With the coveted backing of Gov. Phil Murphy and other Democratic leaders, state Assemblyman Gordon Johnson won Tuesday’s heated primary election over his former running mate for the chance to succeed Loretta Weinberg, one of New Jersey’s most revered and longest-serving lawmakers, in the state Senate.
Johnson easily defeated Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, his partner in Bergen County’s 37th District for 15 years, for the Democratic nomination for Weinberg’s Senate seat in the district.
It was the most closely watched legislative race in New Jersey’s legislative primaries. Johnson and Vainieri Huttle clashed — sometimes bitterly — over who would best continue Weinberg’s legacy of fighting for civil rights, government transparency, and gun control.
In a statement late Tuesday night, Johnson thanked his campaign supporters and paid tribute to Weinberg, the state Senate majority leader.
“As my mentor Sen. Loretta Weinberg said, there is no “I” in the Legislature, and there was certainly no “I” in this campaign, either. This seat belongs to the people, and this night belongs to them as well,” Johnson said. “Now on to November and then the vital work of making New Jersey a safer, cleaner, more equal and more just state.”
MORE: Live primary election results for N.J. governor, Senate, Assembly, county and municipal races
Both Johnson, a 71-year-old former county sheriff and a member of the Assembly since 2002, and Vainieri Huttle, a 64-year-old funeral director and an Assemblywoman since 2005, are respected in the Statehouse in Trentom. They have nearly identical voting records.
Johnson said his legislative achievements include sponsoring a law that earmarked $25 million to support New Jersey’s “micro-businesses that have been hurt by the pandemic, and a mandates that law enforcement agencies establish minority recruitment programs.
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“As a member of the state’s Legislative Black Caucus, I am proud of the significant progress we have made to improve social justice, as New Jersey has become a national leader in delivering much-needed reforms,” Johnson said in campaign literature.
Vainieri Huttle sought to distinguish herself by trumpeting her record as being one of most prolific sponsors of progressive legislation benefiting people with disabilities, senior citizens and the LGBTQ community.
She also ran as an underdog challenging New Jersey’s arcane ballot rules that give party leaders the power to decide who earns an endorsement and receives a prominent ballot position. Those rules are currently being challenged by several groups in a federal court case that is still pending.
Vainieri Huttle declined to seek the party’s endorsement after local Democrats quickly lined up behind Johnson’s candidacy. Murphy endorsed Johnson, which was not a surprise given Johnson was the first legislator to back Murphy when he ran for office for the first time and defeated Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno for governor in 2017.
Weinberg also backed Johnson after he won the party’s support.
In campaign literature and speeches, Vainieri Huttle said she was running to challenge the party bosses who told her it was “not your turn.”
“If I walked away every time the men in power told me to back off, I never would have been elected in the first place,” Vainieri Huttle said.
Johnson’s and Vainieri Huttle’s respective campaigns raised considerable cash, according to the most recent campaign finance reports filed with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission.
Between her own fundraising efforts and with her Assembly running mates, Gervonn Romney Rice and Lauren Dayton, Huttle raised $394,421. Johnson alone and with his running mates Shama Haider and Ellen Park, raised a combined $405,793, the reports said.
Johnson’s slate of Assembly candidates, Tenafly Councilwoman Haider and former Englewood Cliffs Councilwoman Park, also won.
Early in the race, Johnson was accused of making inappropriately sexual remarks to a college professor and one-time political opponent during a private meeting 13 years ago. The professor, Deirdre Paul, claimed she informed Weinberg and Vainieri Huttle at the time, but Johnson, Weinberg and Vainieri Huttle said they did not recall the incident. But as the campaign slogged on, Vainieri Huttle’s campaign issued a statement demanding Johnson “come clean” about what happened with Paul.
Johnson now faces Republican challenger Michael Koontz in the Nov. 2 election, but the district’s deeply blue voter base gives him a huge advantage.
All 120 seats in the Democratic-controlled Legislature on are the ballot in November.
On Tuesday, the power of the party line was a factor in the outcome of a handful of other contested primaries. Some other results of closely watched races:
2nd District: Former Assemblyman Vince Polistina beat former U.S. House candidate Seth Grossman for the Republican party backing to succeed retiring state Sen. Chris Brown in this Atlantic County district. Grossman is a hard-line conservative who was criticized two years ago for saying “the whole idea of diversity is a bunch of crap and un-American.”
16th District: Former Congressman Mike Pappas defeated engineer Jeff Grant for the Republican nomination to succeed retiring state Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman to represent this four-county territory in Central Jersey. Pappas had the party’s support, while Grant, a political newcomer ran under the slogan, “Make New Jersey Great Again.” Pappas now faces Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker, a Democrat who ran unopposed for his party’s nomination.
13th District: Holmdel school board president Vicki Flynn defeated incumbent Serena DiMaso for the Republican nomination for Assembly in this Monmouth County district. DiMaso was running for another term without the local Republican party’s backing.
20th District: State Sen. Joseph Cryan fended off a Democratic primary challenge from Assemblyman Jamel Holley, who ran an off-the-line campaign to oust Cryan. This Union County district is deeply blue so Cryan is likely to prevail in November.
26th District: Incumbent Jay Webber secured one of the two Republican nominations for Assembly in this North Jersey district, while his running mate, incumbent BettyLou DeCroce and union official Christian Barranco were in a tight race for the other nod.
NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.
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Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.
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