Gubernatorial Intrigue Could Top NJ’s Fall Elections After Sleepy Primary

The field for the November general elections in New Jersey is set after Tuesday’s low-drama primary voting, when every incumbent and party-organization-backed Assembly candidate won the primary, and only a few had competitors on the ballot. Without much to decide, voter turnout was at a record-low level, at least compared with primaries since 1925.

Only five of the state’s 40 Assembly districts even had contested primaries.

Mayors of two towns lost in Tuesday’s primaries, both decisively.

In Burlington City, a town northeast of Philadelphia, Mayor James Fazzone, who was elected twice as a Democrat but was seeking a third term as a Republican, lost in the Republican primary to civic activist Harry Fine.

Fine will face Democrat Barry Conaway in November.

In Paulsboro, a town southwest of Philadelphia, Mayor Jeffrey Hamilton was unseated in the Democratic primary to councilman Gary Stevenson, who is a funeral director and former fire chief. He does not have a Republican opponent in the general election.

Hamilton had pleaded guilty earlier this year to driving drunk.

This article appeared in print on page 4 of the June 4th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.