, but Azzariti and Barlas are clearly favored.)

A number of candidates running in highly competitive districts also made it through their primaries unopposed. Both parties’ slates in the 2nd, 8th, 11th, and 16th districts were uncontested, as was the Democratic slate in the 4th district.