Democrats have won two seats on the Salem County Board of Commissioners, breaking the Republicans’ 5-0 hold on county government and setting up a battle for control next year in a county that Donald Trump carried by more than 19 percentage points in 2024.
Former Democratic Commissioner Charles Hassler defeated Republican incumbent Ed Ramsay by 1,053 votes, 10,853 to 9,800, while Democrat John “Buddy” Ayars unseated Republican Commissioner Paul Collier by just 274 votes, 10,604 to 10,330, in a race for a one-year unexpired term.
The Democratic sweep reduces the Republican majority to 3-2 and puts control of county government in play in 2027, when Republican Commissioner Ben Laury and Ayars will be on the ballot.
The results are unofficial, but the margins are beyond the reach of approximately 207 provisional ballots that will not be counted until next week. Late-arriving vote-by-mail ballots could still be counted, but with 21,158 ballots already cast in a county with 50,497 registered voters, a large enough influx to change the outcome appears unlikely.
Turnout was 41.9%.
The Democratic victories came after a dramatic reversal in the vote count. On election night, Ramsay led Hassler by 628 votes, while Collier led Ayars by 1,261 votes.
A malfunctioning ballot scanner forced election officials to suspend counting Tuesday night, leaving thousands of ballots unprocessed. When officials counted additional ballots Wednesday, both Democrats moved ahead.
For Hassler, the victory represents a political comeback. He lost his commissioner seat to Ramsay in 2020 by approximately 375 votes and will now reclaim it six years later.
Ramsay had survived a Republican primary challenge earlier this year from construction company owner Lew Merryfield, who had the support of fellow Republican Commissioner Dan Timmerman and the coveted top ballot position. Ramsay won the nomination decisively.
Collier, a former Lower Alloways Creek mayor, was appointed to the board in January after Mickey Ostrum resigned following his election as Salem County Surrogate.
He won a Republican special election convention on the third ballot, defeating Carneys Point Committeeman Wayne Pelura, 33-16, but lost his first general election for county office.
Ayars will serve the remaining year of Ostrum’s term – he’ll get sworn in as soon as the election results are certified later this month — and must seek re-election in 2027 to win a full three-year term.
Salem County has experienced several changes in political control over the last decade.
Republicans won a majority in 2017, but Democrats subsequently persuaded a Republican freeholder to switch parties, giving them control. Republicans regained their majority in 2018 and completed a 5-0 takeover in 2022, when they captured the seat vacated by retiring Democratic Commissioner Lee Ware.
The Democratic victories are particularly striking in a county that remains Republican in federal elections.
Republican Justin Murphy carried Salem County over Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker by 782 votes, 10,664 to 9,882, while Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) defeated Democrat Zach Mullock in the county by 833