Candidates backed by powerful county-level political machines took easy wins in key New Jersey legislative primary races Tuesday.
Longtime state Sen. Dick Codey (D-West Orange) secured his party’s nomination – and likely reelection come November – in the Essex County-based 27th Legislative District. No Republican is challenging him for the seat.
His victory effectively ousts State Sen. Nia Gill (D-Montclair) the longest-serving Black woman in the Senate. Redistricting following the 2020 Census moved Gill out of the 34th District, and set up the only incumbent-vs.-incumbent fight of the primary.
As of 10:50 p.m. Tuesday, Codey had 58% of the vote, compared to Gill’s 42%, with 92% of votes counted, according to the Associated Press, which called the race. The results are unofficial and do not yet include mail-in ballots that can be received for several days after Election Day.
Codey has served in the state Senate for more than 40 years. He’s a former senate president and governor, taking the latter office twice, after the resignations of Christine Todd Whitman and Jim McGreevey.
Codey and Gill had been longtime allies who spoke of one another cordially in the campaign. They’d also been running mates when Gill first ran for and won an Assembly seat three decades ago.
Codey ran with the Essex County Democratic Committees’s backing, giving him placement on the “county line” — which is widely believed to give a candidate a strong advantage.
Most New Jersey primary ballots group all county party-endorsed candidates on a single column or row — the “line.” Candidates unfamiliar to voters can get a bump by being lumped in with more familiar incumbents and nominees for higher-profile races, such as races for governor or president. This year, there was no statewide or national race, which pollsters said would lead to very low turnout.
A federal lawsuit that would change the ballot design still hasn’t been decided.
Gill had run her campaign saying she…
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