Assemblyman Paul Moriarty and team defeat GOP challengers in 4th District

Democratic candidates in the 4th District sailed to victory Tuesday propelled by a lopsided advantage in mail-in ballots their Republican opponents could not overcome despite friendlier district lines.

Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-Gloucester) will ascend to the Senate to fill the seat left vacant by the retirement of longtime Sen. Fred Madden (D-Gloucester), who did not seek reelection. Moriarty’s victory, coupled with Democrat Sen. Vin Gopal’s reelection win earlier Tuesday, makes it difficult for the GOP to take control of the state Senate.

Republicans had been hoping Madden’s retirement and the new district boundaries would help them flip control of this seat, but Moriarty’s challenger, Chris Del Borrello, lagged by nearly 5,000 votes at about 11 p.m. Del Borrello conceded in a speech to supporters at the Wedgwood Country Club.

Moriarty’s running mates, Gloucester Township Councilman Dan Hutchison and Monroe School Board member Cody Miller, will take the district’s Assembly seats after beating former Buena Councilman Matthew Walker and Amanda Esposito, a teacher.

The contest’s closing days were defined by controversy over the district’s two independent candidates and the opaque independent expenditure group supporting them.

Jersey Freedom, an independent expenditure group, ran television spots, digital ads, and mailers dinging Del Borrello and boosting Giuseppe Constanzo, an independent Senate candidate who mounted no noticeable campaign.

Republicans sued the group, charging it was a Democratic ploy to enable a conservative spoiler and noting it had failed to file complete campaign finance disclosures. A judge barred Jersey Freedom from additional spending last week, but existing ads remained on the air.

Few backed the independent, and he finished in a distant third place.

The campaign in the 4th District much resembled others run across the state. Moriarty and his running mates looked to affordability issues, pointing to expanded tax relief programs Democrats have enacted since seeing their majorities slimmed after the 2021 elections.

The Republican slate took to culture issues and wind energy, despite Ørsted’s withdrawal from two 1,100-megawatt wind farms off Atlantic City’s coast in the closing days of the race.

Democrats entered in the 4th on Election Day with a broad advantage, having built up broad leads — numbering in the thousands of votes — through mail-in ballots. Republican machine votes on Tuesday were insufficient to bridge the gap.

Moriarty, a former television reporter, will ascend to the Senate after spending nearly 18 years in the Assembly. Republicans have not won a race in the 4th District since 2001.