Our Revolution New Jersey Celebrates More than 90 Wins in Local Elections

Group Continues to Rack up Wins Towards Goals of Transforming the Party, Fair Elections

New Jersey – During Tuesday night’s primary elections, a wave of pro-democracy candidates swept over portions of New Jersey. Approximately 72 Our Revolution-aligned County Committee candidates claimed victory, with the majority located in Mercer and Monmouth Counties. Pending final results, and write-in candidates claiming their wins, we expect this number to rise above 90. All candidates on this diverse slate are grounded in progressive, Democratic-voter values, and seek to abolish The County Line– the undemocratic ballot gerrymandering only found in New Jersey.1 2 3

Our Revolution New Jersey State Coordinator Anna-Marta Visky explains: “Since 2016, our members have been doing the work of transforming the party into a more progressive party. Ultimately, we must reverse the top-down power structures and release the local parties & governments from the grip of a powerful few to make our democracy work for everyone. In NJ, we must also fight for voting rights and fair elections within our primaries. I am excited that our multi-county effort has increased the base of county committee members who will work to build the party, engage voters and create transparency and good government in their districts.”

The most noteworthy victory came in Hamilton Voting District 27, where Our Revolution Trenton Mercer Chair, Joe Marchica, and his born-and-raised Hamiltonian running mate, Denise Soto, defeated two long-time incumbents backed by resources from the local municipal party. Marchica and Soto won despite mailers, phone calls, canvassers, and attempts to hand out literature in the polling site parking lot for their opponents.

In an election night victory tweet, Marchica thanked their supporters:

“Thank you to everyone in our district who heard our message, bought in and turned out for us! Thank you for believing that VOTERS should decide who wins elections, NOT Party machines and ballot positioning!”

He also added separately: “This win is a small step among many others throughout New Jersey towards a truly democratic state. Including my and Denise’s win, we expect to pick up about 30 new County Committee seats here in Mercer. We’re excited to build all these small steps into a powerful march towards a just, democratic ballot and political system that finally lets voters hold their electeds accountable!”

In another noteworthy race, Our Revolution expects at least one more contested election victory. Two Our Revolution candidates and one incumbent all remain within two votes of each other4. As we wait for late-received mail-in ballots and provisional ballots to be counted, the race is too close to call.

From Brady Rivera, the leading vote-getter in that race, and OR Trenton Mercer Elections Chair:

“I am happy with Tuesday’s results! This is a good showing for progressives countywide. Throughout our canvassing efforts, it has been made evident that many residents had never met a candidate before. No one has ever knocked on their doors personally. I and many of my countywide colleagues were their first times they have met a candidate. We are putting in the work to be involved in the most local grassroots manner possible, where complacent members have failed. We will do better, we will be involved, and we will keep this momentum going statewide!”

On the other side of the state, Our Revolution saw a substantial number of Democratic County Committee wins in Monmouth County. From chapter leader Joan Farkas: “I am so proud of the victories of our members and allies in their county committee races. Their hard work and commitment to grassroots organizing and democracy had even better than hoped for results. Talking directly to the voters is not only the way to win elections, it is the only way to truly represent those you are elected to serve.”

Our Revolution NJ is also celebrating endorsed candidates Karol Ruiz and Sandra Wittner winning in Dover – a further testament that a grassroots movement can confront the machine, beat back relentless attacks from well funded incumbents and win.

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Our Revolution is dedicated to organizing a political revolution strong enough to challenge the structural forces that threaten our survival as a society. Together, we are building a national grassroots network of powerful local groups who are fighting to win progressive issue fights, elect progressive champions, transform the Democratic party and get big money out of politics.