New Jersey Democrats triumphed in Assembly races Tuesday, and are set to expand their majority next year after winning three long-sought seats in the 8th and 21st districts and threatening to flip four others.
The apparent victories will give Democrats a two-thirds supermajority in the lower chamber for the first time since 2019 and will expand their majority to its largest since the party won 66 seats in 1973 on the heels of President Richard Nixon’s impeachment.
“Tonight, voters decisively backed Democratic legislative leadership in New Jersey and sent a clear message to MAGA extremists whose policies have substantially driven the cost of living up,” said Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.
Democrats went into Tuesday night with 52 of the Assembly’s 80 seats, a majority just one vote shy of two-thirds of the chamber. That majority will likely expand to at least 55 — a historical high watermark — and could stretch further as election officials tally provisional and late-arriving mail ballots over the next week.
The party’s Assembly victories came the same night it held the governor’s mansion, with Democratic Mikie Sherrill winning a decisive victory in the gubernatorial race against Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
Support for Democratic Assembly candidates swelled everywhere, but it brought the party wins in New Jersey’s suburban districts.
The wave carried Garwood Councilman Vincent Kearny and Andrew Macurdy to victory over Union County Republican Assemblywomen Michele Matsikoudis and Nancy Munoz in the 21st District.