New Jersey has 29 contested state legislative primaries in 2025, more than in any year since 2011 and an increase of 38% from the preceding cycle.
Twenty-two of the 29 contested primaries are for Democrats, 83% more than the 12 Democratic primaries in 2023. Seven primaries are for Republicans, 22% down from nine in 2023.
More New Jersey state legislative incumbents face primary challengers in 2025 than in any cycle since Ballotpedia began tracking the state’s competitiveness figures in 2011.
Thirty-three incumbents face primaries this year, representing 43% of the 76 incumbents running for re-election. This is a new high, with 2019 being the second highest at 33% of incumbents in contested primaries. Of the 33 incumbents facing primary challengers this year, 29 are Democrats and four are Republicans.
For Democrats, that is an all-time high and a 32% increase from the previous record of 22 contested Democratic incumbents in 2019. For Republicans, that is the fewest contested incumbents since 2019.
There are 33 incumbents in contested primaries and only 29 contested primaries because each district gets two Assembly seats, meaning many primaries feature more than one incumbent. On election day, New Jersey voters can cast up to two votes for Assembly candidates, and the top two vote-getters in each district win a seat.
A total of 202 major party candidates filed to run—119 Democrats and 83 Republicans. All 80 General Assembly seats are up for election. Four of those seats are open, meaning no incumbents filed. That ties 2019 for the fewest open seats since 2011. The average number of open seats each cycle since 2011 was 12.
With four open seats out of 120 total state legislative seats, at least 3% of the state legislature will be made up of newcomers next year.
New Jersey has been a Democratic trifecta since the party gained control of the governor’s office in 2018. Democrats currently have a 25-15 majority in the Senate and a 52-28 majority in the General Assembly.
New Jersey’s state legislative primaries are scheduled for June 10.
Additional reading: