Victory and Agony: Republicans Win Big, Democrats Nurse Defeat

Atlantic County Democrats converged on the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, for an election results watch party. Two miles away, Atlantic County Republicans gathered at the Linwood Country Club.

Ultimately, Republicans held a victory party while Democrats wound up soul-searching. Don Purdy, the Chairman of the Atlantic County Republican Club, said the GOP won the Absecon mayor’s race for the first time in more than 30 years. The Republicans also maintained control in Hammonton, Mullica Township and Somers Point. The GOP also unseated the one remaining Democrat on council in Brigantine.

“We had a great night here  in Atlantic County,” said Purdy. “There’s a lot of enthusiastic members here. The turnout was great, both Republican and Democrat.”

At the Democratic election results watch party, excitement filled the room as Democrats took early victories. The tone changed, however, as the county continued to show itself a Republican stronghold.

Democrat Andy Kim won his New Jersey Senate race and there were sporadic local election winners.  “Andy Kim is going to be a great senator,” said Caren Fitzpatrick, Linwood Municipal Chair and former Atlantic County Commissioner. “He really understands the people of South Jersey. Finally, we have someone representing us.”

But then, the numbers theoretically turned red, with Congressman Jeff Van Drew beating Joe Salerno and the other candidates.

Democrats also saw an early victory in Egg Harbor City with Mayor Lisa Jianpetti retaining her seat and the rest of the Egg Harbor City Council majority flipping from Republican to Democrat.

Democrat Juanita Hyman also won her reelection to the Egg Harbor Township Board of Education. “I want the kids to feel safe and to feel like they belong,” said Hyman. “The demographics have changed over the years. The district is close to 60% minority students.” However, other races went to Republicans. Republican Ray Ellis won reelection to Egg Harbor Township Committee.

Atlantic County Democratic Club Chair Michael Suleiman predicted it wouldn’t be a good night for Kamala Harris, who lost to Donald Trump. Suleiman said on Election Night that Democrats fared poorly throughout the county, in part, because Harris lost Atlantic County by four percent. “While this has historically been a blue county, Trump won Atlantic County by four points,” Suleiman said. “So that really hurt us tonight. We didn’t get those coat tails at the top of the ticket. If you look at a lot of our races, they track the performance of Trump and Harris.”

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