Six counties have contested primaries for countywide office in two weeks, with the premier race in Hudson County, where a five-term incumbent is battling the mayor of Bayonne in the race for the Democratic nomination for sheriff in a contest with no county line.
Frank X. Schillari, first elected in 2010, faces Jimmy Davis, a former police captain serving his third term as Bayonne mayor. The race is a key component of the Hudson Democratic War of 2025.
Schillari is running on a slate headed by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop, the three-term mayor of Jersey City; he’s running with six Assembly candidates allied with Fulop across three legislative districts. North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco is also backing Schillari.
The Hudson County Democratic organization has endorsed Davis; until a federal court decision last year, the loss of the line would have finished Schillari. Davis is running with another Democratic candidate for governor, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair); he has the backing of Hudson County Executive Craig Guy, who is also the county chairman, along with Union City Mayor/State Sen. Brian P. Stack, West New York Mayor Albio Sires, and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner.
Bergen County: Incumbent County Commissioners Thomas Sullivan, Mary Amoroso and Germaine Ortiz face Democratic primary challenges from three Democrats for Change candidates allied with Fulop: former Palisades Park Mayor Chris Chung, former Closter Councilwoman Dolores Witko, and John Vitale, a restaurant owner from Park Ridge who ran for State Assembly in 2023.
On the Republican side, Second Amendment activist Jay Costa, Demarest Councilwoman Andrea Slowikowski, and Mahwah school board member John Dinice, all backed by the county GOP organization, face Linda Barba and Armen Azarnia. Barba lost a Republican primary for county executive in 2022, and a race for Fort Lee Brough Council in 2019.
Cumberland County: Two Democrats backed by a somewhat fractured Democratic county organization for county commissioner, Johnny Capizola and Yolanda Garcia Balicki, face a primary challenge from Larae Smith. Capizola lost an Assembly race in 2021, and was appointed to a vacant seat in 2023 when George Castellini stepped down; Capizola lost county commissioner bids in 2023 and 2024. Garcia Balicki won 35% in her 2021 State Senate bid against incumbent Michael Testa, Jr. (R-Vineland). Smith is the Commercial Township Democratic municipal chair and school board member; she lost a Democratic primary for county commissioner last year and a general election for the same office in 2023.
Monmouth County: County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon and County Commissioners Thomas Arnone and Nick DiRocco face challenges in the GOP primary. Hanlon’s opponent is Marlboro school board member Danielle Bellomo; her running mate, Mary Katie Kelliher, a realtor from Middletown, is running for county commissioner.
Ocean County: In a rare contest for an open county clerk post, Jack Kelly, a county commissioner since 1993, is running for the position vacated on January 1 with the early retirement of Scott Colabella. He faces former Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Rory Wells in the Republican primary. Kelly spent eleven of his seventeen years on Eagleswood Council as mayor.
Warren County: Five-term County Commissioner Jason Sarnoski is being challenged in the Republican primary by newcomer Sylvia Zika.
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