Paul DeGroot Wins GOP Primary In NJ's 11th Congressional District Primary: AP

NEW JERSEY — Paul DeGroot secured victory in the Republican primary for New Jersey's 11th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press. The AP declared the former Passaic County prosecutor as the winner of the five-candidate field Wednesday afternoon, setting DeGroot up for a race against Rep. Mikie Sherrill.

The AP called the race with 91.4 percent of votes tallied as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. DeGroot led with 12,236 votes, while Tayfun Selen — director of the Morris County Board of Commissioners — held second place with 10,936 votes.

The vote tallies remain unofficial until they are certified later. County clerks in the district have until June 20 to certify the results. Here's the tally as of 1 p.m. Wednesday:

• Paul DeGroot: 12,236
• Tayfun Selen: 10,936
• Toby Anderson: 6,139
• Ruth McAndrew: 1,278
• Alexander Halter: 427

(91.4 percent of votes counted)

The Republican primary in NJ-11 became one of the state's most competitive Congressional races on Tuesday night, with DeGroot pulling slightly ahead of Selen late into the evening. Sherrill ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. DeGroot now has a shot at turning the district red for the first time in four years, when Sherrill began her first term in Congress.

On DeGroot's campaign website, the attorney states that he's "concerned about the kind of America our children and yours will inherit. We don’t want our children and grandchildren growing up hating America. I don’t want them growing up in a world where their rights are confiscated by the government and where hope for a better life is an unreachable dream."

DeGroot has made crime a major focal point of his campaign, attacking bail reform and claiming that such changes "embolden criminals to commit more crimes against you, your family and your property."

Sherrill's campaign, meanwhile, called the Republican election an "extremist GOP primary."

"Republicans are divided and have failed to unite around any one candidate because their choices in this primary ranged from bad to worse," Jackie Burns, Sherrill's campaign manager, said Wednesday in a statement. "Voters were faced with candidates radically out of step with what New Jerseyans want: a leader who chooses unity over division, pointing the way forward over pointing fingers, and is focused on bringing down costs, standing up for our kids and gun safety, and defending women’s rights."

DeGroot's career with the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office spanned 25 years. He held a significant advantage in the county's portion of NJ-11, receiving 2,494 Passaic County votes as of Wednesday afternoon. Selen held 149 votes in the county, also trailing Anderson (572 votes) and McAndrew (154) in the area.

While Selen holds experience in Morris County politics, he failed to generate a significant advantage in the county. Selen held 8,980 votes in Morris County, while DeGroot had 8,026 as of Wednesday afternoon.

Candidates are running to represent the newly drawn 11th District. While New Jersey has a bipartisan Congressional Redistricting Commission, experts believe redistricting made NJ-11 more favorable for Democratic candidates.