How Somerset County Voted For President, Congress, Marijuana

SOMERSET COUNTY, NJ — Throughout the nation, Election Day may become Election Week or Election Month because of the coronavirus pandemic. The tally isn't over in Somerset County either, but let's look at how Somerset County voted on key issues so far.

The Somerset County Board of Elections has counted 162,658 of the mail-in votes. This is out of the roughly 256,000 ballots sent out countywide.

Nathan Rudy, spokesman for Somerset County, said votes will continue to be counted daily and updated periodically on the county's election board website. However, official results are not expected until Nov. 20 at the earliest.

Here is what we have so far:

President

Vice President Joe Biden won handily in New Jersey and it was the same case in Somerset County.

Biden received 97,301 votes while President Donald Trump received 61,074 votes from mail-in ballots.

That's a larger gap than the 2016 presidential election, when President Trump earned 65,505 votes and Hillary Clinton received 85,689.

Senate

Somerset County leaned blue in the senate race as well. Sen. Cory Booker received 92,423 votes in the county over Republican challenger Rik Mehta with 64,166.

Congress

The Associated Press declared Democratic incumbent Congressman Tom Malinowski over Republican challenger Tom Kean Jr. Read More: Malinowski Wins In NJ 7th Congressional Election, AP Says

Although Kean Jr. is not conceding just yet as he is waiting for all votes to be counted. Read More: Kean Won't Concede As Malinowski Speaks: 7th Congressional Race

Somerset County favored Malinowski with 64,931 votes over Kean Jr. with 55,658 votes.

In the District 12 race — which covers some Somerset County towns including Bound Brook, Franklin Township, Manville and South Bound Brook — The Associated Press declared Democratic incumbent Bonnie Watson Coleman the winner over Republican Mark Razzoli.

Somerset County once again went blue giving Coleman 25,086 votes over Razzoli with 11,068.

Legal Marijuana

Bridgewater banned marijuana sales in 2018, anticipating that legalization of recreational weed in New Jersey was on the horizon. But Somerset County so far voted in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana in the Garden State.

In the unofficial results, 99,483 in Somerset County voted in favor, while 56,626 opposed.

For full coverage of the 2020 election in New Jersey, go here: New Jersey Elections 2020

— With additional reporting by Josh Bakan

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