AREA — New Jersey Democrats managed to wrest control of the 21st Legislative District for the first time since the early 90’s on Tuesday night.
Vincent Kearny, a member of the Garwood Borough Council and a Union County Sheriff’s officer, and Andrew Macurdy, a former state and federal prosecutor, will unseat Assemblywomen Nancy Muñoz (RSummit) and Michele Matsikoudis (R-New Providence).
Mr. Macurdy, a longtime supporter of Senator Andy Kim, walked away with 48,725 votes on Tuesday. Mr. Kearney ended the evening with 47,781 total votes, while Rep. Muñoz and Rep. Matsikoudis, who joined the legislature in 2009 following the death of her husband, Assemblyman Eric Muñoz, earned 42,079 and 42,071 votes respectively.
The district, which was last redrawn in 2011, spans parts of Union, Middlesex, Morris and Somerset Counties.
The Borough of Garwood will need to appoint a representative to fill Mr. Kearny’s seat once he is sworn into office in January and will likely hold a special election to round out the remainder of his unexpired term next year.
Similar wins played out for the Democrats across the state this week. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill won her bid to be the next governor of New Jersey by a margin of over 400,000 votes to GOP challenger and former NJ Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli.
“New Jersey, it is the honor of my life to earn your trust to become this great state’s 57th Governor,” the congresswoman said via social media Wednesday morning,” I promise to listen, lead with courage, and never forget who I serve.”
Ms. Sherrill is only the second woman to win election to the state’s highest office, and will be the first female Democrat ever to hold the seat (Governor Christine Todd Whitman, who served from 1994 to 2001, was a Republican).
NJ Dems also maintained control of both the 20th Legislative District (which includes municipalities of Elizabeth, Kenilworth, Roselle and Union Township) and the 22nd (which consists of Clark, Cranford, Fanwood, Linden, Plainfield, Rahway, Roselle Park, Scotch Plains and Winfield Township) and managed to flip another seat in Burlington County.
At the local level, Democratic incumbent Rebecca Williams and running mates Joseph Signorello III and Stanley Neron defeated GOP challengers Mark Nieves, Christopher Bacey and Kirk Hemphill to secure three, three-year terms on the Union County Board of County Commissioners. Republicans have not held a seat on the board since 1995.
County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi, a Democrat who has held the potion since the mid-90’s, was also re-elected to a new term Tuesday night, defeating Republican Peter Kane by a margin of about 59,000 votes.
