Amir Jones won the Democratic nomination for Essex County Sheriff, easily fending off a challenge from primary challenge Gary Nash.
As of 11:06 p.m., Jones leads Nash 84%-16%.
Democratic incumbent Armando Fontoura is retiring after serving as sheriff since 1991. Jones, the undersheriff and a career law enforcement official making his first run for public office, ran with Fontoura’s endorsement.
Jones is the son of Essex County Democratic Chairman LeRoy Jones, Jr. and the grandson of the late LeRoy Jones, Sr., a former commissioner of the New Jersey Parole Board.
If he wins, Jones will become the first Black sheriff in Essex County history among a small number of Black sheriffs in the state. A fifteen-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, Jones runs the day-to-day operations of the Sheriff’s Office’s Field Operations Division, which includes the Patrol Division and the Bureau of Narcotics.
In the Republican sheriff primary, Nicholas Pansini, an Essex County corrections officer with the backing of the Essex County GOP, defeated America First candidate Robert Bianco 74%-26%. He will face Jones in the general election.
In the GOP primary for Essex County Register of Deeds and Mortgages, organization-backed candidate Jeffrey Polewka beat Scott Pollack, 73%-27%. He will face incumbent Juan Rivera, Jr., who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Nash, a retired law enforcement official, got into the race before U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi abolished the Democratic line for this year’s primary. Nash’s original intention was to preserve a better ballot position for Bloomfield Mayor Ted Gamble, who had been running off the line.
Pansini is making his second bid for sheriff. He received 23% of the vote against Fontoura in 2021,
Bianco ran for the State Assembly in 2007 but lost to Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) by over 8,300 votes. Pollack, the American First candidate, won 21% in his 2021 campaign against State Sen. Nia Gill (D-Montclair).
Essex Republicans have not elected a sheriff since 1979 and a register since 1969.
Only Essex and Hudson still elect county registers. Other counties that had them have eliminated the position as unnecessary and transferred their duties to the county clerk.
In 1979, Republican Hyman Mintz came within roughly 1,250 votes of ousting Democratic incumbent Larrie West Stalks after mounting a campaign calling for the abolishment of the post. Mintz had served as an assemblyman and freeholder and was the register from 1969 to 1974 when he declined to seek re-election in the Watergate Democratic wave election.