Cumberland Democrats likely headed to re-election

Cumberland County Freeholders Carol Musso and George Castellini and former Freeholder Donna Pearson will likely defeat Republican challengers Victoria Lods, Tony Romero and Darwin Cooper, the New Jersey Globe projects.

Despite Democrats’ 12,310-voter registration advantage — it’s sizeable in county where just 93,613 were registered to vote as of Oct. 1 — Republicans went into election day with some circumstances in their favor.

The Democratic candidates were just months clear from a divisive primary that ended with a loss for one of the three county-backed candidates.

Pearson, a former Freeholder, ran with Freeholder Jack Surrency, who launched an off-the-line bid after losing the support of the Cumberland County Democratic Committee. Surrency lost, as did running mate Tracey Wells-Huggins.