Albio Sires Wins NJ's 8th District Congress Race: AP

NORTH JERSEY — In the race for 8th District Congress in New Jersey — which includes most Hudson County towns and a few in Essex and Bergen — incumbent Democrat Rep. Albio Sires has defeated Republican Jason Todd Mushnick, an attorney, and Libertarian Dan Delaney, for re-election, according to the Associated Press.

With 249 of 451 precincts (55.21 percent) reporting, according to the AP, Sires attained 77 percent of the vote, or 119,084 votes. Mushnick amassed 33,453 votes and Delaney drew 2,090, or 1.3 percent.

The 8th Congressional District includes Hoboken, Elizabeth, Fairview, Belleville, Bayonne, East Newark, Guttenberg, Harrison, North Bergen, Union City, Weehawken, and Harrison, and parts of Newark, Jersey City, and Kearny.

In this heavily Democratic swath of northern New Jersey, Sires will continue representing the district that he's represented for 14 years.

Sires was born in Cuba and raised in West New York, in Hudson County. His website is here.

Mushnick is a lawyer based in North Jersey, and graduated from Seton Hall Law School.

Sires did not spend a lot of money on the race, but has recently spoken about other issues, including national leadership.

“Our president is not only turning a blind eye to violent right-wing sentiment in our nation," Sires said in a press release Oct. 13, "but his failure to condemn horrific plots like this one is encouraging violence against elected officials.”

He noted, “When people plot to kidnap one of our governors, there should be no hesitation in condemning their actions. Yet, when 13 individuals were arrested yesterday in a foiled plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, topple the state government, and instigate a civil war, the president instead chose to attack Governor Whitmer’s response to the covid-19 pandemic."

Sires has more recently tweeted about the economy and Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

He defeated Hector Oseguera in the Democratic primary in July.

NJ Spotlight noted, of the 8th District, "This is one of two districts where a majority of voters (55 percent) are registered Democrats. In the heart of the densely populated northeast of the state, this district is New Jersey’s only majority Hispanic district, with close to 56 percent of the population Latino, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It is also the youngest district, with a median age of under 35 years old."

Here is a past Patch story on the elections:

• Eight Congressional District Primary Election Results

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