In the 1st Legislative District, Assembly incumbents Antwan McClellan and Erik Simonsen will face Democratic primary winners Carolyn Rush and Carol Sabo. The youngest Democratic competitor, 26-year-old Princeton University student Brandon Saffold, was unsuccessful in his bid for the nomination.
There were a large number of contested elections for Assembly seats in this year’s primary — 23 among Democrats and six among Republicans. Democrats currently hold a 52-28 advantage in the 80-member Assembly.
The 1st District Democratic race was one of the contested races for Democrats this year, and voters chose experience. Saffold, who aimed to become the first Generation Z member of New Jersey’s Legislature, received less than 25% of the vote. Carolyn Rush, a Sea Isle City resident and former House candidate, won 41.5%, while West Cape May Mayor Carol Sabo garnered 34.8%.
Republicans faced no contest in the primary, with Simonsen and McClellan running unopposed as incumbents. Both had the endorsement of the Cape May County Republican Organization. The county’s Democratic organization opted not to endorse candidates in the primary. Simonsen and McClellan are both seeking a fourth term in the Assembly.
The 1st District includes all of Cape May County, most of Cumberland County, and parts of Atlantic County. In November, all four Assembly candidates will be from Cape May County. Republican State Sen. Michael Testa, who represents the district in Trenton, is a native of Cumberland County.
Rush and Saffold were part of a slate of candidates endorsed by gubernatorial candidate Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. Fulop had positioned himself, alongside Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, as a progressive alternative to more moderate U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill. Fulop received only about 16% of the Democratic vote.
Simonsen and McClellan first won their Assembly seats in 2019 when they ran with Testa against a Democratic slate that included Assembly incumbents Bob Andrzejczak and R. Bruce Land. Andrzejczak had moved up to run for Senate against Testa. The third Democrat on the slate was former Assemblyman Matthew Milam.
Simonsen, a former mayor of Lower Township, is currently the athletic director at Lower Cape May Regional School District. McClellan, a former Ocean City Council member, now works at the Cape May County Sheriff’s Office. Both were reelected in 2021 and 2023.
Election results will not be certified until June 20, but there do not appear to be enough outstanding ballots to alter the current outcome.
