NJ election: Why are so many local races uncontested?
Half a million Jersey Shore voters will head to the polls this year and find at least one race on the ballot where their choice may already be made for them.
Nearly two-thirds of all municipal and school board elections in Monmouth and Ocean counties are uncontested, according to the clerk's offices in those two counties. Just over half of all uncontested races at the Jersey Shore are local and regional school board elections.
Last year, about 56% of all races were uncontested.
Jersey Shore elections are also contributing to a troubling trend across the state: Nearly 70% of school board races are uncontested, and 17 races don't have enough candidates to even fill out the ballot. And in seven of those races, there isn't a single candidate listed on the ballot.
In every election, voters can still choose to write in the name of a candidate who's not on the ballot instead of a listed candidate, even if there's only one option.
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"Even if we look at a national level, people's attitudes about politics are at an all-time low," said Ashley Koning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University. "Very few people feel hopeful about the situation, and it's logical then for voters to not want to engage in the process so intimately. This goes from all the way up to the very most local of seats."
Only 43% of all municipal government elections have an actual race with more candidates than open seats. And more than 62,000 voters in 21 municipalities will only have one name on the ballot when they vote for their mayors, about two-thirds of all mayoral elections in Monmouth and Ocean counties.
In towns with partisan elections, the vast majority of uncontested elections — 53 of 59 — are without Democratic candidates.
The Republican bent isn't surprising, as Monmouth and Ocean counties make up the crux of the state's Republican voter base. In Monmouth County, there are about 11,000 more registered Republicans than Democratic voters. In Ocean County, Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly 2-to-1.
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But that doesn't mean Democratic candidates are resigned to losing, Ocean County Democratic Chairman Wyatt Earp said. Instead, candidates are just fearful of the backlash that comes with running for public office.
"It's not for the faint of heart, but the people who are in it find it rewarding," Earp said. "Even people who have lost run multiple times. But there's just a fear of what's actually going to happen when you run.
"It's like jumping out of an airplane: It sounds very scary but, once you do it, you want to do it again and again."
The biggest culprit in the case of the missing candidates could be the calendar, Koning said. It's an off-year election in New Jersey, with the state Senate at the top of the ticket — and that usually impacts voter turnout and, in turn, interest in open seats by potential candidates.
In 2011, the last year the state Senate was at the top of the ticket, only 27% of registered New Jersey voters cast a ballot. But in 2020, turnout topped 72% as voters flocked to the polls during the presidential election.
"This is definitely going to be a low-interest, low-turnout election," Koning said.
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Mike Davis has spent the last decade covering New Jersey local news, marijuana legalization, transportation and a little bit of everything else. He's won a few awards that make his parents very proud. Contact him at mdavis@gannettnj.com or @byMikeDavis on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ election: Monmouth, Ocean local races mostly uncontested
