HACKENSACK—Democratic U.S. Representative Andy Kim and Republican candidate Christine Serrano Glassner topped Bergen County’s Democratic and Republican Primary Election ballots for U.S. Senate on June 4. However, Republican Curtis Bashaw bested Glassner in the overall vote.
Kim easily won his primary race against Lawrence Hamm and Patricia Campos-Medina, garnering approximately 75% of the statewide Democratic primary vote. In Bergen County, he polled 40,507 votes to Hamm’s 3,943 and Campos-Medina’s 6,449.
Kim will face hotelier Curtis Bashaw in the Nov. 5 election for the seat currently held by indicted U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez. Menendez has filed to run as an Independent after being urged to step aside by many Democratic leaders.
Bashaw topped Serrano Glassner on statewide Republican ballots, winning approximately 46% to 39%. Despite this, Glassner, endorsed by former president Donald Trump, topped Bashaw in Bergen County with 21,125 votes to Bashaw’s 3,782.
The Bergen County Clerk’s Office website has posted a 591-page district-by-district breakdown of the local Primary Election vote, available at bergencountyclerk.gov.
While Pascack Valley’s eight local primary races featured few challengers, thousands of registered voters in both parties participated in selecting candidates for the U.S. Senate seat held by Menendez, a Democrat.
A primary election allows registered Democrats and Republicans to choose among their party’s candidates for federal, state, county, and local government seats. Unaffiliated voters can declare a party at the polls on Election Day and vote in the primary.
The candidates selected by registered Democrats and Republicans will oppose each other in the Nov. 5 General Election, a presidential election year likely to feature incumbent Democratic President Joseph R. Biden and his Republican challenger, former president Donald J. Trump.
According to Bergen County Elections data, 22.25% of registered Democratic voters cast primary ballots (55,814 of 250,849 voters), and 21.89% of registered Republicans did the same (33,466 of 152,903 voters).
For further primary election vote breakdowns, including early voting, vote-by-mail ballots, and Election Day ballots, consult the Bergen County Clerk’s Office elections page.
Here’s a primer on primary election voter turnout in the Pascack Valley’s eight towns, based on primary ballots cast for Democratic and Republican presidential candidates and the U.S. Senate:
- Democratic voter turnout percentages: Emerson, 21.62%; Hillsdale, 20.54%; Montvale, 22.11%; Park Ridge, 23.04%; River Vale, 22.29%; Township of Washington, 20.29%; Westwood, 22.23%; Woodcliff Lake, 20.02%.
- Republican voter turnout percentages: Emerson, 20.63%; Hillsdale, 19.7%; Montvale, 16.66%; Park Ridge, 18.07%; River Vale, 20%; Township of Washington, 19.47%; Westwood, 23.21%; Woodcliff Lake, 23.74%.
We look forward to providing more detailed information on Pascack Valley primary voting, including percentages for early voting, vote-by-mail turnout, and covering municipal and school elections set for a lively General Election on Nov. 5.