Assemblyman Michael Venezia (D-Bloomfield) and Assemblywoman Carmen Morales (D-Belleville) won a second term representing Essex County’s 34th legislative district, the New Jersey Globe projects.
The incumbents easily defeated the Republicans, BLEXIT leader Demetrius Eley and chiropractor Lorenzo Marchese. As of 9:32 p.m., Venezia and Morales had secured more than 77% of the vote.
In 2023, the Essex County Democratic Organization, helmed by State Democratic Chair LeRoy Jones, selected Venezia, a former Bloomfield mayor, and Morales, a former principal of Newark Tech High School, after Britnee Timberlake (D-East Orange) moved from the Assembly to the Senate and former Assemblyman Ralph Caputo accepted a seat on the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield board of directors.
In the primary, Venezia defeated a progressive challenge from former East Orange Councilwoman Brittany Claybrooks by about 900 votes. Claybrooks and her running mate, Belleville Councilman Frank Vélez, ran on Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s slate of anti-establishment Assembly candidates.
Victory against the Republicans, though, was never in doubt in one of the state’s bluest districts.
RELATED ARTICLES
-
-
January 15, 2025 -
