How Barnegat, Stafford Voted For President, Congress, Marijuana

BARNEGAT, NJ — Throughout the nation, Election Day may become Election Week or Election Month because of complications associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The tallies in Barnegat and Stafford aren't over either, but let's look at how both towns voted on key issues and races so far.

There are a little over 49,000 Ocean County mail-in ballots to be counted as of Wednesday, County Clerk Scott A. Colabella said by email. That doesn't include mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day that can the Board of Elections can receive by next 8 p.m. next Tuesday.

So additional ballots will affect the vote totals and could affect some results. That said, here's what we can see so far.

President

The local ballots so far favor President Donald Trump, who has received 7,369 votes in Barnegat and 8,774 in Stafford. Vice President Joe Biden has 5,070 and 5,480 votes in Barnegat and Stafford, respectively.

Here were the 2016 presidential election results:

• Barnegat: President Trump 7,214, Hillary Clinton 3,896
• Stafford: President Trump 9,189, Clinton 4,357

Senate

Once again, Barnegat and Stafford voted red while New Jersey overall went blue. Sen. Cory Booker won re-election, but Republican challenger Rik Mehta has earned more votes in Barnegat and Stafford.

Barnegat gave Mehta 7,143 votes, while Booker has 4,947 from the township as of Thursday morning. Mehta generated 8,578 votes in Stafford, while Booker earned 5,269.

Here's how it went during New Jersey's last Senate race in 2018. Republican challenger Bob Hugin earned 5,896 votes in Barnegat, while Sen. Bob Menendez generated 3,385 votes. In Stafford, Hugin received 7,664 votes, and Menendez got 3,712.

Congress

Barnegat and part of Stafford vote in New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District, while some Stafford residents live in the 2nd District.

3rd District: Although Republican challenger David Richter received the majority of Barnegat and Stafford votes as of Thursday morning, the numbers are a little closer than the presidential and Senate totals.

Richter earned 6,440 Barnegat votes and 5,404 in Stafford. Kim, the Democratic incumbent, generated 5,588 Barnegat votes and 3,952 in Stafford.

But the Associated Press declared Kim the winner of the race. Kim has 173,010 votes overall, while Richter has 138,096 with 432 of 571 precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press.

In 2018, Republican Tom MacArthur earned 5,492 and 4,889 votes in Barnegat and Stafford, respectively. Kim generated 3,843 Barnegat votes and 2,954 from Stafford.

2nd District: In Stafford, Republican incumbent Jeff Van Drew has 2,872 votes, while Democratic challenger Amy Kennedy has 1,581.

Van Drew leads the race overall, with 142,479 votes to Kennedy's 132,448 with 393 of 523 precincts reporting. He declared victory on Election Night, but Kennedy hasn't conceded and the AP hasn't determined a winner.

Van Drew, of course, ran as a Democrat in 2018 and switched parties last December. He earned 1,339 votes from Stafford during the midterms, while Republican Seth Grossman generated 2,306 votes from the township.

Marijuana

Most Barnegat and Stafford voters so far have favored legalizing recreational marijuana in the Garden State. In Barnegat, 7,124 voted yes, while 4,741 opposed the measure. In Stafford, 8,619 voted in favor, while 4,934 opposed.

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