The Blue Wave swept through Greater Morristown on Tuesday.
Morris County is about to get its first Democratic commissioner in more than half a century. Democrats also kept control of Morris Township’s governing body, and appeared to take full control of the Morris Plains council.
Oh yes, and Democrats Analilia Mejia and Rebecca Bennett won congressional seats in The 11th and neighboring 7th Districts, respectively.
Here’s a look at the ***unofficial*** results. Percentages are rounded:
CONGRESSIONAL DIST. 11:
In a rematch of their April special election, Democratic Rep. Analilia Mejia trounced Republican Randolph Councilman Joe Hathaway by about 22 points for a full term in the 11th District seat vacated by Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat.
The district spans a major chunk of Morris County — including Morristown, Morris Township and Morris Plains — and slices of Essex and Passaic counties.
During the campaign, Hathaway tried to portray Mejia — a community organizer and former campaign staffer for Sen. Bernie Sanders — as a radical socialist whose policies were too extreme for the district. Mejia painted Hathaway — a former member of Gov. Chris Christie’s administration and Yale football player — as someone who would “bend the knee” to President Trump.
“We know that people power is the power,” Mejia told jubilant supporters at a Montclair pizzeria.
Hathaway congratulated Mejia, and said it was time for the GOP to wake up.
“It is time for the next generation of Republican leadership to step forward. Not tomorrow. Not in another election cycle. Right now,” he said in a statement.
CONGRESSIONAL DIST. 7:
In a brutal, expensive race featuring a steady stream of TV attack ads from both sides, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. — a Republican from a New Jersey political dynasty who vanished for nearly four months for what he later disclosed as treatment for depression — got drubbed by Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot and healthcare executive, by about 58% to 40%.
“This is the moment we begin to turn the page on the Trump era!” Bennett told a packed ballroom at the Bridgewater Manor.
“With corruption in the White House, a war in Iran, and a nation more divided than ever, we have real challenges ahead of us to solve. But I believe our best days as a nation are yet to come. Tonight we have sent a message that we are not giving up on this country that we love! We are getting to work!” the New Jersey Monitor quoted Bennett as saying.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Kean’s campaign. Bennett’s backers include gun safety group Giffords PAC, named for former Arizona Congresswoman and gun violence survivor Gabby Giffords. The race garnered national attention during an election with both houses of Congress in play.
The 7th District includes a dozen Morris County municipalities and all of Hunterdon and Warren counties, and parts of Sussex and Union counties.
MORRIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER
The last — and only — time a Democrat was elected to Morris County’s governing body, Richard Nixon was in the White House, gas averaged 39 cents a gallon, and All in the Family made bigotry laughable as the top-rated show on something called network television. That was 1973.
The GOP lock on the county seat appeared to end Tuesday. Morristown Council Vice President Chris Russo, surfing a Blue Wave, swept out two-term Commissioner Tayfun Selen of Chatham Township by 55% to 44%. Republicans can take solace knowing they still hold six votes.
But taken with last year’s election of Russo’s friend, Morristown businesswoman Marisa Sweeney, as District 25’s first Democratic Assembly member in 47 years, Tuesday’s outcome gives the county GOP reason for concern for the first time in decades.
“This was a very good year to have a ‘D’ after your name,” said Russo, a 47-year-old pharma salesman, acknowledging the victory felt surreal.
He credited the victory to hard work, knocking on doors, and a pragmatic approach.
“I’m not a political ideologue. And I think that message resonates well in Morris County specifically, where you’re just trying to reach out and do the right thing. And you know, just one thing I’m very good at is staying in my lane. I recognize that this is local politics. We’re just trying to do what’s right from a county standpoint, and I think that pragmatism plays well with with residents in Morris County,” said Russo, a protege of Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty who made open space preservation a campaign theme.
Selen could not be reached for comment. Russo commended him as a gentleman who ran a clean campaign. Now Morristown’s Democratic organization must get to work finding someone to fill the remainder of Russo’s council term.
MORRIS TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE
Democrats kept total control of the Township governing body — once a Republican bastion — in a race for three seats that heated up in the waning weeks when an anonymous website targeted Democratic candidate Stephanie Lyon for social media postings proclaiming herself an “anti-capitalist” unafraid of “the rising tide of democratic socialism in American politics.”
“The Township Trio” of Democratic Committeewoman Samantha Rothman and newcomers Jeremy Godwin and Lyon easily fended off challenges by “Take Back the Township” Republicans John Biehl, who is Township GOP chair, and running mates George Talarico, making his second bid, and Joscelin Grizzetti.
“I think that it shows that the tactics of sowing division, name calling, shouting grievances, that it doesn’t work, that people want folks who are focused on the issues,” Lyon said. “And the distraction tactics of making it about sensationalism and identity— people didn’t fall for it, and I’m grateful for that.”
Lyon said her personal opinions on TikTok were never part of her campaign. “The only reason it was in the campaign is because the opponents brought it there,” she said. Lyon expressed eagerness to start working to increase transparency and streamline public interactions with the Township government.
The Republican candidates could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Rothman, top voter-getter as of late Tuesday, outpolled Biehl, 62% to 38%. Lyon and Godwin each had more than 30%, to 20% for Talarico and 19% for Grizzetti.
Also, Charles Rowan ran unopposed for a three-year seat as Township representative on the regional Morris School District board. Trustees chose him in August to fill the unexpired term of Alan Smith.
On the Morristown side, incumbent Elizabeth Wall and Jennifer Hernandez were uncontested for school board seats.
MORRIS PLAINS MAYOR AND COUNCIL
When the local Democratic organization declined to back him, two-term Mayor Jason Karr opted to go it alone as an Independent.
Voters in the Community of Caring had other ideas, choosing Democratic Councilwoman Nancy Verga as their next mayor by a 58% to 41% margin.
Democrats also took full control of the borough council. Dems Lee Lusardi Connor and Rosaria DeNova (28% each) denied GOP Councilman Art Bruhn Jr., (21 %) a fourth three-year term, and defeated his fellow Republican Sheryl McNichol (22%).
“The campaign team is very encouraged by the results we’re seeing tonight,” said Verga, who held a 534-vote lead. “I’m incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received from the people of Morris Plains. While I want to make sure every vote is counted, I’m optimistic about the outcome and excited about serving our community as mayor.”
Karr declined to comment.
The Golden Arches loomed large over the races. Karr cast a decisive planning board vote in 2024 for a controversial McDonald’s drive-through, which he said met Township zoning requirements that Verga had a hand in creating.
Hordes of residents packed meetings opposing the restaurant and they spun off a grassroots group, Plan Better Morris Plains, of which Connor was a founding member.
“The results aren’t official and I respect the process,” Connor told Morristown Green. “That said—our whole campaign was based on listening to residents and planning for the Morris Plains they want. I’m thrilled to have won these votes and can’t wait to get to work!
The McDonald’s issue and other disagreements about planning and the management of borough business led to Karr, a longtime Democrat, losing the party’s endorsement in favor of Verga. Rather than face Verga in a primary, Karr launched an independent campaign. Republicans did not nominate a candidate.
Meanwhile, in a five-way race for three three-year seats on the borough school board, incumbents Denise Rawding (27%) and Shawna Longo (24%) and newcomer Steven Persak (23%) made the cut. Anoli Piccirillo (13%) and incumbent Steve Goscinski (13%) did not.
Ellen Wilkowe and Michael Lovito contributed to this report.
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