NJ 6th District Election Results: Frank Pallone Wins

Incumbent Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. is the projected winner in the Democratic primary for New Jersey's sixth congressional district, fending off two progressive challengers, Russell "Russ" Cirincione and Amani Al-Khatahtbeh.

Pallone was declared the winner with 20,930 votes (85 percent of the vote), followed by Cirincione (3,100 votes) and then Al-Khatahtbeh (527 votes). He was declared the winner with 30 percent of the voting precincts in.

Sixteen-term incumbent Pallone has represented New Jersey's sixth congressional district for decades, since 1993. He is considered one of New Jersey's leading Democrat voices. While Pallone is an outspoken critic of President Trump, and has fought Trump on issues such as immigration, tax reform and oil drilling off New Jersey's coast, his challengers this year said he isn't progressive enough.

Both Cirincione and Al-Khatahtbeh are far-left progressives running in the vein of Sen. Bernie Sanders.

"NJ 6," as it's called, stretches from Carteret and Woodbridge into Edison, Metuchen, New Brunswick and down to Asbury Park. It hugs the Bayshore coastline, including towns such as Aberdeen, Matawan, Hazlet, part of Middletown, Atlantic Highlands and Highlands, Sea Bright and West Long Branch. Marlboro Township is also in the district.

Sammy Gindi is running as a write-in Republican candidate who will take on Pallone this November. There is no official Republican challenger to Pallone. Gindi, 25, describes himself as pro-life, pro-Trump, pro-Second Amendment, pro-Israel and supports legalizing marijuana, according to his campaign website.

Cirincione is a government housing litigation attorney and 2013 Seton Hall Law School grad. He describes himself as a "New Deal Democrat," who supports Universal Basic Income ($1,000 a month per adult and $500 per child), the Green New Deal and Medicare for All universal healthcare.

He ran on Sanders' Not Me. Us ticket, and criticized Pallone for taking corporate donations. He was endorsed by Andrew Yang.

Al-Khatahtbeh, 27, is a Rutgers grad and founder and editor-in-chief of MuslimGirl.com. She is the first Muslim woman to run for Congress in New Jersey.

She said she's endured prejudice because of that, and in part blamed racism for her isolated position on the ballot, saying just before Tuesday's primary she would seek an unspecified "legal action" over her ballot placement.

"As the only woman of color in my race running against two white men, I don’t see how this represents a fair and free democracy" she said in a statement. "Even when we overcome barriers of entry, they still try to keep us at the margins. It's so symbolic."

As Patch previously reported, Amani said she received an anonymous death threat in April, where a caller threatened to kill and torture both her and her parents, and force-feed them pork and alcohol.

"This isn't my first death threat and I hesitated to share it, but it's necessary to see the common experience of Muslims & minorities when hate is normalized by political leaders," she tweeted.

Amani also supports Medicare for All, student loan forgiveness and says she wants to continue Sanders' movement. Al-Khatahtbeh is also a supporter of the Green New Deal; while at Rutgers, she was part of a student-led movement to push the university to divest from fossil fuels. She has said she counts Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as among her role models.

Related: Andrew Yang Endorses Russ Cirincione, Who Is Challenging Pallone

Muslim Woman Challenging Frank Pallone Receives Death Threat