PASCACK VALLEY, Bergen County, N.J.—While Democrat Josh Gottheimer and Republican Jack Ciattarelli topped Pascack Valley and Bergen County voter ballots, only Ciattarelli won the statewide race to become the party’s nominee for governor. Gottheimer was easily bested statewide by Democrat Mikie Sherrill, a four-term congresswoman from Montclair.
Throughout the eight Pascack Valley towns, slightly over 36% of registered Democratic voters and slightly over 27.6% of registered Republicans turned out to vote for a gubernatorial candidate in the Primary Election, most turning up on Election Day, June 10.
Registered Republican voters in Pascack Valley overwhelmingly voted for candidate Jack Ciatarelli among a crowded field of five candidates for governor, including Bill Spadea, Jon Bramnick, Justin Barbera and Mario Kranjac.
However, while Gottheimer topped Bergen County Democratic vote totals, he fell far short statewide, pulling in 92,912 votes, or about 12% of statewide ballots. Gottheimer placed fourth behind statewide winner Mikie Sherrill, a congresswoman and former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot who topped 34%, grabbing over 267,404 votes as of late Tuesday night totals.
Placing second and third in the crowded, six-candidate Democratic gubernatorial field were Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, with 20%, and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop at 15%.
In Bergen County, Ciattarelli grabbed 30,024 votes out of 38,994 votes cast, or 77% of the total. Trailing him was Bill Spadea with about 9%; Jon Bramnick with 8.8%; Mario Kranjac with 4.2%; and Justin Barbera with 1.1% of the vote.
Meanwhile, Gottheimer grabbed 29,804, or 37.3% of 79.794 Democratic votes cast in Bergen County, while statewide winner Mikie Sherrill snagged 18,100 votes, or 22.7% of total votes cast. Also trailing Gottheimer in the race were Fulop, Baraka, Sean Spiller and Steve Sweeney.
In Hillsdale, former councilor Anthony DeRosa topped the Republican ballot for council, and along with Louis Casale, will compete for two open seats in November versus Democrats Christopher Camp and Gabriella Ianni, who ran uncontested. DeRosa (37%) and Casale (36%) beat out Stephen Riordan (27%) to win the party’s nomination.
In contested races for two open seats in the 39th District General Assembly, Democrats Andrew LaBruno (Democrats for Change) and Donna Abene (Democratic Committee of Bergen County) finished first and second. Placing third and fourth were their running mates David Jiang and Damon Englese. Overall, 30,692 Bergen County Democrats voted.
In the Republican race for the two 39th District Assembly seats, incumbents Robert Auth and John Azzariti topped Frank Pallotta’s bid. Auth (37%) and Azzariti (40%) easily beat back Pallotta with 22.3% of the vote. Overall, 24,695 Bergen County Republicans voted.
Also, a crowded Democratic race with six candidates and Republican race with five candidates for three open seats on the Board of Bergen County Commissioners saw three Democratic incumbents get the nod and a three-candidate slate of county Republican-endorsed candidates top the field.
Democratic incumbents Mary Amoroso (22%), Thomas Sullivan (19%) and Germaine Ortiz (18.3%) were able to hold off three “Bergen County Democrats for Change” including Chris Chung (15.2%), John Vitale (13.3%) and Dolores Witko (12.1%). A total of 180,093 Democratic votes were cast for the candidates.
Republican County Commissioner candidates Jeffrey ‘Jay’ Costa, Jr. (29.5%), Andrea Slowikowski (22.5%), and John Dinice (22%), representing “Bergen County Republican Endorsed Candidates” won out as the party’s nominees over Linda Barba (15.8%) and Armen Azarnia (10.1%), whose slogan was “Bergen County Republicans.”
For the most up-to-date municipal election results in Bergen County, visit the Bergen County Clerk’s Office website, click Elections & Voting, then Election Results, and readers can access a summary of all state, county and municipal candidate races. A second spreadsheet on the site breaks out all election results and turnout by town and voting districts.