Democrats maintain control of N.J. Legislature

Despite a double-digit win by Gov. Christie, Democrats held on to control of the Legislature, with Republicans projected to make at best modest inroads as races were being called late Tuesday night.

In an election marked by record spending - as of last week, outside groups had poured $38 million into state races and ballot questions - Republicans weren't on track Tuesday night to pick up nearly enough seats to wrest control from the Democrats, who had a 24-16 majority in the Senate and 48-32 majority in the Assembly.

"The people of this state recognized that they need people like us that actually care about the working class, by passing bills like the minimum wage," Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) said Tuesday night. Voters approved a ballot question to raise the minimum wage by $1 to $8.25 an hour, with automatic cost-of-living increases.

Hoping to capitalize on Christie's popularity, Republicans staked their candidacies on supporting the governor's agenda, arguing that 10 years of Democratic control had worsened New Jersey's economy.

But like Christie, Democrats campaigned on a platform of setting aside partisan politics, touting an ability to work with the Republican governor. They also benefited from a district map redrawn in 2011 that favored Democrats.

"That's just an amazing accomplishment, to win by more 20 points and not have any impact down ballot," said Patrick Murray, a pollster at Monmouth University. He predicted "a big change in leadership" among Republicans in the Legislature: "There's going to be a big question whether they hold this against Chris Christie."

While all 120 seats were on the ballot, competition was fierce in only a handful of districts, including several in South Jersey where strong showings had been predicted for Christie.

Despite the personal efforts of Minority Leader Thomas H. Kean Jr., Sweeney held onto his seat in the Third Legislative District by 10 percentage points.

In what by last week had become the most expensive legislative election in the state, Kean poured significant resources into the candidacy of Republican challenger Niki Trunk, a Monroeville lawyer, as part of a broader bid to pick up five seats and take control of the Senate.

Kean "has to explain to his 16 members - 'cause that's what he has - why they didn't win, when you had a phenomenon like Chris Christie, who won by one of the biggest margins in the history of this state," Sweeney told reporters at a Democratic banquet in Deptford Township.

Kean could not be reached for comment late Tuesday night.

In the Assembly races, Democratic incumbents John Burzichelli and Celeste Riley beat Republicans Larry Wallace and Bob Vanderslice. A Republican has not represented the district in a decade.

"This was a battle between the North and South," Riley told the crowd of South Jersey Democrats at the banquet. "The South has won. You cannot mess with our Senate president."

In the Second District, Sen. Jim Whelan, a Democrat long involved in state and local politics, defeated Republican Atlantic County Sheriff Frank Balles by 10 points.

Republican incumbent Chris Brown maintained his Assembly seat with 25.9 percent of the vote to win a second term. Republican incumbent John Amodeo won a tight race over challenger Democratic Mayor Vince Mazzeo, finishing 379 votes apart.

"I look forward to working with the governor and my colleagues to provide New Jersey residents property tax relief," Brown said.

In the First District, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats, Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D., Cape May) fended off Republican Susan Adelizzi-Schmidt, winning by 20 points. But Democratic Assemblyman Nelson Albano appeared to be in danger of losing his seat to Republican Sam Fiocchi, a Cumberland County freeholder, in a race that had not been called by 11:30 p.m.

Republicans had attacked Albano for claiming the state police mistreated him when he was pulled over for speeding last year. The details of the incident were exposed by the Star-Ledger, which obtained video footage from a camera inside the trooper's car.

Democrat Bob Andrzejczak, a war veteran appointed to the Assembly this year, appeared to have beat Cape May County Freeholder Kristine Gabor.

Other competitive races took place in District 14, where Sen. Linda Greenstein (D., Middlesex) was narrowly leading former Republican Sen. Peter Inverso Tuesday night.

In District 18, where Buono's Senate seat was up for grabs, Democratic Assemblyman Peter Barnes led Republican East Brunswick Mayor David Stahl in a race that had not been called late Tuesday night.

In District 38, Sen. Bob Gordon (D., Bergen) led Republican Fernando Alonso in another tight race that had not been called by 11:30 p.m.

Christie's campaign had put resources into each of the three districts, seeing chances to gain seats, a spokesman said.

In local races, Democratic state Sens. Fred Madden in District 4, Donald Norcross in District 5 and Jim Beach in District 6 won reelection. Also in District 6, Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald and Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt were reelected.

Sen. Diane Allen (R., Burlington) won reelection in District 7, as did Democratic Assemblymen Herb Conaway and Troy Singleton.