NJ Primary Election 2024: What To Know In Wayne Township

WAYNE, NJ — Voters in Wayne Township and around the Garden State will head to the polls on Tuesday for the primaries, in a crucial presidential election year that also will have a Senate seat and several Congressional contests on the ballot.

Some New Jersey towns will also have municipal races this year, but Wayne is not among them. However, township residents will have other choices to make for county offices, and who will represent them in Washington. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4.

This year’s primary election ballots will also have a new look for Democratic Party voters, due to a lawsuit against a controversial political ballot design known as “the party/county line.”

The primary results determine who will be on the ballot for the 2024 general election, which is on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

What's on the ballot?

All Wayne Township voters will see candidates for president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives (District 9 or District 11), county commissioners. and county clerk on their ballots.

U.S. President

Former President Donald J. Trump is the only registered Republican candidate on the ballot, per the New Jersey Secretary of State.

On the Democratic ballot are sitting President Joe R. Biden, as well as anti-abortion activist Terrisa Lin Bokovinac and an "uncommitted" option (organized by a group calling for a ceasefire in Gaza).

U.S. Senate

As stated before, Democratic senator Robert Menendez's seat is up for grabs in the U.S. Senate. Menendez and his wife Nadine Arslanian remain embroiled in an alleged bribery scheme, and he announced in March that he will not seek the Democratic nomination (though he mentioned running as an independent in November).

A Morris County mayor, Christine Serrano Glassner, is one of four Republicans who are looking to be the U.S. Senate candidate on the ballot in November. The other candidates are South Jersey entrepreneur Curtis Bashaw, former Tabernacle deputy mayor Justin Murphy, and U.S. navy veteran Albert Harshaw of Jackson.

Three Democrats have put their names in to replace Sen. Menendez: Lawrence Hamm of Newark, union and grassroots organizer Patricia Campos-Medina of North Jersey, and current U.S. Representative Andy Kim (NJ-3) of South Jersey.

U.S. House of Representatives

In the 11th Congressional District, which includes part of Wayne Township, incumbent Democrat Mikie Sherill will face challenger Mark De Lotto of Totowa.

On the Republican primary ballot, voters have a choice between three candidates: Joseph Belnome and Raafat Barsoom of Belleville, and John F. Sauers of Rockaway.

The northern part of Wayne Township is in the 9th Congressional District, where there is a contested Republican primary to oppose sitting Rep. Bill Pascrell, a Democrat, in November. Hector Castillo and Billy Prempeh are the candidates on the Republican ballot, and Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah will oppose Pascrell on the Democratic ballot.

Passaic County offices

Passaic County will elect a new sheriff this fall to succeed Richard Berdnik, who died in January of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Democratic Party voters will choose between former sheriff Jerry Speziale Jr. and current sheriff’s office chief Thomas Adamo, while Republican Party voters will see Detective Captain Marla Saracino of the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office on the ballot. All three are Wayne Township residents.

There are three seats for the Passaic County Board of Commissioners up for grabs this year, and a contested primary for the Democrats.

Wayne resident Sean Duffy, Derya Taskin, and Pedro Liranzo are running with Speziale for county offices. They will go up against current Commissioner Director (and Wayne resident) John Bartlett, Commissioner Sandi Lazzara, and Rodney A. DeVore who are backed by the county Democratic Organization.

On the Republican ticket, the Passaic County Regular Republican Organization has put forward three candidates: current commissioner Nicolino Gallo, Assad Mujtaba, and William Cytowicz.

Three candidates with a group called America First Conservative Republican NJ had registered for the commissioners' primary; court records show the Passaic County Clerk later determined they did not meet the signature requirement.

Those candidates, Diomedes Minaya and Marko Kopic of Passaic and Edgardo Collazo of Paterson, filed a civil complaint against Clerk Danielle Ireland-Imhof that a judge dismissed in April.

Learn more about voting in New Jersey or find your local polling place here.

Click here to view a sample ballot for Wayne Township.