By Canadian Press

Democratic incumbent Vin Gopal holds on to Senate seat in competitive New Jersey coastal district

Nov 7, 2023 | 6:48 PM

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Incumbent state Sen. Vin Gopal won reelection on Tuesday in his closely contested coastal New Jersey district, keeping a key swing seat under Democratic control.

Gopal defeated Republican Steve Dnistrian in the 11th Legislative District in Monmouth County. His victory delivers Gopal a third term in the Senate and means Democrats successfully fended off a challenger in an increasingly moderate district.

The campaign was among the most heavily contested this year, and saw more political spending than any other race, according to October figures from the state’s campaign finance watchdog.

In an interview earlier this year, Dnistrian said a top issue he heard from voters was concern that parents didn’t have enough control over school districts. The issue made headlines when the state attorney general sued three Monmouth County school districts, charging they violated the state’s anti-discrimination law with policies that called on officials to notify parents if their children had come out as transgender. State school guidelines and a 2017 law call for keeping a student’s orientation confidential.

Gopal and Democrats aimed to keep the campaign centered on Democrats’ efforts over the last year to provide property tax rebates. The Democrats also focused heavily on abortion, arguing that a GOP-led Legislature could begin to roll back abortion protections in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

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All 80 seats in the Assembly and all 40 in the Senate were up for grabs. Democrats have more than a million-voter registration advantage over Republicans, and they also controlled the redistricting process last year when they had little incentive to redraw maps unfavorably to their party. The GOP hasn’t controlled a chamber of the Legislature in more than two decades.

The district, which includes Asbury Park, Colts Neck and Freehold, was controlled by Republicans until 2017, when Gopal won there. Two Democrat-held Assembly seats in the district flipped to the GOP in 2021, though Gopal held on to keep the seat that year.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey wrapped up voting Tuesday for a new Legislature, with all 120 seats on the ballot, as Republicans fight for controlling either chamber for the first time in more than two decades.

At stake is control of the 80-member Assembly and 40-seat Senate, with Democrats currently dominating both chambers, as well as holding the governorship. Polls closed at 8 p.m.

The GOP has refrained from declaring its members would recapture control of either chamber, which they haven’t held since 2001. But they sounded optimistic after picking up seven legislative seats in 2021, when Gov. Phil Murphy won reelection by a slimmer margin than polls had projected.

Candidates in this year’s contested races each ran on their own issues. But overall, Democrats focused on a number of property tax rebates they delivered over the last two years as well as pledging to defend abortion rights.

Republicans campaigned in part on ending Democrats’ more than two decades of control and leaned heavily on what they cast as the state’s failure to recognize parental rights in schools. Specifically, the GOP opposes a lawsuit by the state Attorney General’s Office that would prevent three school districts from notifying parents of a student’s transgender identity.

Offshore wind farms, which Murphy and Democrats have pushed and passed legislation to support, also dominated in the election in key battleground districts. The final days of the campaign got a shock when Danish wind company Orsted, which had planned two offshore projects, abruptly scuttled their plans. It was a blow to Murphy specifically and Democrats in general.

Republicans said it was a victory for grassroots opposition to wind farms as well as a sign that Democrats had blundered a major piece of their agenda.

Murphy, a Democrat who is not on the ballot but whose second-term agenda will depend in part on the makeup of the Legislature, held a number of get-out-the-vote events Tuesday. At an event in vote-rich Bergen County in suburban New York City, Murphy underscored his administration’s and Democrats’ role in protecting abortion rights.

The state Republican Party urged people not to skip voting because it could mean Democrats retain power in the Legislature.

Democrats hold a 25-15 seat advantage in the Senate and a 46-34 edge in the Assembly.

New Jersey’s Legislature has 40 total districts, with each sending one senator and two Assembly members to Trenton. Both parties typically run all three candidates together on a ticket. Among the most closely watched races this year is the 11th District, where Democrats control the Senate seat and the GOP has one of the two Assembly spots.

Voting started in late September when the first mail-in ballots went out. The state also offered early in-person voting.

State figures showed some half a million ballots had already been cast before Election Day, including votes by mail and early in-person voting. Still, the majority of ballots in New Jersey are typically cast on Election Day.

Mike Catalini, The Associated Press