Robinson now in second for Somerset County Commission

Somerset County Commissioner Shanel Robinson has pulled into second place in her bid for re-election after trailing her Republican opponents on election night. The top two vote-getters will be elected.

Robinson currently has 25.1% of the vote, behind Republican Michael Kirsh, who has 25.3%, but ahead of Republican Amber Murad and fellow Democratic Commissioner Sara Sooy. Sooy is in third place at 24.9%, and Murad brings up the rear with 24.7%.

Given the tightness of the race, none of the four candidates is a lock for defeat or victory; after all, Kirsh and Murad are only separated by just over 1,000 votes out of more than 200,00 counted so far. 

Robinson and Sooy flipped two commissioner seats in 2018, and in the two subsequent election cycles Democrats picked up the three remaining seats to flip the commission from 5-0 Republican to 5-0 Democratic. But if one or both Republicans win this year, the brief era of unanimous Democratic dominance will at least temporarily come to an end.