Somerset County’s election results show a mixed picture for Democrats and Republicans

With the election of incumbents Shanel Robinson and Sara Sooy, Democrats retained their 5-0 control of the County Commission.

Robinson, with 74,435 votes, and Sooy, with 73,579 votes, edged out Republicans Nick Cuozzo, with 71,239 votes, and Rakesh Ganta, with 69,469 votes.

In the presidential race, Kamala Harris defeated Donald Trump, who owns a country club in Somerset County, 82,402 to 68,435, a margin of 52.9% to 44.01%.

Democrat Andy Kim defeated Republican Curtis Bashaw 79,368 to 65,936 in the race for the U.S. Senate.

In the race for the 7th Congressional District, which is in the northern and central parts of Somerset County, incumbent Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr., son of the former governor who lives in Bedminster, defeated Democrat Sue Altman, 42,165 to 38,444, and added to his margin of victory.

The results are unofficial and will not become official until certified by the district clerk on November 25.

Turnout in Somerset County was lower than in the last two presidential elections.

Tuesday’s turnout was 59.4%, with 156,646 of the province’s 263,540 registered voters casting ballots.

In contrast, in 2020, during the pandemic, turnout was 73.85% with 189,727 voters.

In 2016, turnout was 71% with 160,545 voters.

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In municipal elections, Republicans were more successful, winning 28 of 40 city council and commission races, with Democrats holding on to the only mayoral term eligible for election.

The county’s two largest municipalities, Franklin and Bridgewater, had no local races this year.

Republicans won in Bedminster, Bernards, Bernardsville, Bound Brook, Branchburg, Far Hills, Green Brook, Hillsborough, Manville, Raritan, South Bound Brook, Warren and Watchung.

Democrats won in Millstone, Montgomery, North Plainfield and Somerville.

In Peapack-Gladstone, voters were split between one Democrat and one Republican.

In North Plainfield, incumbent Democratic Mayor Lawrence La Ronde defeated Republican Francine Gargano 3,745 to 2,041.

In the biggest municipal race of the year, Republican incumbents Robert Britting and Shawn Lipani won their re-election bids over Democrats Hermes Vallejo and James Vander Vliet. Britting and Lipani each had a margin of more than 3,000 votes over their Democratic challengers.

In Somerset County’s most turbulent local elections, Republicans Joseph Lukac III and Cristina Lazzeri won two Manville Borough Council seats in a six-way race. They defeated Democrats Patricia Zamorski and Christopher Basista and independents Susan Asher and Theodore Petrock III, who were supported by Mayor Richard Onderko.

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This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Election Results in Somerset County NJ: Local, State and Federal Contests