New Jersey Democrats ousted a populist Republican state senator who shocked them two years ago by defeating the powerful Senate president, fended off challenges in three state Senate contests, and flipped at least three Assembly seats on Tuesday. Good news, because they lost seats in the last election. Via the Philadelphia Inquirer:
New Jersey Democrats retained their legislature majority in Tuesday’s election, recapturing a key South Jersey seat lost two years ago and holding off Republicans in competitive races that featured an electorate fractured over ocean wind turbines, abortion, the treatment of trans students and school parental notification.
After 2021′s shocker, in which Republican truck driver Edward Durr defeated State Senate President and Democratic powerhouse Steve Sweeney in Gloucester County’s Third District and a closer-than-expected win for Gov. Phil Murphy, nothing in New Jersey politics was being taken for granted.
On Tuesday, Durr ran out of gas, losing to Democrat John Burzichelli, a former 10-term Assemblyman and mayor of Paulsboro.
