Nearly 223,836 votes already cast in N.J. primary election

With vote-by-mail ballots and early in-person voting, 223,836 New Jerseyans have already voted in advance of  Tuesday’s primary election as of yesterday as of Sunday morning, according to an analysis by Associated Press election researcher Ryan Dubicki.

A total of 15,554 votes were cast during the first two days of early voting on Friday and Saturday, including 9,818 Democrats and 5,736 Republicans.

Vote-by-mail ballots have been returned by 218,282 New Jersey voters, with 30% of the 691,654 ballots mailed already received by election officials. A total of 730,616 VBMs were requested.   Democrats have returned 31% of their votes, while 28% of Republicans have sent them back.

So far, 178,821 Democrats and 54,672 Republicans statewide have already voted.

Hudson County, where Union City Mayor/State Sen. Brian Stack has hundreds of volunteers on the street getting out the early vote, leads the state in in-person early voting with 2,753 votes cast.  Union City made up 52% of all early Democratic votes cast in Hudson over the last three days.

Camden County, where Democrats began aggressively pushing for vote-by-mail ballots about six years ago, leads the state: 24,862 VBMs from Democrats and 5,181 Republicans.  It’s possible that more votes will be cast in Camden County by mail than in-person on Election Day.

But Middlesex County is close to passing Camden.  A total of 23,413 Democrats and 4,203 Republicans have returned mail-in ballots so far.  Middlesex outpaced Camden in in-person early voting on Friday and Saturday by a 6-1 margin.

In the 3rd legislative district, where State Sen. Ed Durr (R-Logan), the truck driver who upset Senate President Steve Sweeney, faces a bitter primary GOP primary fight with Assemblywoman Beth Sawyer (R-Woolwich), 4,867 VBM ballots have already been returned – 41% of all mailed by county election officials – and 208 Republicans voted on Friday and Saturday.

Gloucester County makes up 60% of the Republican electorate in the 3rd and 61% of the total advance votes cast.  Salem County, which is 30% of the entire Republican primary voter pool, is 28% of the advance vote.

Ferocious Republican primaries in the 4th district, which became one of the state’s top swing districts after reapportionment, already have 2,9650 advance votes.  Republicans returned 39% of all vote-by-mail ballots, and 216 Republicans voted early on Friday and Saturday.

Gloucester County Commissioner Nick DeSilvio (R-Franklin) has his home county organization line, where 53% of registered Republicans live, while former Washington Township Councilman Christopher Del Borrello has the line in Camden (40% of GOP voters) and Atlantic (7%).

But 56% of the advance voting in the 4th district primary comes from Camden and 38% from Gloucester.

In a competitive Republican State Assembly primary for two open seats in the 24th district in Northwestern New Jersey, two slates are competing: Lafayette Board of Education President Josh Aikens and Warren County Commissioner Jason Sarnoski; and Sussex County Commissioner Dawn Fantasia and Chester Mayor Mike Inganamort.  Robert Kovics is also running.

A total of 2,463 advance votes from Republicans have been cast:  2,071 through vote-by-mail – a 35% return rate – and 392 early votes came in on Friday and Saturday.

Sussex has 63% of the registered Republicans in the 24th and accounts for 68% of the votes already in; Morris makes up 26% of the votes cast so far and 32% of the primary electorate.

In the 26th district, where State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Montville) faces Morris County Commissioner Tom Mastrangelo (R-Montville) in the GOP primary, 2,506 votes from registered Republicans are already in:  2003 VBMs from Republicans, a 33% return rate, and 5-3 in-person early votes on Friday and Saturday.  Morris makes up 83% of the district, and 89% of the advance vote comes from Morris.

Democrats in the 27th district, where two longtime state senators were forced into a primary after redistricting face-off – Richard Codey (D-Roseland) and Nia Gill (D-Montclair) – have already returned 5,346 ballots, a 29% return rate.  Buts just 318 Democrats voted early on Friday and Saturday.

In the next-door 28th district, three Democrats seek two Assembly seats: incumbent Cleopatra Tucker (D-Newark) and her running mate, Deputy Essex County Clerk Garnet Hall, and former Maplewood Mayor Frank McGehee.   3,101 advance votes have been cast, with a  return rate for Democrats of 24%; only 243 Democrats voted early on Friday and Saturday.