Two GOP-leaning North Jersey legislative districts, the Morris County-based 26th district and the Passaic and Essex County-based 40th district, have elected full slates of Republican legislators, the New Jersey Globe projects.
The 26th district hosted an intense primary earlier this year, with a slate of off-the-line challengers gearing up to take on State Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Montville) and Assemblymen Brian Bergen (R-Denville) and Jay Webber (R-Morris Plains). Morris County Commissioner Tom Mastrangelo (R-Montville) took on Mastrangelo, while Bergen and Webber faced former Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce (R-Parsippany) and former Parsippany Councilman Robert Peluso.
But all three incumbents won fairly easily, and the general election that followed was far less noteworthy. As of 12:13 a.m., Pennacchio leads Democrat Joan Waks 58%-42%, and Webber and Bergen have a similar lead against Walter Mielarczyk and John Von Achen; this will be Bergen’s first term representing the redrawn 26th district after winning two terms in the neighboring 25th district.
Next door in the 40th district, State Sen. Kristin Corrado (R-Totowa) leads Democrat Jennifer Ehrentraut 61%-39%. Corrado’s running mates, Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips (R-Wyckoff) and Essex GOP Chairman Al Barlas, have a combined 59% of the vote against Giovanna Irizarry and Jennifer Marrinan.
Barlas was the Republican leader on the redistricting commission that drew this year’s legislative map in the first place. On the new map, GOP-leaning towns in northwestern Essex County were consolidated into the 40th district, giving Barlas – a Cedar Grove resident – the ability to push aside incumbent Assemblyman Kevin Rooney (R-Wyckoff) and claim an Assembly seat for himself.
Like other suburban districts across the state, the 26th and 40th districts have trended somewhat towards Democrats in recent years; in the 2020 presidential election, the 26th district supported Donald Trump 50%-49%, while the 40th district voted for Joe Biden 50%-49%. But as tonight’s legislative results showed, the two districts both remain firmly Republican at the state level.
See all 2023 election results HERE.