New Jersey voters on Tuesday capped a primary season that started with Republican Gov. Chris Christie running for president and ended with wins for presumptive Republican pick Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
- ELECTION RESULTS: NJ Primaries: Full Results
The outcome lacked much suspense because Trump had already wrapped up the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination, while an Associated Press count Monday found Clinton had commitments from the number of delegates needed to win her party's nomination over Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
But the day was not without drama. Christie declined to criticize Trump for saying an American-born judge of Mexican descent could not fairly judge him in a case related to the Trump University real estate education program because he has proposed building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Christie said Trump is not a racist, but other prominent Republicans denounced Trump's comments.
With the win, Trump picked up 51 delegates, cementing his hold on the GOP nomination. Clinton wins the majority of the state's 126 pledged delegates.
Voters also picked party representatives for the U.S. House in the Nov. 8 election:
- Seven-term incumbent Republican Rep. Scott Garrett has fended off two challengers, Michael Cino and Peter Valloros, to win the Republican primary in the 5th District
- Eleven-term Republican incumbent Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen defeated Rick Van Glahn, of Denville, in New Jersey's 11th District.
- Six-term incumbent Democratic Rep. Albio Sires defeated primary challenger Eloy Delgado, a school teacher from Elizabeth, in the 8th House District
- Freshman Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman handily defeated primary challenger Alexander Kucsma, a self-described Democratic tea party candidate, in New Jersey's 12th District
- Incumbent Democratic Rep. Donald Norcross defeated political newcomer Alex Law, a 25-year-old supporter of presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders.
- Four-term incumbent Rep. Leonard Lance has defeated two Republican challengers in the 7th District House primary.
- See full results for New Jersey primaries here.
There are no Senate contests or state-level races this year in New Jersey.
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The presidential contest now swings into the general election, with Trump hopeful he might be able to turn New Jersey from Democratic to Republican and Clinton aiming to get Sanders supporters in her camp. New Jersey voters have chosen the Democratic candidate in each presidential election since 1992.
Christie voted with his son Andrew Christie on Tuesday morning in Mendham Township. Both are delegates for the presumptive nominee.
Trump picked Christie to lead his White House transition team, but Christie's backing in New Jersey might not go too far with polls showing he's at record-low approval. In response to a question about whether he could win New Jersey in the general election recently, Trump replied, "I am New Jersey."
