NJ election results 2023: Live updates from Central Jersey, results trickling in
Time to cast your vote New Jersey. Follow along here for live coverage of the 2023 elections.
We'll have updates from local races across the region, including municipal, school board and ballot measures, as well as the state Legislature.
Check back here throughout the day and night for live updates from our reporters from the polls, including comments from candidates and voters. Don’t forget to refresh after the polls close Tuesday to see results for your local races.
You can see votes counts as precincts start to report here. And state Senate and Assembly results will be here.
More: Our guide to Central Jersey's 2023 elections for state, local offices and school boards
Check back for updates.
10:00 p.m. Highland Park Mayor Elsie Foster appears headed to reelection
Highland Park Democratic Mayor Elsie Foster had a big lead in her reelection bid. Early results showed Foster, a long-time borough official, was leading Republican challenger Leora Wenger 2,131 to 450.
9:46 District 16 first results in Somerset County
With the first results being counted in Somerset County, Democratic Incumbent Andrew Zwicker is leading the GOP's Michael Pappas, 6,340 to 3,042, in the race for a state Senate seat.
9.44 p.m. Monroe mayor election first results are in
Monroe Mayor Stephen Dalina, a Democrat, had 7,930 votes while Republican Ward 3 Councilman Charles Dipierro had 3,485, according to the early returns.
9:42 p.m. Kennedy O’Brien eyeing political comeback in Sayreville
Former longtime Sayreville Mayor Kennedy O'Brien, a Republican, had 4,291 votes while Democratic challenger Bill Henry had 2,853, according to early results. Democratic incumbent Victoria Kilpatrick did not run for reelection.
9:41 p.m. First results in Clinton Town mayor race
In Clinton Town. incumbent Democratic Mayor Janice Kovach is outpolling Republican challenger Kyle Perloff, 677 to 460, in early returns.
9:40 p.m. Readington Republicans ahead early
In Readington, Republican incumbents John Albanese (1,368 votes) and Jonathan Heller (1,349 votes) are outpolling Democratic challengers Kristina Garcia (1,148 votes) and Marvin Field (1,087 votes) for two seats on the Township Committee.
9:38 p.m. Raritan Township Republicans take early lead
In Raritan Township, incumbent Republicans Robyn Fatooh (3,333 votes) and Bradford Perry (3,221 votes) are leading Democrats John MacKay (2,883 votes) and Khushwant Pall (2,821 votes) for two Township Committee seats.
9:28 p.m. First results in South River mayor election
The early returns for South River mayor show Republican Councilman Peter Guindi with 998 votes and Democrat Shawn Haussermann with 800.
9:25 p.m. Old Bridge mayor race competitive after early results
In the Old Bridge mayor election, Democratic Councilwoman Jill DeCaro (3,735 votes) and Republican Council Vice President Debbie Walker (3,325) were polling competitively in early returns.
9:22 p.m. Mountainside mayor race not close in early tally
Mountainside Mayor Paul Mirabelli, a Republican, was leading his independent challenger Thomas Murphy by a 1,434-to-428 in early results..
9:16 p.m. Turf field at Brookside Park in Scotch Plains looks highly unlikely
Scotch Plains voters were asked to decide on a bond ordinance authorizing the Township Council to appropriate $3.8 million to finance improvements to Brookside Park, most of which is intended for the baseball field and the installation of artificial turf.
Early returns Tuesday night showed voters were rejecting the expenditure by a vote of 1,250 to 399.
9:12 p.m. Flemington Borough Council race tight early
In Flemington Borough, in the race for two seats on the Borough Council, Democrats Adrienne Fusaro (322 votes) and Trent Levitt (286 votes) have taken an early lead over Republican incumbent Kim Tilley (322 votes) and running mate Donald Eckel (286 votes).
9:10 p.m. District 16 Election Day ballots in Hunterdon county
With the first round of Election Day ballots counted – with much more coming – Zwicker still leads Pappas 5,443 to 4,271 in Hunterdon County.
8:44 p.m. District 16 first results in South Brunswick
In South Brunswick, the only Middlesex County town in the 16th District, Zwicker has polled 3,590 votes to Pappas's 1,150 votes. That does not include the votes cast today at the polls.
8:24 p.m. District 16 early voting ballots in Hunterdon County
The Hunterdon County Clerk has posted the early voting totals which now gives Zwicker a 4,373 to 2,457 lead over Pappas.
8:15 p.m. District 16 mail-in ballots in Hunterdon County
The first vote tallies are starting to come in.
In Hunterdon County, in the 16th Legislative District, incumbent Democrat Andrew Zwicker outpolled Republican challenger Michael Pappas, 3,203 to 1,462. That doesn't include today's votes or early voting.
There's still a long way to go.
8:00 p.m. Polls have closed
The polls have closed in New Jersey. Counting commences. Results should be available in some counties within the next few hours. But some races will be too close to call, and mailed ballots postmarked on time can be counted as long as they county boards of election receive them by Nov. 13.
7 p.m. Polls close in an hour
It's 7 p.m. Do you know where your vote is?
Polls close at 8 p.m. in New Jersey and the counting will begin once everybody in line at 8 p.m. casts a ballot.
We expect the first results to start rolling in by 9:30 p.m. with the smaller towns in Central Jersey. It may be midnight or beyond when the county clerk’s offices report the tallies from the larger towns.
And remember tonight's numbers are unofficial until all the absentee and provisional ballots are counted in the coming days. It ain't over until the county clerks sing.
Though it's an off-year election, the races in Central Jersey will have an impact on state, county and municipal governments as well as local school boards.
The dominant state legislative race in Central Jersey is in the 16th District which has been targeted by the state GOP as vital to its plan to cut into the Democratic edge in both the Senate and Assembly. Democrats hold a 46-34 edge in the Assembly, where 41 votes are needed for a majority, and a 25-15 lead in the Senate, where 21 votes are needed for majority control.
In an expensive. hard-hitting campaign, incumbent Democrat Andrew Zwicker is fighting a challenge from Republican Michael Pappas, a former Congressman hoping to make a political comeback.
In the Assembly race, incumbent Democrat Roy Freiman and newcomer Mitchelle Drullis are being challenged by Republicans Ross Traphagen and Grace Zhang.
We will also be keeping a close eye on several mayoral races in Central Jersey, including the Middlesex County communities of Highland Park, Jamesburg, Metuchen, Monroe, North Brunswick, Old Bridge, Sayreville, South River, Woodbridge, and the Somerset County towns of Bridgewater, Franklin, Somerville, Manville and Raritan Borough.
We will also be following ballot questions on school projects in Bridgewater, Hillsborough and South River.
We will also keep you updated on mayor races in Clinton Town and Mountainside and any upsets.
4:40 p.m. Federal observers in Union County
Federal observers will monitor polling sites in Union County to make sure the county is complying with the Voting Rights Act, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
In June, a federal court approved a consent decree that requires the county to print ballots in English and Spanish, among other things, such as making trained bilingual election officials available as well as poll workers to help Spanish-speaking voters.
The agreement followed a complaint by federal prosecutors that alleged the county violated provisions of the Voting Rights Act protecting residents with limited English proficiency and people with disabilities.
Those reporting potential violations of federal voting rights laws may contact the Civil Rights Division at civilrights.justice.gov or 800-253-3931.
4:20 p.m. Economy remains top issue impacting NJ vote, new Rutgers poll finds
Taxes and the economy are the biggest concerns among New Jersey voters when deciding how to cast their ballots, according to a Rutgers Eagleton poll released on Election Day.
Forty percent of those polled named fiscal issues as most important to them.
“The culture wars redux we have seen this election cycle may sound nice in soundbites and mailers and may galvanize some in each party’s base and persuade some in the middle,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University New Brunswick.
“But Democrats, Republicans and independents alike say they are most concerned about the economy, cost of living and taxes — and plan to vote with these issues in mind,” Koning said.
When pollsters asked directly about specific issues, 87% of respondents said affordability and cost of living were major factors in deciding their votes, another 87% said the economy and 83% said taxes.
As for other issues that respondents said had a major impact on how they voted:
70% said gun violence
59% said abortion
47% said parental involvement in education
27% said offshore wind
Those polled didn’t have strongly positive views on the New Jersey Legislature: 22% had a favorable impression, compared to 25% with an unfavorable impression. Almost half, or 46%, had no opinion on the legislative body at all, and 7% were unsure what the state Legislature is.
The poll of 974 adults was conducted from Nov. 3 to Nov. 5, with a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
4 p.m. More than 530,000 ballots cast before Election Day
Nearly 124,000 New Jerseyans cast ballots in person at polling places during the state's early voting period between Oct. 28 and Nov. 5. And nearly 407,000 voters returned absentee ballots through the mail and in person by Monday, according to an analysis by Ryan Dubicki, elections researcher for the Associated Press.
Of the 530,000 ballots cast before Election Day, Democrats tended to take advantage of early voting more than Republicans, turning in 320,000 ballots compared to the GOP's 127,000 and the 82,000 votes cast by voters unaffiliated with either party.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ election 2023 results: Live updates from Central Jersey
