2024 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS
By Walter Elliott
NEWARK – The General Election of 2024, whose remaining votes are being counted as of presstime, is one headed for the record books.
Donald J. Trump, as of Noon Nov. 6, appears to be the 47th President with a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate. Results are still being tabulated and verified for the U.S. House of Representatives as of press time.
The (hopefully) peaceful transfer of power following the voters’ say is being carried out “down ballot” from the Congressional level through the county, municipal and school board levels.
It is among the more local levels where upsets, uncontested races and oddities are to be found.
The following figures are from essexclerk.com and from the Associated Press. They are unofficial until Nov. 19, when the two-week allowance for challenges and recounts expire and Essex County Clerk Christopher Durkin (D-Roeland) certifies the results.
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Trump crossed the 270 Electoral College finish line first when Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral College votes went to him at 5:39 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time Nov. 6. Electoral College votes and election results from Alaska (three), Arizona (11), Michigan (15) and Nevada (six) were not announced as of Noon Wednesday.
His 277 votes meant that Kamala D. Harris. who had 224, would fall short of tying Trump even if she received all 35 votes from all four states.
A plurality of nationwide voters gave the former 45th President of the United States something he never had in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns – winning the popular vote.
Trump, according to the Associated Press at 11:30 Nov. 6, has 71,670,299 votes to Harris’ 66,840,799 for a 51 to 47.5 percent take of the vote.
The 47th President-Elect did not win the popular vote against Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joseph Biden in 2020. The Electoral College, however, has the final say; Trump exceeded 270 college votes in 2016 but lost it to Biden in 2020.
In Essex County, Harris, of Oakland, Calif. and vice presidential running mate Tim Walz, of St. Paul, Minn. enjoyed a wider plurality over Trump, of Palm Beach, Fla. and J.D. Vance, of Middletown, Ohio.
Harris and Walz drew 208,985 votes among all 22 county municipalities for 71.30 percent of the vote. Trump/Vance amassed 79,744 or 27.21 percent.
Green Party nominees Jill Stein, of Fall River, Mass., and Rudolph Ware, of Santa Barbara, Calif. ranked third at 2,143 or .73.
Independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., of S. Walpole, Mass., and Nicole Shanahan, of Oakland, received 962 or .34. Kennedy withdrew his candidacy and threw his support to Trump Aug. 23 – too late to remove his name from the ballot.
Libertarians Chase Oliver, of Tennant, Ga. and Mike ter Maat of Kinsale, Va. were next at 633 or .22. Socialism and Liberation’s Claudia e la Cruz Washington, D.C., Karina Garcia, Queens, N.Y. were next at 437 or .13. U.S. Constitution Party runners Randall Terry, of Arlington, Va., and Stephen E. Broden, of Irving, Texas, drew 87 or .03.
Socialist Worker Party runners Rachele Fruit, of Miami, and Margaret Trowe, of Oakland, mustered 51 or .02. Socialist Equity Party representatives Joseph Kismore, of Oak Park, Ill., and Jerry White, Queens, N.Y. carried 40 for .01.
U.S CONGRESS
SENATE
This special race to succeed the resigned Robert “Bob” Menendez (D-Paramus) went to Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) over Curtis Bashaw (R-Cape May) both statewide and in Essex County.
Statewide, Kim drew 2,029,223 for 53.1 and Bashaw 1,703, 079 or 44.6, based on 6 a.m. Nov. 6 results. In Essex County, Kim carried 201, 684 or 71.88 while Bashaw garnered 71,658 or 25.54.
Kim, who will now resign from his U.S. House NJ CD 3 seat by Jan. 3, and Bashaw left their four smaller party competitors to single or fraction of a single percentages in New Jersey and Essex County.
Statewide, Christina Khalil, (G-Hackensack) garnered 41,026 for 1.1. In the county, she also came in third at 2,787 or .99. Kenneth R. Kaplan (L-Parsippany) held fourth in the state – 22,692 or .6 – and 2,175 or .78 in the county.
Patricia O. Mooneyham (SL-Turnersville) placed fifth statewide – 16,071 or .4 – and in the county at 1,488 or .53 Joannie Kuniansky (SWP-W. New York completed both fields at 9,073 or .2 and 795 or .28.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
EIGHTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. Newark’s East and North Wards, Union County’s Elizabeth and Hudson County’s Bayonne, East Newark, Guttenberg, Harrison, Hoboken, the rest of Jersey City, part of Kearny, North Bergen, Union City, Weehawken and W. New York. (98%)
CD-8’s Essex County re-elected Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) over Anthony Valdes (R-Newark) by a roughly two-to-one ratio. Menendez mustered 11,658 or 62.08. Valdes drew 6,242 or 33.24.
Pablo D. Olivera (Labor-Newark) finished third with 374 or 1.99. Christina Robbins (G-Old Bridge) reaped 306 or 1.63. Lea Sherman (SWP-Secaucus) completed the field with 198 or 105.
10th CD Newark’s Central, West and South Wards, Irvington, East Orange, Orange, Montclair’s Fourth Ward/South End; Caldwell, Essex Fells and Verona of “West Essex,” Hudson County’s “Central” Jersey City, eight Union County towns
CD-10’s Essex County voters LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) granted the former Newark Council President her first full two-year term by a crushing plurality over Carmen Bucco (R-Nutley) and four other runners.
McIver, who is completing the late Donald M. Payne, Jr. unexpired term since Aug. 16, mustered 98,432 or 81.23. Bucco attained 19,224 or 15.88.
The other four candidates were left with fractions of a percent of the vote.
Cynthia A. Johnson (SL-Glen Ridge) finished third with 1,131 or .93. Right behind her is Jon Carlos Serrano (I-Hasbrouck Heights) with 1,192 or .92. Michelle Middleton (SE-Millburn) was next at 780 or .64. Donna Weiss (USC-North Bergen) completed the field at 483 or .40.
11th CD: West Orange, South Orange, Maplewood, Bloomfield, the rest of Montclair, Glen Ridge, Belleville; seven “West Essex,” four “Southwestern” Passaic County and 23 Morris County towns.
CD-11’s Essex County voters re-elected Mikie Sherril (D-Montclair) by a two-to-one ratio on Joseph Belnome (R-Belleville).
Sherrill received 93,087 or 66.32. Belnome tallied 44,942 or 32.02. Lily Benavides (G-Lake Hiawatha) gained 1,601 or 1.14. Joseph Lanzara (SL-Chester) rounded out the balloted field with 732 or .52.
ESSEX COUNTY
SHERIFF
Amir Jones (D-East Orange) will be succeeding the retiring 10-term Armando Fontoura (D-Fairfield) after a Nov. 5 landslide. Jones garnered 19,333 or 72.24 across all 22 county municipalities. Nicholas Pansini (R-Montclair) polled 75,831 or 27.76.
REGISTRAR of DEEDS and MORTGAGES
Incumbent Juan M. Rivera, Jr. (D-Newark) was elected to his second term over challenger Jeffrey M. Polewka (R-Nutley). Rivera received 197,780 or 73.21. Polewka polled 72,364 or 26.79.
The SOUTH ORANGE PUBLIC QUESTION on selling its water system to a private supplier was passed by a three-to-one ratio with 91.67 percent of the districts reporting.
Villagers voting “Yes” were 4,448 or 62.42. Those voting “No” were 2,678 or 37.58.
The voters’ majority approval means that the Village Council may sell its water department infrastructure to New Jersey American Water for $19.7 million. The water supply company will freeze village customer rates for the first two years and make three percent increases on years three through five – and have $50 million available for any lead service line replacement.
New Jersey American has been supplying water, maintaining the mains, lines and meters and billing customers since Jan. 1, 2018. South Orange switched from the East Orange Water Commission as its water supplier while keeping material ownership – but not for long.
MUNICIPAL RACES
Anthony Vauss, Jr., in his first run for elective office was chosen over South Ward resident Yasmina C. King.
Vauss, the son of Anthony “Tony” Vauss, Sr., was victorious with 8,684 or 73.84. King, who ran with “Your Voice My Mission,” carried 3,076 or 26.16.
The next question is which incumbent will the younger Vauss be succeeding on Jan. 1. An election to fill an unexpired term usually comes after an incumbent resigns or dies in office. None of the current at-large council members – Darlene Brown, Sean Evans and Charnette Frederic – have indicated their stepping down as of press time.
West Orange Council will have its three open seats filled by a newcomer, a current councilwoman and a former councilman. First-time runner Joyce L. Rudin topped the results with 9.901 or 22.24. The “Improving the Quality of Your Life” candidate ran with the Our Green West Orange environmental advocacy group support.
Joe “Together We Can Do Better” Krakoviak, who had term limited himself out, was returned to the council with 7,679 or 17.25. Incumbent Michele Casalino and her “Always Working for West Orange” flag finished third with 7,668 or 17.23.
Jonathan Redwine, “Principled Leadership for West Orange,” was “best of the rest” at 7,532 or 16.92.
Incumbent Tammy Williams and her. “Moving Forward Together” campaign finished fifth with 6,817 or 15.32. Doug Adams, “A Bridge Forward,” completed the balloted field at 4,913 or 11.04.
Essexclerk.com’s election night results does not include any write-in votes – including any for outgoing Councilman Rev. William “Bill” Rutherford, the former council president who was left off the ballot after a Superior Court-Newark judge ruled that he had insufficient petition signatures.
Maplewood’s Township Committee has unopposed Democrats Malia Herman and incumbent Nancy J. Adams finishing one-two. Township voters gave Herman 10,923 or 50.24. Adams amassed 10,817 or 49.76.
Herman or Adams, once they are sworn in at the committee’s Jan. 1 reorganizational meeting, may be named by their colleagues as mayor for 2025.
Bloomfield ‘s mayor and special at-large council elections saw the Democratic team of Jenny Mundell and Monica Charris Tabares be chosen over the Republican David Tucker and Russell Mollica.
Current First Ward Councilwoman Mundell finally got to succeed now-State Assemblyman Michael Venezia as mayor. Mundell mustered 14,995 or 70.02; Tucker tallied 6,420 or 29.98.
A majority of Township Council members appointed councilman Theodore “Ted” Gamble as Interim Mayor over the Venezia-recommended Mundell. Bloomfield Democratic voters chose Mundell over Gamble in the June 4 primary.
Tabares was chosen over Mollica to succeed the now-outgoing Gamble in the council chamber. The former school board candidate carried 14,727 or 69.41. Mollica drew 6,489 or 30.59.
For the Glen Ridge Borough Council, Incumbent Rebecca Meyer and first-time runner Steve Zimet ran unopposed for their respective second and first terms. Meyer mastered 2,380 or 50.80. Zimel carried 2,296 or 49.10. Meyer and Zimel, while independents on the ballot, were endorsed by the borough-centric nonpartisan Civic Conference Committee.
BOARDS of EDUCATION
In ORANGE, a challenger topped Tuesday night’s vote tally over two incumbents although all three candidates ran uncontested.
The third campaign appeared to be the charm for India Wiliams for she came in first with 3,524 or 38.76 with all precincts reporting. Incumbent David Kent Armstrong was re-elected with 3,175 or 34.11. Saika Sherif, one of the first elected Orange Board of Education members, carried 2,698 or 28.02.
This year’s OBOE contest could have been the closest answer to, “What if they held an election and nobody voted?”
There were 9,307 vote cast Tuesday night – a fraction of the city’s estimated registered 15,000 voters. “Local Talk,” however, did not see any of the annual election palm cards, lawn signs and banners on Orange streets for the last three weeks.
Observers have pointed out that Orange’s recent municipal and school board elections have had turnouts in the low thousands. Some individual races have drawn counts in the low hundreds.
WEST ORANGE voters retained the incumbent “West Orange Forward” slate over two challengers for two board seats.
Eric Stevenson edged his running mate Brian Rock as top vote-getter. Steveson drew 7,565 or 30.39 while Rock registered 7,497 or 30.12. Jeffrey Litchman and his “For the Children” campaign ” took third at 9,602 or 27.73. Adam Kraemer held fourth at 2,929 or 11.77.
The election for an unexpired term was literally “One Woman, One Vote.”
Dr. Dia Bryant, “For Our Kids,” drew all 8,499 votes. She was appointed to fill a resigned member’s term last year.
A majority of SOUTH ORANGE-MAPLEWOOD voters dismissed a ticket that had two incumbents in favor of a full slate of challengers.
The “Include, Achieve, Inspire” team of Deidra Brown, Jeff Bennett and Bimal Kapadia were given the South Orange-Maplewood School District’s three board seats.
First timer Brown, of Maplewood, mustered 9,591 or 19.53. Former board member Jeff Bennett, of South Orange, drew 8,986 or 18.30. Newcomer Bimal Kapadia, of South Orange, carried 8,053 or 16.40.
Board President Dr. Qawi Telesford, of South Orange, came fourth at 6,846 or 13.94. Rookie Bethany Joseph, of Maplewood, was next at 6,482 or 13.20. Board member Arun Vadlamani, of South Orange finished sixth at 5,256 or 10.70.
Maplewoodian and “Empowering Students Together” soloist Paul Stephan rounded out the field with 3,890 or 7.92.
BLOOMFIELD voters split their tickets between two candidate slates – but the exact split depends on one candidate’s post-election decision.
Incumbent board member Viviana Rojas, on the “More Classroom Space” platform, topped the field of five or six with 7,516 or 19.213.205.
The second-highest vote tally went to “All for Children” candidate Jessica A. Alves – if she chooses to accept the school board seat.
Alvies amassed 7,367 or 18.87. She withdrew from the campaign on Oct. 30, which was too late to remove her name from the ballot.
Should Alvies agree to take the BBOE seat, incumbent MCS runner Michael Heller – and his 7,219 or 18.49 – will take the third and final board seat.
Should Alvies decline, then Heller moves up to second place and the currently fourth place Michael J. Brewster gets the third seat. Brewster (AFC) has 5,778 or 14.80.
Joelle Berhard (AFC) was best of the rest at 5,755 or 14.74. Outgoing member Shane Berger (MCS) completed the field at 5,415 or 13.87.
MONTCLAIR voters chose three independent candidates over a slate of three.
Incumbent Eric Scherzer and his “Accountability, Continuity, Transparency” campaign topped the results charts with 9,969 or 24.41.
Debutant and “Inclusive Educational Community” soloist Jada Roman was next at 9,187 or 22.50. Holly “Every Student Counts” Shaw snared the third seat with 7,540 or 18.47.
Voters’ choices locked out the “Every Student Thrives” team of Sean L. Long, Julie Raegner and Andrew Gideon Long, who was appointed to the board, logged 5,678 or 13.91. Raegner registered 4,490 or 11.00. Gideon gathered 3,970 or 9.72.
GLEN RIDGE voters have returned two incumbents and a newcomer although all ran with CCC endorsement and unopposed. Board member Kristin O’Neil topped the tallies with 2,707 or 35.74. Colleague Anthony Bonnett was next at 2,507 or 33.10 First-timer Roy DeLorenzi completed the field at 2,361 or 31.17.
BELLEVILLE voters picked two challengers, and ousted an incumbent, as its board of education trustees.
“A Better Belleville” backed Esteban Leon topped the results with 5,040 or 31.20. Township Mayor and ABB manager Michael Melham have been fielding otherwise nonpartisan school board and council candidates since 2018.
Challenger Jean Rodriguez Gillis and her “Teachers For Belleville” banner garnered 4,828 or 29.89. Outgoing trustee Nicole Covielo-Daddis, who ran under “Belleville’s Children First,” placed third with 4,472 or 27.69. Kenia Nicole Arroyabee and her “Bridging the Gaps” campaign completed the field at 1,813 or 11.22.
Two of the three NUTLEY school board candidates retained their seats Nov. 5.
Incumbent Nicholas Scotti and his “Nutley Families First” ticket was first Tuesday night with 7,059 or 30.03. Fellow NBOE panelist Daniel Fraginals, “Foundation and Future” placed second at 6,062 or 25.79.
Challenger Stephen Gilberti and his “7 Million Reasons” received the last seat with 5,786 or 24.61. Outgoing board vice president Joseph Battaglia was fourth at 4,600 or 19.57.
There were no write-ins posted, including any for Kerry L. Walsh. Walsh, a former EMT, joined the race Oct. 20 and ran with Gilberti.
