Party-endorsed slates win on both sides in Bergen county commissioner race

In the race for three seats on the Bergen County Board of Commissioners, party-backed candidates on both sides have successfully fended off slates of primary challengers, the New Jersey Globe projects.

Three Democratic incumbents are running for re-election this year: Commissioners Thomas Sullivan (D-Montvale), Mary Amoroso (D-Mahwah), and Germaine Ortiz (D-Emerson). All three have served in county government for a number of years, and were re-elected by reasonably comfortable margins in 2022.

Facing off against them in the Democratic primary were three candidates affiliated with Steve Fulop’s gubernatorial campaign: former Palisades Park Mayor Chris Chung, former Closter Councilwoman Dolores Witko, and John Vitale, a candidate for State Assembly in 2023.

As of 12:14 a.m., Amoroso leads the pack with 22% of the vote, followed by Sullivan with 19% and Ortiz with 18%; Chung has 15%, Vitale has 13%, and Witko has 12%.

On the GOP side, Mahwah school board member John Dinice, Demarest Councilwoman Andrea Slowikowski, and self-described “GunTuber” Jay Costa received the party endorsement for three seats. Running on a renegade slate were realtors Linda Barba and Armen Azarnia; Barba had previously run for county executive in 2022, but lost in the primary.

Like on the Democratic side, the party endorsement proved decisive: Costa, Slowikowski, and Dinice have 29%, 23%, and 22%, respectively, while Barba has 16% and Azarnia has 10%.