Democrat takes narrow lead over Republican Assembly incumbent in New Jersey contest
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A Democratic candidate for a New Jersey Assembly seat has taken a slim lead over her incumbent Republican opponent.
Andrea Katz leads Assembly member Brandon Umba by 27 votes out of more than 108,000 counted in southern New Jersey’s 8th District — a lead of 0.02 percentage points. The Associated Press had initially declared Umba a winner in the race, but withdrew its call after Katz moved into the narrow lead.
Katz overtook Umba on Thursday, when Burlington County added 5,554 ballots to the vote count. Those votes favored Democrats by a much wider margin than the county’s earlier 11 vote updates.
If Katz’s lead holds, she’d be the sixth Democrat to have flipped a seat this election from the GOP.
Taking the lead seemed to come as a surprise to Katz. Earlier, she conceded the race in a post on social media. But now she is weighing the possibility of heading to the Legislature.
“I want to do the work, and I want to help people,” she said in a phone interview.
A message seeking comment was left with Umba’s district office.
A Democratic win would further expand the party’s hold on the Legislature in the final two years of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s second term.
New Jersey elected all 80 members of its Assembly and all 40 state senators this year.
Democrats have so far expanded their control of the Assembly from 46 seats to 51, excluding the 8th District. In the state Senate, Democrats and Republicans each picked up a new seat, leaving overall control at 25-15 in Democrats’ favor.
New Jersey voters elect a state senator and two Assembly members from each of the state’s 40 legislative districts.
If Katz’s lead holds, the 8th District would end up sending one Democrat and one Republican to the Legislature because incumbent Republican Assemblyman Michael Torrissi remains the winner of the Assembly seat there.
Only one other district has split representation like that in the Assembly after Tuesday’s election.
The district includes parts of Atlantic and Burlington counties and was among the most competitive in 2021.
Katz and her running mates characterized their platform as “pro-affordability, pro-education and pro-choice.”
Umba and his running mates said they wanted to make their district more affordable and safe and demanded “our fair share of investment” from state government.