Union County was once a bellwether of statewide elections, a place where New Jersey Republicans could build commanding suburban margins while remaining competitive enough in Democratic cities to win statewide. Today, it is one of the Democratic Party’s most dependable vote-producing counties — and a vivid measure of how thoroughly New Jersey’s political landscape has changed.
For decades, the county contained two sharply different political worlds: an urban base anchored by Elizabeth, Plainfield and Rahway (which, by the way, were sometimes competitive – Rep. Matthew Rinaldo won Elizabeth in 1990) and affluent commuter suburbs that traditionally leaned Republican while remaining willing to split their tickets.
That political map has vanished. The days when Republicans could run up 2-to-1 margins in Westfield and Summit, or emerge from ridge towns like New Providence and Berkeley Heights with commanding advantages, are over. Long gone, too, is the era when Jackie Robinson could campaign for Richard Nixon in Plainfield and draw thousands of people into the streets.
During the political ascendancy of the first Tom Kean, Republicans could compete in local elections in Democratic cities and hold their losses in Plainfield and Rahway to manageable levels; State Sen. Jon Bramnick began his political career as a Plainfield councilman. That is a pipe dream today. Union Township, for decades one of New Jersey’s great suburban swing towns, has become a one-party Democratic stronghold.
The suburban Republican firewall began collapsing after 2016. Democrats captured the 7th Congressional District in 2018, turning a longtime GOP stronghold into one of the nation’s marquee congressional battlegrounds, while once-competitive Union County suburbs moved steadily into the Democratic column.
The Republican retreat accelerated in 2025, when the GOP lost both Union County-based Assembly seats. For the first time since the 1930s, no Republican from Union County serves in the State Assembly. Bramnick is the last man standing.
Democrats now win — or remain highly competitive — in nearly all of the county’s 21 municipalities. Republicans have not captured a countywide office since 1995.
This year, Democrats face no opposition for council seats in Elizabeth’s 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th wards and for one at-large seat; one seat in Fanwood; Linden’s 6th and 8th wards; Plainfield; Rahway’s 3rd Ward and two at-large seats; Roselle; Union Township; and Winfield.
Hillside holds nonpartisan municipal elections in November – and if needed, runoffs in December. Westfield has no municipal elections this year.
U.S. Senate
Within the memory of many New Jersey politicians, Union County was home to both of the state’s U.S. senators: Republican Clifford Case of Rahway and Democrat Harrison Williams of Plainfield — at least until a new wife led Williams to Bedminster. In 2000, both U.S. Senate candidates, Democrat Jon Corzine and Republican Bob Franks, lived in Union County and attended the same Summit church.
Now, two-term U.S. Sen. Cory Booker is seeking another term in Washington after carrying Union County by overwhelming margins in each of his three Senate campaigns. Booker defeated former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan by 28 points in the 2013 special election, gold-standard advocate Jeff Bell by 32 points in 2014 and pharmaceutical executive Rik Mehta by 37 points in 2020.
Booker faces former Tabernacle Deputy Mayor Justin Murphy this year. In New Jersey’s last U.S. Senate election, Republican Curtis Bashaw lost Union County by 28 points to now-Sen. Andy Kim.
7th Congressional District
Union County will be one of the first places national political operatives watch on election night for clues about control of the House.
New Jersey’s 7th district includes Berkeley Heights, Clark, Fanwood, part of Linden, Mountainside, New Providence, Rahway, part of Scotch Plains, Springfield, Summit, Westfield and Winfield. The Union County portion is both the district’s most populous region and its most Democratic, producing roughly 30% of all general election votes.
Two-term Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) is seeking a third term in New Jersey’s most competitive congressional race and one of the most closely watched contests in the country. Kean has represented many of the district’s Union County communities for decades, first as a state legislator and now in Congress.
Kean first ran for Congress in 2000, finishing second in a four-candidate Republican primary. He returned two decades later to challenge first-term Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes), losing by one point in 2020 while running nine points ahead of Donald Trump. Kean defeated Malinowski by three points in 2022 after redistricting produced the district’s current boundaries, then won re-election by six points over former New Jersey Working Families director Sue Altman in 2024.
But while Kean has carried the district twice, he has never won its Union County portion in a congressional race. Malinowski carried those towns by 20 points in 2022, and Altman won them by 13 points two years later.
The Democratic advantage is even more pronounced at the top of the ticket. Kamala Harris carried the Union County portion by 19 points in 2024, even as Donald Trump won the district by one. Gov. Mikie Sherrill expanded the Union County margin to 21 points in 2025 while carrying the district by two.
Kean faces former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett in November in a contest Democrats view as one of their best opportunities to capture a Republican-held seat and regain the House majority.
For Bennett, the election-night math is straightforward: She will need to run up an overwhelming margin in Union County to offset Kean’s strength in the district’s more Republican territory. How large that margin becomes — and whether Kean can contain it — could determine the winner.
8th Congressional District
Two-term Rep. Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) is seeking a third term. New Jersey’s 8th district includes Elizabeth.
Menendez has no Republican opponent, marking the first time since 2008 that a major party failed to nominate a candidate for a New Jersey congressional seat. That year, Rep. Donald Payne Sr. (D-Newark) faced only a Socialist Workers Party candidate.
Local Republican leaders are instead backing Aristotle Eliopoulos, a teachers’ union official and registered Republican who qualified for the ballot as an independent after the GOP nominee failed to submit enough valid signatures.
No Republican has won a Jersey City-based congressional district since 1956.
10th Congressional District
The 10th Congressional District includes Cranford, Garwood, Hillside, Kenilworth, part of Linden, Roselle, Roselle Park, and Union Township.
Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) is seeking another term representing the Newark-based district.
McIver again faces Republican Carmen Bucco, who challenged her in both the 2024 special election and the general election. Bucco is from Kenilworth.
Republicans have not won a Newark-based congressional district since 1946.
12th Congressional District
The 12th Congressional District includes the city of Plainfield.
The real contest in the 12th District occurred in the June 2 Democratic primary to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing).
Progressive Dr. Adam Hamawy prevailed in the Democratic primary and is widely viewed as a congressman-in-waiting against perennial Republican nominee Gregg Mele.
The Union County portion of the district was the only county in NJ-12 that did not back Hamawy in the primary, instead favoring Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp. Mapp carried his home county and city by 31 points, winning 48% of the vote to Hamawy’s 17%.
Sheriff
Democratic Sheriff Peter Corvelli is seeking a fourth three-year term. Corvelli, a former Kenilworth councilman, was first elected sheriff in 2017.
Corvelli again faces Republican Gerardo Napolitano.
Napolitano ran for sheriff in 2023 and lost to Corvelli, 62%-37%.
County Commissioner
Commissioners Joseph Bodek, Lourdes M. Leon, and Michele Delisfort are all seeking re-election to three-year terms.
They face Republicans Cathy Jakositz, a former Mountainside Board of Education member making her second county commissioner campaign after losing to Leon, Delisfort, and Bodek in 2023; Christopher Bacey, a public relations specialist making his second bid after losing to Democrats Rebecca Williams, Joseph Signorello III, and Stanley Neron in 2025; and Miguel Rodriguez, a member of the Union County Republican Committee.
The last Republican elected county commissioner was in 1995, when the office was still known as freeholder.
County Clerk
Longtime Democratic Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi passed away last month, triggering a special election for a full five-year term.
Democrats have already begun the process of selecting a nominee. Tahirah “Tai” Cooper, an official at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, and longtime Elizabeth Councilwoman Patricia Perkins-Auguste appeared before a screening committee of Democratic municipal chairs led by Senate President Nicholas Scutari, the county party chairman.
Cooper has served as chief community development officer at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority since 2019. Before that, she was Gov. Phil Murphy’s deputy chief policy adviser from 2018 to 2019, where she led the administration’s federal Opportunity Zone initiative.
Perkins-Auguste has represented Elizabeth as an at-large councilwoman since 1993 and is currently serving her seventh consecutive term.
Republicans have until August 27 to select their nominee. Union County Republican Chairman Carlos Santos said he is considering several candidates and expects to name a nominee before the filing deadline.
Independent candidates will also have the opportunity to enter the race.
Berkeley Heights
Democratic Councilwoman Susan Poage is running to keep the mayor’s office in Democratic hands as Mayor Angie Devanney retires. She faces Republican Councilman John Foster and independent realtor George de Luna, who initially sought the Republican nomination but was removed from the primary ballot.
Neither Poage’s nor Foster’s council seat is up this year, meaning both will remain on the governing body regardless of the outcome of the mayoral race.
Democratic Councilmembers Margaret Illis and William Machado are seeking re-election. They face Republicans James Daoulabani, a special needs substitute teacher, and Edmund Maciejewski, who is making his fourth bid for the council.
Democrats control every council seat except Foster’s, along with the mayor’s office. Berkeley Heights has trended Democratic at the top of the ticket, with Kamala Harris carrying the township by 12 points in 2024 and Gov. Mikie Sherrill matching that margin in 2025.
Clark
First Ward Republican Councilman Frank Mazzarella is retiring. Democrat Mary Semler and Republican Planning Board member Matthew Siessell are competing to succeed him. This is Semler’s second bid for the council.
Second Ward Republican Councilman Patrick O’Connor is seeking re-election against Democratic attorney Michael Shulman, who is making his second run for the seat.
Third Ward Republican Councilman Steven Hund is seeking another term. Democrat William Grzyb is making his third campaign for the council.
Fourth Ward Republican Councilman Brian Toal is seeking re-election. He faces Democrat Michael Decker, a police officer.
Republicans control every seat on the Clark Township Council.
Clark remains the most Republican municipality in Union County. Donald Trump carried the township by 28 points in 2024, while Jack Ciattarelli won Clark by 21 points over Gov. Mikie Sherrill in 2025.
Cranford
Democratic Mayor Paul Gallo is seeking re-election. His running mate, Susan Burke, is running for the seat being vacated by Committeeman and former Mayor Brian Andrews, who is not seeking re-election.
They face Republicans Sam Prince, a marketing and technology operations leader, and Dennis Miller, a self-employed real estate internet marketer.
Like many of Union County’s commuter towns, Cranford was once reliably Republican before becoming a dependable Democratic community in federal and statewide elections. Gov. Mikie Sherrill carried Cranford by more than 15 points in 2025.
Local elections, however, remain highly competitive. Republican Committeewoman Gina Black narrowly won re-election in 2024 on the same ballot that Kamala Harris carried by 20 points.
Democrats currently hold a 4-1 majority on the Township Committee.
In 2023, Republicans nearly unseated Gallo after he was appointed to fill an unexpired term. Gallo held on by just 12 votes.
Elizabeth
Second Ward Democratic Councilman Nelson Gonzales is retiring. Democrat Isias Rivera is running to keep the seat in Democratic hands and faces Republican Glen Maldonado.
Sixth Ward Democratic Councilman Frank Mazza is seeking re-election. He has no Republican opponent but faces independent Janei Holder.
Mazza sought to remove Holder from the ballot. Holder submitted 283 petition signatures, nearly double the 138 required by law. After reviewing Mazza’s objections, the Union County Clerk invalidated 107 signatures but determined Holder still had 176 valid signatures, comfortably above the statutory threshold to remain on the ballot.
Mazza was first elected to the Elizabeth City Council in 1984 and served for 12 years before returning to office in 2006.
Democrats currently hold every seat on the Elizabeth City Council.
Elizabeth remains a Democratic stronghold. Gov. Mikie Sherrill carried the city by nearly 50 points in 2025 after Kamala Harris won it by 12 points in 2024.
Fanwood
Democratic Councilman Anthony Carter is seeking another term alongside fellow Democrat Michael Lowenthal, who is running for the seat being vacated by retiring Councilman Jeffrey Banks.
Republicans are fielding only one candidate, anti-overdevelopment advocate Gary Morris.
Democrats hold a 6-0 majority on the borough council.
Fanwood remains one of Union County’s strongest Democratic municipalities. Kamala Harris carried the borough by 33 points in 2024, while Gov. Mikie Sherrill expanded that margin to 36 points in 2025.
Garwood
Democratic Mayor Jennifer Blumenstock is seeking re-election to another four-year term. She faces Republican Cheryl Saleskied, a corporate controller.
Democratic Councilmembers Karina Boto and Brian Tague are seeking re-election against Republicans Brenda Caffrey and Laura Thompson. Caffrey and Thompson both ran unsuccessfully for the council last year, losing to incumbent Clarissa Nolde and newcomer Kathleen Annarelli.
Democratic Councilwoman Stephanie Bianco is also seeking re-election after being appointed to fill the vacancy created when Councilman Sean Keagan Foley moved out of the borough. She faces Republican newcomer Vinnie Fumero.
Democrats currently control all six seats on the Garwood Borough Council.
Garwood is competitive at the top of the ticket; Kamala Harris carried Garwood by just under a point in 2024. Gov. Mikie Sherrill carried the Borough by 7 points in 2025
Kenilworth
Democratic Councilman Patrick Boyle is seeking re-election alongside John Ferreira, who is running to succeed retiring Councilwoman Toni Picerno.
Republican former Councilmen Fred Pugliese and Scott Pentz are challenging them. Pentz was the Republican nominee for mayor in 2023, losing to Democrat Linda Karlovitch.
Republicans currently hold a 4-2 majority on the council and are looking to shut Democrats out entirely.
Kenilworth leans Republican at the top of the ticket. Donald Trump carried the borough by 24 points in 2024, and Jack Ciattarelli defeated Gov. Mikie Sherrill there by 11 points in 2025.
Linden
Democratic Mayor Derek Armstead is seeking a fourth term. He faces Republican Jimmy Diaz Jr., who previously ran twice for the council. Still, he is making his first bid for mayor, and former Fifth Ward Democratic Councilman Carlos Rivas, who is running as an independent.
Council President Michele Yamakaitis is seeking another term. Republican Victor Kaminskis, a real estate instructor, is challenging her.
Fourth Ward Democratic Councilman Alfred Mohammed is retiring. Democrat Brianna Armstead, the mayor’s daughter and a current school board member, is running to succeed him. She has no Republican opponent but faces independent Tracy Nunez, a child health care consultant.
Tenth Ward Democratic Councilwoman Christine Hudak is seeking re-election against Republican construction worker Luis Fonseca.
Democrats control every seat on the Linden City Council.
Linden remains a Democratic stronghold. Kamala Harris carried the city by 27 points in 2024, while Gov. Mikie Sherrill won it by 41 points in 2025.
Mountainside
Republican Councilmembers Steven Matejek and Valerie Wass are seeking re-election. They face Democrats Robert Barletta, the former chief of staff to Reed Gusciora, and Stefania Colosimo, a CPA.
Republicans control all six seats on the Mountainside Borough Council.
Mountainside remains Republican-leaning. Donald Trump carried the borough by four points in 2024, while Jack Ciattarelli defeated Gov. Mikie Sherrill by six points in 2025.
New Providence
Republican Mayor Al Morgan is seeking re-election. He faces Democratic Councilwoman Kathleen Dolan, who was first elected in 2024. Dolan’s council seat is not up for election until next year.
Republican Councilwoman Nadine Geoffroy is seeking re-election alongside Michael Pennisi, who is running to succeed retiring Councilwoman Lisa McKnight. They face Democrats Johan Starr, the director of technology at the NYU School of Law, and Tobias Rossmann, an associate professor at Lafayette College.
The borough council is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. A Democratic gain of just one seat would give the party control of the governing body.
New Providence has become reliably Democratic at the top of the ticket. Kamala Harris carried the borough by 19 points in 2024, and Gov. Mikie Sherrill won it by 17 points in 2025.
Rahway
Democratic Mayor Ray Giacobbe is seeking another term. He faces Republican Casey Granieri, a retired executive chef, and independent Hope Moran, an EMT.
Democratic Councilmembers Jeffrey Brooks, Joanna Miles, and Jeremy Mojica are all seeking re-election to at-large seats on the Rahway City Council.
Republicans are fielding just one candidate for the three seats: attorney and activist Alan Levy.
Democrats currently control all nine seats on the Rahway City Council as well as the mayor’s office.
Rahway gave Gov. Mikie Sherrill a 51-point victory in the 2025 gubernatorial election after Kamala Harris carried the city by 36 points in 2024.
Roselle Park
Democratic Mayor Joseph Signorello Jr., the father of Union County Commissioner Joseph Signorello III, is seeking re-election. Signorello became mayor earlier this year after his son was elected county commissioner.
He faces Republican Fourth Ward Councilman Khanjan Patel.
Democratic At-Large Councilman Jorge Casalins is running for the First Ward seat, while fellow Democrat Adolfo Dicosmo, a member of the municipal land use board, is seeking the at-large seat.
Dicosmo faces Republican Jorge Ramirez, who lost a Second Ward council race two years ago.
Casalins faces Republican Mariann Brenner, a retired K-9 police officer and author who ran for mayor four years ago.
Democrats hold a 5-1 majority on the borough council, with Patel serving as the lone Republican.
Roselle Park has become a Democratic stronghold. Gov. Mikie Sherrill carried the borough by 25 points in 2025 after Kamala Harris won it by seven points in 2024.
Scotch Plains
Democratic Councilmembers Matthew Adams, Elizabeth Stamler, and Roshan White are all seeking re-election.
Republicans are running U.S. Navy veteran Omel D’Munda and small business owners Gabrielle Gilles and Brian Johdos.
Democrats control all five council seats and the mayor’s office.
Scotch Plains remains a Democratic stronghold. Kamala Harris carried the township by 24 points in 2024, and Gov. Mikie Sherrill expanded that margin to 28 points in 2025.
Springfield
Democratic Committeeman Christopher Capodice is seeking re-election. He faces Republican attorney Michael Silbert.
Democrats control the Springfield Township Committee with a 5-0 majority.
Springfield is reliably Democratic. Kamala Harris defeated Donald Trump by 14 points in 2024, while Gov. Mikie Sherrill carried the township by 22 points over Jack Ciattarelli in 2025.
Summit
First Ward Republican Councilman Robert Pawlowski resigned earlier this year, and interim Councilman Andrew Smith is not seeking a full term.
Democrat Elizabeth Skoler, an executive in the media and entertainment industry, faces former Republican Councilwoman Delia Hamlet, who lost her seat last year to Councilwoman Jaclyn Lataracina.
Second Ward Republican Councilman Jamel Boyer is seeking re-election. He faces Democrat Emily Seelaus, a teacher.
After the 2025 elections, Summit’s council is controlled by Democrats with a 5-2 majority, with a Republican mayor.
Summit is strongly Democratic at the top of the ticket. Kamala Harris carried the city by 29 points in 2024, and Gov. Mikie Sherrill won it by 21 points in 2025.
Local politics remain highly competitive, with control of the Common Council routinely shifting between Republicans and Democrats in recent years.
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