No surprises in N.J. voting

THE AMERICAN flag was sagging outside a South Jersey polling place yesterday afternoon, almost touching some dark mulch, and Daniel J. Yannantuono did his best to make it stand tall again after casting his vote.

The fate of the nation, Yannantuono said, was in the hands of voters beyond the Garden State, and he feared they'd bend national politics to the right.

"Ahh, don't get me started," the 67-year-old Vietnam War veteran said outside the Osage Elementary School in Voorhees, Camden County. "It's anti-climate-change, anti-women, anti-union. This country's going down the s---ter."

New Jersey's elections, although barbed and heated as usual, weren't expected to make an impact in the national power struggle over control of the Senate.

Republicans weren't able to put up much of a fight for Senate as Cory Booker, 45, the ever-tweeting former mayor of Newark, jogged to re-election against Republican Jeff Bell one year after winning a special election. Booker's race was called almost immediately after polls closed.

"So, New Jersey, you've given me six years. I'm rolling up my sleeves and I'm getting to work," Booker said during a victory speech. "We're gonna fight to unite our country again."

The state's most contentious and most costly race was in New Jersey's 3rd District congressional race, which had opened up after two-term Republican and former Philadelphia Eagles star Jon Runyan didn't seek re-election. Voters in the district - which stretches from the Delaware River to the Atlantic - have elected Republicans almost overwhelmingly for the last 100 years, which gave Tom MacArthur, a former mayor of Randolph, Morris County, an advantage over Democrat Aimee Belgard, a Burlington County freeholder.

"Tonight, New Jersey voters saw through the negative attacks and elected Tom MacArthur," National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Greg Walden said in a statement.

Another former Eagle, Republican Garry Cobb, made a run for New Jersey's 1st District seat, facing off against a formidable name in South Jersey: Norcross. State Sen. Donald Norcross, a former head of the South Jersey AFL-CIO, was pegged as the successor by Democrats the same day longtime Rep. Rob Andrews resigned in February.

Norcross is the brother of George Norcross, one of New Jersey's most influential power-brokers and a former owner of the Daily News. Cobb, a Cherry Hill resident, had never held elective office.

In South Jersey's sprawling 2nd District, 10-term incumbent Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a Republican from Ventnor, Atlantic County, defeated challenger Bill Hughes Jr., an Atlantic City lawyer.

Hughes had instant name recognition in the district because his father, Bill Hughes Sr., held the seat for 20 years, defeating LoBiondo in 1992.

Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman defeated Republican Alieta Eck in New Jersey's 12th District, becoming the first woman elected to federal office in the state in more than a decade.

The state's most recognizable elected official, Gov. Chris Christie, stumped for GOP candidates far and wide in the months leading up to the election. Christie also promoted his own unspoken but obvious 2016 presidential aspirations on the road without fully polishing off the rough "Jersey Guy" edges that made him resonate with the disaffected in the first place. He made national headlines last week when he told a heckler at a Superstorm Sandy anniversary event to "Sit down and shut up."

"The governor is clearly looking at a national audience and is very concerned how GOP gubernatorial candidates do," said Ben Dworkin, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. "If he can win the close ones, like in Florida, it will look good, and whatever Republican victories there are in New Jersey, he's going to take credit."

Dworkin said there's simply going be a lot of waiting around in New Jersey for the next gubernatorial candidates to emerge.

"Waiting: That's the theme of New Jersey politics right now," he said.

New Jerseyans also approved two ballot questions, for more permanent funding for open space and for bail reform.

- The Associated Press

contributed to this report.