Election night: Kean declares victory, but Malinowski says it's too close to call

UPDATE: Live updates: Malinowski concedes 7th district race, local results roll in

Time to cast your vote New Jersey. Follow along here for live coverage of the 2022 midterm elections.

Along with the high-profile congressional elections, we'll have updates from local races across the region, including municipal, school board and ballot measures. Need to find your polling place? Read below to see where to cast your ballot.

Check back here throughout the day for live updates from our reporters from the polls, including comments from candidates and voters. Don’t forget to refresh after the polls close Tuesday to see results for your local races.

You can see vote counts as precincts start to report here. Congressional race results will also be listed on our website.

Check back for updates.

Wednesday morning note to readers:

Our coverage of the 2022 general election continues on our Day 2 Live Blog with the latest on local races and the Kean, Malinowski contest.

You can access it here:

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/09/new-jersey-election-updates-results-bergen-passaic-morris-sussex/69632510007/

12:56 a.m. Kean's lead grows slightly

The last votes to be counted in the Malinowski, Kean contest were still slowly trickling in well past midnight.

Kean's lead had grown from about 12,000 votes as of midnight to almost 14,000 as the clock approached 1:30 a.m. and 95% of votes tallied.

Kean had 153,082 votes at 52.3% while Malinowski garnered 139,404 or 47.7%.

The Associated Press still has not called the race.

11:55 p.m. Kean declares victory but Malinowski says it's too close to call

Republican Tom Kean Jr. told a crowd of supporters tonight that he had beaten Democrat incumbent Rep. Tom Malinowski in the hotly-contested District 7 race.

But minutes later, Malinowski took to his own podium and told supporters that the race was still too close. The Associated Press has not made a call on the race.

With 90% of the vote in, Kean was leading 52.1% to 47.9%.

About 12,000 votes separated the candidates as of midnight.

11:30 p.m. Tom Malinowski, Thomas Kean 7th District race will go down to the wire

After calling several New Jersey congressional races earlier, the Associated Press is still waiting for more results to emerge in the District 7 battle where incumbent Democrat Tom Malinowski is in a tight contest with Republican challenger Thomas Kean Jr.

As the night wore on, crowds thinned at Kean's election headquarters at the Olde Mille Inn in Basking Ridge. The once bustling crowd of more than 100 had thinned to barely 30 by 11 p.m. The Kean-Malinowski race is one of the tightest in the nation and election watchers have forecasted a win for Kean.

-Mary Ann Koruth

11:24 p.m. Democrat Josh Gottheimer wins reelection to House in District 5

Rep. Josh Gottheimer won reelection, defeating Republican challenger Frank Pallotta in a rematch of the district’s 2020 race, according to the Associated Press.

Gottheimer was first elected in 2016.

11:07 p.m. Democrat Andy Kim wins reelection to House in District 3

Rep. Andy Kim won reelection to the U.S. House beating Republican Bob Healey, according to the Associated Press.

11:05 p.m. Democrat Mikie Sherrill wins reelection to House in District 11

Rep. Mikie Sherrill won reelection to the U.S. House, beating Republican challenger Paul DeGroot, according to the Associated Press.

This will be Sherrill’s third term. Prior to her time in Congress, Sherrill served in the U.S. Navy as an intelligence officer.

11:02 p.m. Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman wins reelection to House in District 12

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman won reelection to the House over Republican challenger Darius Mayfield, according to the Associated Press.

11 p.m. Republican Jeff Van Drew wins reelection to House in District 2

Rep. Jeff Van Drew won reelection beating Democratic challenger Tim Alexander, the Associated Press called.

10:36 p.m. Republican leads in Paramus mayoral race

Local results are starting to trickle in across North Jersey.

Republican Chris DiPiazza was leading the Paramus mayor’s race on Tuesday night, bidding to flip a Bergen County mayoral seat long held by Democrats.

Unofficial results provided by the borough had DiPiazza leading with 4,577 votes to 2,632 for Democrat MariaElena Bellinger. Both candidates are currently sitting council members vying to succeed Mayor Richard LaBarbiera, a Democrat who has held the position for 14 years.

-Stephanie Noda

9:48 p.m. Democrat Frank Pallone wins reelection to House in District 6

So far, New Jersey's congressional races are decidedly in favor of the incumbents as expected.

Rep. Frank Pallone won reelection to the U.S. House beating Republican Susan Kiley, the Associated Press reported.

9:39 p.m. Democrat Bill Pascrell Jr. wins reelection to House in District 9

Longtime Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. won reelection in District 9, the Associated Press reported.

The congressman beat Republican challenger Billy Prempeh to win his 14^th term. Pascrell was first elected to serve in 1996.

This race was a rematch of the 2020 election in this district. At that time, Pascrell won with 66 percent of the vote.

-Katie Sobko

9:33 p.m. Democrat Robert Menendez Jr. wins election to House in District 8

Another Menendez is headed to Washington.

Rob Menendez Jr., son of Sen. Bob Menendez, won the seat in the 8^th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press.

Menendez, who has never held elected office but was appointed to the Port Authority Board of Commissioners last year, beat Republican Marcos Arroyo. The seat is currently held by Rep. Albio Sires, who announced last year that he would not seek re-election.

-Katie Sobko

9:25 p.m. Democrat Donald Payne Jr. wins reelection to House in District 10

Rep. Donald Payne Jr. won reelection to U.S. House in New Jersey's 10th Congressional District over Republican challenger David Pinckney, the Associated Press reported.

9:17 p.m. Democrat Donald Norcross wins reelection to House in District 1

Rep. Donald Norcross defeated challenger Claire Gustafson, a Republican, to retain his seat in the U.S. House representing his South Jersey district, the Associated Press reported.

9:09 p.m. Republican Chris Smith wins reelection to the House in District 4

Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican, won reelection to the House, beating Democratic challenger Matthew Jenkins, according to the Associated Press, which called the race at 9:05 p.m. - the first of 12 Congressional contests in New Jersey.

8 p.m. The polls are closed in New Jersey

It's time to tally the votes in the Garden State as the polls close at 8 p.m. Stay right here with our liveblog for updates on the races as they happen.

6:45 p.m. Montclair voters head to polls to decide on $188M bond to repair schools

The big question on the Montclair ballot is the $188 million bond issue to update public schools.

Homeowners here already pay some of the highest taxes in the nation, and the bond would tack $732 a year for 24 years onto the taxes on a median-priced home.

Signs reading “#Rebuild Montclair Schools” dot the lawns. Few have argued that the 11 school buildings, with an average age of 99 years, don’t desperately need updates. In 2018 a staircase collapsed at the high school just before the first day of school, disrupting classes for months. During the pandemic, all grades were fully remote for a year due to a lack of ventilation and even working sinks.

Still, Councilman Peter Yacobellis and others worry that there could be a “silent ‘no’ vote,” especially among seniors and those without school-aged kids.

Plumber Robert Heyrich and his wife Sandy cast their vote at the municipal building. They have lived in Montclair their whole lives and put their children through the public schools.

“You go in some of these schools, it’s horrendous,” he said. “You can’t not fix up the schools.”

Poll worker Greg Miles said turnout has been “much higher” than previous years. “We got a lot of first-time voters and young people coming out," he said. A higher turnout was expected, he said, and he attributed it to “people being told how important this vote is.

“It’s really heated up,” he said.

-Julia Martin

5:15 p.m. Heated Sparta school board race highlights division among residents

Education and the school board were top of mind for some voters in Sparta in Sussex County where a heated board of education race is playing out along with one of the nation’s tightest House races in the 7^th congressional district.

Sparta was among several Sussex County towns newly redistricted into the seventh district when maps were redrawn in 2020, a factor that election watchers say could tip the scales in favor of Republican Tom Kean against incumbent Congressman Democrat Tom Malinowski.

But it's the school board that's drawing a lot of local attention.

The 17-candidate board of education race, divided by their positions on the state sex-ed standards and so-called “woke” curricula, drove 15-year Sparta resident Ian Hamilton to the polls.

The board of education was where “the biggest differences were being made,” the father of two said.

Hamilton was generally in agreement with the state’s sex education standards which he said were reflective of a changing world, as long as the school taught them in age-appropriate ways. “I do think there’s never easy ways to broach some of these subjects and maybe the age needs to be appropriate, but generally, you can’t just hide from topics like this," he's said.

On the other end of the spectrum was parent Valerie Fresolone, who said she supports a conservative slate of candidates campaigning on the "anti-woke, parental rights” platform.

Fresolone said she took her elementary school-aged twins and her middle schooler out of the district schools in 2020 during the pandemic and has not re-enrolled them since. They are being homeschooled by her and a co-op associated with a church in the area.

Other long-time Sparta residents said the town was small enough that they knew board of education candidates personally, and were voting for individuals, not groups campaigning on a slate.

"I’m not as concerned about the sex-ed stuff after looking into it further,” said Brook Ganguzza, who has three kids in the district’s schools.

Erin Durkin, a single parent of 8- and 7-year-old boys, said she chose to “buy the worst house in the best location in the best town” specifically for Sparta’s schools. She said she is a Democrat—and a fierce one-- but said that because she was friends with board of education candidates on every single slate or ticket, she voted according to what she thinks they stand for. “You know these people well, you know what they stand for…it doesn’t make sense to vote because they’re all on that one ticket. I’ve talked to them, not just from the campaign – I know them,” she said.

-Mary Ann Koruth

5:00 p.m. Election officials fix Rockaway voting machine jams with a whack

The lines to vote at Dennis B. O’Brien Elementary School in Rockaway Township grew longer this afternoon as election officials dealt with new voting machines getting jammed with paper.

Voters place a long piece of paper into the machines before selecting candidates on a computer touch screen, and their selections are printed out anonymously and stored in a printer. But the printers kept getting jammed and election officials had to fix them using an old-fashioned technique.

They banged on the printers until they were unjammed, sometimes making it sound like the voting area was a construction zone.

An election official said that the paper ballots were so long that they folded over in the printer instead of lying flat, causing the paper to jam.

-Abbott Koloff

4:45 p.m. Morning voting in Chester delayed by long lines. Will this evening be the same?

Chester Township Council President Michael Inganamort, on the ballot for mayor this year, said wait times on morning lines for District 2 and 3 voting at Town Hall were as long as 90 minutes, which he attributed to the township only receiving five machines – one for each district – instead of the usual two per district.

The lines eased during midday voting, but he was “concerned” about a surge of voters “after the whistle blows at 5 p.m..”

He said the Morris County Clerk referred him to the Board of Elections, which did not return his call or the Daily Record’s phone inquiries.

-William Westhoven

Read next:Morris County voters face long delays due to machine shortages, printer problems

4:37 p.m. Almost 25% of voters have already cast their ballot in West Milford - key to countywide races

About 4,500 ballots in West Milford had been cast as of 2 p.m. out of 20,000 registered voters, said Matthew Conlon, a Republican candidate for the West Milford council and secretary of the Passaic County GOP.

“That does not include mail ballots and early voting, Conlon said. He plans another sweep though the township around 6 p.m. two hours before the polls close.

Conlon was also trying to ascertain the turnout in neighboring Ringwood. Prospects for the party’s county-wide candidates depend heavily on up-county turnout, which leans heavily Republican.

-Matt Fagan

3:52 p.m. Mix of issues bring residents out to vote in Wayne

Arleen Butterworth of Kiwanis Drive used her vote in Wayne on Tuesday to make a statement about school curriculum.

“I want CRT [critical race theory] out of the classrooms,” she said, as she and her husband, Warren Butterworth, walked out of the Toms Lake clubhouse on Concord Place. About sex education, she added: “When they’re old enough, that’s their decision. But when they’re that young, to introduce it the way they want to teach it?”

The Butterworths represent a GOP stronghold that is still 32.4% of registered voters in the township, despite losing slight ground since the election of November 2020.

Of the township’s 41,537 registered voters, 13,472 are Republicans and 12,234 are Democrats.

Katie Vonschalscha, 26, who moved to the township this year, said she was also concerned about school issues, particularly mental health, pandemic-related learning loss and opportunities for LGBTQ students.

Joseph Meringer, 33, who cast his ballot at Theunis Dey School on Webster Drive, said, “Honestly, I just want to make sure that the House stays blue."

Joan and Robert Feldner, with their arms locked, exited the school’s entrance minutes later. Crime, the economy and immigration reform brought the Grantwood Road couple to the polls.

“He and his party have destroyed this country,” Robert Feldner said about President Joe Biden. “It’s everything — it’s the collapse of the whole government in two years. It started on the first day when he closed the pipeline.”

After the first six hours of voting, a total of 701 ballots were cast at the five polling districts at the clubhouse and school. There are 41 polling districts in Wayne.

-Philip DeVencentis

3:08 p.m. Voting locations in Sussex County towns largely quiet

Polling locations were largely quiet in Hardyston shortly after 1 p.m., with voters showing up every few minutes at the township municipal building and Prince of Peace Lutheran Church to cast their ballots. The township is one of five in Sussex County with a contested school board race, with six candidates vying for three open seats.

More:Why 2022 is seeing record numbers of school board candidates, including 17 in one district

Even in Sparta, where the community is choosing among 17 candidates for six seats on the school Board of Education, the process was smooth at the Sparta VFW early Tuesday afternoon. Voters were guided through the various steps with little to no wait time, and many were in and out of the building in five minutes or less.

-Kyle Morel

2:39 p.m. Will Bloomingdale voters maintain or upend council status quo?

Bloomingdale voters hit polling places Tuesday with the potential to preserve the makeup of the municipal governing body or upend it.

The mayor and half the town council were up for reelection, giving voters the chance to reverse the governing body's five to two Democratic majority to GOP control. John Graziano, one of three council members who were not on the ballot, said the issues for the community mirrored those of past elections.

"It's about how you control taxes ... and it's about development," he said.

Graziano, a Democrat elected in 2021, said he sees the town headed in the right direction in terms of controlling taxes and pursuing downtown revitalization but was unsure what Election Day 2022 would bring. With the mayor's seat up for grabs, local history shows turnout could be strong, he said.

"At the local level, I think it's a huge election for us," Graziano said. "I hope that does drive people to the polls, because that's a good thing. The more turnout the better."

At the West Milford public library, voters cast up to nine votes for five offices on a relatively short ballot for a midterm election.

Issues such as property taxes and government spending are pervasive in upper Passaic County, and the status quo was alive Tuesday. William Cytowicz, who voted at the library Tuesday morning, said he was pleased with his municipal government but had major concerns about the school system's declining state aid, rising taxes and potential school closure.

Cytowicz said those issues were on his mind even before he decided to run for a seat on the board this summer. A board member from 2017 through 2019, when he briefly ran as a Republican candidate for Passaic County commissioner, Cytowicz is almost certain to win back his school board seat Tuesday. He is one of just two candidates listed for three open seats on the school board in 2023.

"I'm looking forward to managing the financial troubles so we can maintain programs and do what's right by the students," Cytowicz said.

-David Zimmer

2:32 p.m. Chinese immigrant voters in Fort Lee say they are motivated by issues of crime, affirmative action

Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in New Jersey, accounting for 10% of the state’s 9 million people according to 2020 Census data. And the voting bloc is motivated this election: Two-thirds of Asian Americans registered across the U.S. plan to vote, according to a 2022 survey from the nonprofit Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote.

Xiumin Hu of Fort Lee is registered as an unaffiliated voter, but chose to vote for Republican candidates this election. Hu, who immigrated from China 17 years ago, supports LGBTQ and abortion rights, but is against affirmative action and deals with crime as a nurse in New York City, she said Tuesday afternoon at Acquarius Seafood Restaurant in Fort Lee.

Yujie Dong of Fort Lee is also an unaffiliated voter and split her ticket. She said crime is the number one issue she cares about as an Asian woman and that many of her friends who work in New York City are harassed.

“Something has to be done,” Dong said in Mandarin. Dong is an immigrant from China who moved to Queens 13 years ago, and she supports LGBTQ and abortion rights, but they are not her top priorities. She is against affirmative action and believes in a colorblind society.

Dong said the candidates do a bad job of outreach. She doesn’t feel like she knows the local candidates and the county executive and commissioner positions are interchangeable.

“They take it for granted it’s a Democratic county,” she said.

Locally, traffic in Fort Lee is a major issue, Dong said.

-Mary Chao

2:09 p.m. Voter turnout steady throughout Passaic County

Voter turnout is steady across Passaic County towns, poll workers say.

Anthony Miragliotta has been at School 2 in Clifton since polls opened at 6 a.m. passing out campaign literature for city council candidate Tony Latona.

"It's been steady all day," Miragliotta said, who is among about a half dozen others handing out election information for the 17 city council candidates on Tuesday's ballot. All seven council seats are up for re-election in the nonpartisan race.

Two city council candidates, Fahim Abedrabbo and Chris D'Amato, also stopped by School 2 as they visited polling places across the city to monitor turnout, which has been "up and down," Abedrabbo said. "I am told 500 [votes] at the high school and 300 [votes] at school nine."

In West Milford, poll workers at District 6 said turnout has been high, with 400 votes cast by noon.

West Milford Township Council candidate Matt Conlon said this should bode well with Republicans. Republicans are re-energized after the party won a county commissioner seat in Clifton last year, and two other candidates were close, Conlon said. Membership in the Clifton Republican Club grew, party officials said.

"We are optimistic that we have candidates that can make a difference," Conlon said.

Passaic City Mayor Hector Lora said on Monday evening he is expecting a very competitive race run by Republicans.

-Matt Fagan

1:36 p.m. Andover Borough voters: A ‘disconnect’ in the nation

Voters who took to the polls in Andover Borough, where the congressional district shifted from the 5th to the 7th, expressed concerns with the disquiet that continues as the nation endures its first national election since the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Outside the small borough's only polling location, Bryan Reif, who is an independent voter, cast his ballot this midterm to reflect his concerns about the way the nation is heading.

Usually leaning more centrist or moderate, Reif, who previously lived in Ringwood and Boonton, said he voted all Democrat.

Reif said he had many concerns, including the stacking of the U.S. Supreme Court and the highest court's landmark decision to overturn a court ruling that guaranteed the right to an abortion for nearly 50 years.

He also has concerns about capitalism and the lack of controls over corporations.

"In general, there seems to be a disconnect between representatives and the population," he said.

Judy Smith, who previously served on the borough council, had just cast her own ballot around 12:30 p.m. and expressed concern for the nation, but not for her hometown.

There is no strife across party lines in the 600-person borough, she said, so seeing an unusual amount of Democrats vying for a seat on the six-member council doesn't concern her.

"If you are a Republican like I am, you don't feel uncomfortable picking the one Democrat we think is really good," Smith said.

There are obvious party-line splits in New Jersey, and nationwide, it's a "sad state of affairs."

"Sorry to see it, however, I think there are issues we will never resolve peacefully," she said, referring to abortion rights and gun issues.

"I think the way we handle our differences is what has changed, not the differences," she said.

Five of six members of the borough council are Republican. Randolph Mallon, a Democrat, just concluded a one-year term and is running for one of two seats. Also vying for a seat is Michael Giffoniello, also a Democrat, and Republican Jason Lane. The terms will be for three years.

-Lori Comstock

1:33 p.m. Mercer County voters use paper ballots as county deals with machine scanner issue

In Mercer County, poll workers discovered an issue with the voting machine scanners soon after polls opened, said Nathaniel Walker, superintendent of elections.

"Every ballot that has been cast will be counted, no voter will be disenfranchised, and the integrity of the election is intact and secure," Walker said.

Voters are to fill out paper ballots as they normally would, Walker said. "A contingency plan is in place for all ballots cast at all locations to be scanned at the secure Board of Elections office," Walker said. "Again, ballots will be scanned just as they would at the polling location."

The county said in a Facebook post that the board of elections "is working with Dominion, the machine maker, to resolve the issue."

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin tweeted, "Attention all Mercer County voters -- paper ballots are available in your precinct, and all polling locations are open. Rest assured: paper ballots are safe and secure, and your vote will be counted."

The New Jersey GOP assured voters that their votes would be counted regardless of the glitch.

“On behalf of our NJGOP legal counsel and election integrity team, I want to make crystal clear to the voters of Mercer County that in spite of reported problems with scanners on voting machines in Mercer County, this issue does not affect their voting experience at all,” a party statement said. “Voters will still enter their polling place, cast their vote, and insert the paper ballot into the machine as they normally would.”

The issues were likely to delay vote counts in the 3rd and 12th Congressional District races, as well as local races.

— Liam Quinn

12:31 p.m. 'Like Trump 2020 election busy' in Boonton

Voting was brisk Tuesday morning in Morris County, according to poll workers in Parsippany, Boonton and Dover.

One poll worker at the Boonton Senior Center, hosting voting for Wards 3 and 4, said it was “like Trump 2020 election busy.”

A Boonton voter, asked what issue influenced her vote most, said “all of them, A to Z.”

In Parsippany, a voter at Intervale School said, “This is the first time in 40 years I had to wait for a parking space.”

In Dover at the Connolly Parish Center on North Sussex Street voters were greeted by campaigners who set up tables in the parking lot and were handing out snacks and campaign literature. Ward 3 candidates Karol Ruiz, a Democrat, and Patricia Carroll, a Republican, were both there, Carroll campaigning from a wheelchair after breaking her femur. Another table touted Board of Education candidates Sandra Downs, outgoing Alderman Carlos Valencia and Connie Duran.

A dotted chalk line was drawn on the parking lot asphalt to note the legally required 100-foot distance between the polling entrance and the campaign stations.

-William Westhoven

Fact check roundup: False claims about election fraud, candidates swirl ahead of 2022 midterms

12:02 p.m. Two Korean American candidates face off for Palisades Park mayor

Enthusiasm is high in Palisades Park where for the first time in history there are two Korean American candidates on the ballot competing for mayor.

Chong Paul Kim is the Democratic nominee after defeating incumbent mayor Chris Chung in a Democratic primary. Stephanie Jang is the Republican nominee. Both currently serve on the borough council.

Jang said she is running because she is tired of corruption in the town and one-party rule. She promised to root out the graft and corruption if elected.

More:How Palisades Park is helping Asian immigrants navigate voting | Mary Chao

Kim said he is concerned about infrastructure and business in Palisades Park and if elected would work to improve the borough that is 60% Asian.

Juan Rameric 55, is supporting Jang. "I want an end to the corruption,” he said.

Yong Jin Ahn, 81, is supporting Kim. “He’s a good man. He treats everyone kindly," he said.

-Mary Chao

10:01 a.m. Congressional candidates go to the polls, make final case to voters

Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, in a competitive race for reelection in the 5th Congressional District against Republican Frank Pallotta, tweeted that he and his family went to the polls this morning and posted pictures at The Dairy Barn at Faith Community Church in Wyckoff.

Earlier this morning, Gottheimer posted photos at Glen Rock Boro Hall Train Station, tweeting he "answered their questions and discussed how I'm working to cut taxes, support our first responders, and improve our infrastructure."

Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill tweeted, "Proud to vote, proud to serve," Tuesday morning, posing with her husband and four children outside Hillside Elementary School in Montclair. She is running against former prosecutor Paul DeGroot .

Republican Tom Kean Jr., a former state senator, tweeted Tuesday morning that he was talking to commuters in Millington. He told the New Jersey Globe he voted about ten days ago in Rahway.

Kean is challenging Rep. Tom Malinowski in the 7th Congressional District, a race pollsters predict could flip from red to blue after redistricting changed the composition of the district, adding more registered Republicans to the region.

Malinowski cast his vote at the East Amwell Municipal Building Tuesday morning, according to NJ Spotlight News.

Later this evening, see the results of these races, and the rest of the congressional races across the state.

8:23 a.m. Inflation, abortion on the minds of Morris Plains voters in tight District 11 race

Turnout was brisk between 6 and 7 a.m. at the Morris Plains Community Center in Congressional District 11 as people voted before heading to work. The machines are new this year and there was one malfunction causing a slight delay.

Tom Sperano, 43, said he’s an independent and voted for the Democratic incumbent Mikie Sherrill, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot first elected in the blue wave of 2018.

"She's generally doing a good job," Sperano said.

Anthony Iuliano, 53, voted straight Republican down the ballot, with inflation being his top issue. Former prosecutor Paul DeGroot is challenging Sherrill for the congressional seat representing swaths of Essex, Morris, Passaic and Sussex counties.

“I’m extremely unhappy with the president,” Iuliano said. He said he is also upset with "schools' indoctrination of children."

High school teacher Jennifer Robbin, 50, said abortion is the most important issue to her.

“Nobody gets to tell me what to do with my body,” Robbin said.

-Mary Chao

8:00 a.m. More than 725,000 New Jerseyans voted before Election Day

County election officials tallied 724,558 votes across New Jersey as of Monday night, with 213,882 cast at early-voting polling places and 511,676 via mail-in ballots.

This year's general election is the second time that polling places offered nine days of in-person voting before Election Day, after Gov. Phil Murphy signed an early-voting bill in March 2021.

Of the in-person and mail-in votes cast through Monday night, registered Democrats cast 427,275 votes, Republicans 165,164 and unaffiliated voters filled out 130,757 ballots.

Here are New Jersey's candidates for Congress in your area

• In the 5th District, Democratic incumbent Josh Gottheimer is facing Republican challenger Frank Pallotta.

• In the 7th District, Democratic incumbent Tom Malinowski is facing Republican challenger Thomas Kean Jr.

• In the 8th District, Republican Marcos Arroyo and Democrat Robert Menendez Jr. are vying for an open seat.

• In the 9th District, Democratic incumbent Bill Pascrell is facing Republican challenger Billy Prempeh.

• In the 10th District, Democratic incumbent Donald Payne Jr. is facing Republican challenger David Pinckney.

• In the 11th District, Democratic incumbent Mikie Sherrill is facing Republican challenger Paul DeGroot.

NJ midterms: Democrats top Republicans in fundraising, but super PACs are wild card

How do I vote in New Jersey? When do polls close?

In New Jersey, the polls are open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Election Day. Voters can find their polling place and answers to other questions about voting at VOTE.NJ.GOV. NJ residents can also call 1-877-NJ-VOTER with questions.

If you requested a vote-by-mail ballot, it must be either postmarked by 8 p.m. on Election Day or delivered in person to your county's Board of Elections office by the time the polls close.

NJ congressional election results by district

Find the latest district-by-district results for all the New Jersey races for House of Representatives seats here.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ election results 2022: Live updates on Election Day