Morris voters pick Pennacchio in 26th district Senate race; Dodd leads for Dover mayor

State Senator Joseph Pennacchio beat back a primary challenge from Morris County Commissioner Tom Mastrangelo in Tuesday's Republican primary, in a bitter race between two conservative firebrands.

Fellow county Commissioner Tayfun Selen also survived a Republican challenge in another heated contest. In Dover, ex-mayor James Dodd was leading by a wide margin over current Mayor Carolyn Blackman, who ousted him in the Democratic primary four years ago.

"Obviously I want to thank the voters," Pennacchio, whose 26th district stretches across eastern Morris and northern Passaic counties, said in an interview late Tuesday night. "It's a smart electorate. Some people see through the nonsense, see through the lies. They decided to take a look at my record and liked what they saw."

The primary results, posted by the Morris County Board of Elections, have yet to be certified. County clerks have until June 19 to certify the vote totals, including late-arriving mail-in ballots.

But the tentative results indicated a clean sweep of candidates endorsed by the Morris County Republican Committee, in a year where several of the party's incumbents faced challenges. Chester Township Mayor Mike Inganamort also win in a contested primary for the 24th district state Assembly nomination.

"I am euphoric over MCRC candidates running the table," committee chair Laura Ali said. "I am super excited to add a Morris County Assembly seat in Trenton with Mike Inganamort."

With a handful of precincts still to be counted as of Wednesday morning, voter turnout appeared to be very light, even for a non-presidential voting year. Posted results as of Wednesday morning show an 11.7% voter turnout, with 45,108 ballots cast out of 384,675 registered voters in Morris County.

The victors still must run in November's general election. But in many cases −such as the heavily Republican 26th legislative district or Democratic-leaning Dover − winning the primary makes the candidates clear favorites to prevail in the fall.

26th District Senate

Incumbents ruled in the district dominated by eastern Morris County towns after campaigns for one Senate seat and two more in the Assembly.

Pennacchio fended off the fierce challenge from Tom Mastrangelo, with each side going to extremes in campaign rhetoric. Mastrangelo was hoping to pull off another upset after he won re-election to the commissioner's board last year despite losing the endorsements of both the Morris County GOP Committee and his fellow commissioners.

But his streak appeared to come to an end on Tuesday, as preliminary returns showed Pennacchio winning easily with about 60% of the vote, with 99% of ballots counted.

The district includes Boonton, Denville, East Hanover, Florham Park, Hanover, Lincoln Park, Montville, Morris Plains, Mountain Lakes, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Pequannock and Riverdale in Morris County; and Bloomingdale, Pompton Lakes, Ringwood and Wanaque in Passaic.

26th District Assembly

Former District 26 Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce also hoped to win without the backing of the county GOP committee and regain a seat she lost in the 2021 primary. But she ran third in a four-candidate race for the district's two Assembly seats, just ahead of her runningmate, former Parsippany councilman Robert Peluso.

Incumbents Jay Webber and Brian Bergen finished first and second, respectively, by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

"Hard work pays off," Bergen said. "Our campaign was centered around the idea that voters need to know their representatives, and we went to the doors personally to make that happen. I'm proud of the race we ran and am even more proud to have the privilege to represent the people of the 26th District."

As with Pennacchio in the Senate, Webber and Bergen are presumptive favorites in a district that has not elected a Democrat in 40 years. On the Democratic side, Joan Waks will be the nominee for Senate in the district and Joan Von Achen and Walter Mierlarczyk will run for state Assembly.

"I never take the voters for granted," said Pennacchio, who has served in the Senate since 2008. "I'm looking forward to that battle. I don't think my Democrat opponent will be anything like my Republican one. She may actually base it on the record instead of distortions and lies."

Morris County Commissioner

Selen, who chairs the all-Republican commissioners' board, defeated Paul DeGroot in a rematch of the 2022 GOP primary for Congress. DeGroot defeated Selen in last year's race but then went on to lose the 11th congressional district race by a wide margin to U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-Montclair.

This time, with 91% of precincts counted as of Wednesday morning, Selen leads with 55.5% of the vote.

"I'm humbled by the support our campaign received on Tuesday," Selen said on Wednesday. "Voters recognized the substance of our record. I thank Sheriff Gannon, legislators and dozens of mayors and local officials who stood behind me over the last six months. I'm looking forward to our race this November."

Selen will face Jonathan Sackett on the Democratic side.

"Congratulations to Commissioner Tayfun Selen," DeGroot wrote in a social media post. "I look forward to voting for him in November. I will continue to be an advocate for good governance, fiscal responsibility and Republican values.

Dover mayor

In Dover, Dodd, the former three-term mayor, appeared to win the nomination over Blackman, returning the favor after she defeated him in the 2019 primary. Dodd won a clear majority with 52% of the vote. Blackman was second with 25.5%. Former alderman Ed Correa, who was endorsed by the Dover Democratic Committee, finished third.

Parsippany, Rockaway Township races

Elsewhere in Morris County, preliminary voting showed strong victories for three incumbent mayors: Republicans Joseph Pannullo in East Hanover, Mark Taylor in Florham Park and Matthew Dorsi in Long Hill, where Dorsi topped voting for his committee seat.

The Rockaway Township GOP primary pit rivals Tucker Kelley and incumbent Joe Jackson.

In Parsippany, three seats are open and with two incumbents retiring from the all-GOP council, change is a given. Three Democrats are also in the race.

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com Twitter: @wwesthoven

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ primary results: 26th district legislative race, Dover mayor