New Jersey election 2025: What you need to know before you vote
New Jersey’s general election is Tuesday, Nov. 4. Here’s what you should know beforehand, from election deadlines to who’s on the ballot.
2 months ago
Clockwise from top left: Carol Sabo, Carolyn Rush, Antwan L. McClellan and Erik K. Simonsen. (Campaign photos)
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In New Jersey’s 2025 election, voters in the state’s 1st Legislative District will choose between two incumbent Republicans and two Democratic challengers, in a race that reflects long-running debates over the economy, affordability and state support for South Jersey.
The 1st District encompasses all of Cape May and Cumberland counties, as well as part of Atlantic County, an area defined by tourism, agriculture and small-town communities with residents who say Trenton overlooks their needs. The November election comes at a time when local officials and business owners are grappling with rising costs, environmental concerns and questions about how to sustain the region’s year-round economy.
Both Republicans and Democrats say they’re focused on protecting what makes the area unique while addressing the pressures facing shore towns and inland communities.
Assemblyman Antwan L. McClellan was born and raised in Ocean City, New Jersey, and graduated from Ocean City High School in 1993. He attended Virginia State University and Old Dominion University.
McClellan began his political career on the Ocean City School Board in 2010 before being elected to City Council in 2012 to represent the 2nd Ward. He was elected to the Assembly in 2019.
He currently serves as chief of staff and personnel director for the Cape May County Sheriff’s Office. He previously worked as a paralegal in an Ocean City law firm and in the casino industry as a supervisor at the Sands Casino. In the Legislature, McClellan serves on the Appropriations, Public Safety and Preparedness, and Tourism, Gaming and the Arts committees.
McClellan said he will fight to ensure that Cape May and Cumberland counties receive a fair share of state resources.
“The most important thing to me is to make sure that we promote the real South Jersey, like I like to call it,” he said. “They continue to take our tourism tax dollars for granted, and they don’t give us back our return on our investment. Our fight is just to make sure those dollars come back … for roads, drainage and infrastructure that would be very helpful to our economy.”
He said he will continue to oppose state Department of Environmental Protection rules that hurt coastal communities.
“Nobody wants to lift their homes another 5 feet. People had to go through that with [Superstorm] Sandy and we should not go through that now,” he said.
McClellan also pointed to the $500 million New Jersey manufacturing tax incentive program he helped pass, which he said will bring industry and career opportunities to South Jersey.
“That can change the lives of people that don’t want to go to college,” he said. “They can start at $60,000 to $75,000 a year plus benefits out of high school. That’s a career-changing opportunity.”
He has also pushed back on legislation he said would harm the tourism economy, including proposals to eliminate tips for servers or restrict beach tag fees.
“We were able to rally along with our chambers of commerce and businesses … to stop bills that would have hurt our industry,” McClellan said.
“The most important thing about me is that I’m going to listen,” McClellan said. “The compassion that myself, Assemblyman Simonsen and the senator have for our constituents is the most important thing about being a legislator. I was doing it before I was elected, I’m doing it now, and I’ll continue to take the ideas of our communities up to Trenton.”
Carolyn Rush grew up in Medford and graduated from Shawnee High School. She earned her degree from Montclair State University and has owned a home in Sea Isle City for 25 years, living there full-time for the past decade.
Rush is a retired engineer. Early in her career, she worked in the intelligent transportation industry on the initial implementation of E-ZPass in New Jersey and other states. She later spent nearly 20 years with Lockheed Martin, where she worked on the Aegis defense system.
Rush said she entered politics out of frustration with partisanship and gridlock. She has made two unsuccessful bids for Congress in the 2nd District Democratic primaries, in 2022 and 2024. She said those campaigns gave her insight into the challenges of fundraising and campaigning, and she chose to run for the Assembly to bring her experience to Trenton.
Rush said her top priority is protecting the rights of New Jersey residents against what she views as federal government overreach. That includes reproductive rights, LGBTQ protections, environmental safeguards and gun safety laws.
Rush said she supports expanding access to care and fully funding New Jersey’s Reproductive Freedom Act. She said that New Jersey ranks among the lowest states for gun violence and said she will work to maintain strong background check and safe-storage laws.
Rush said she would push for health care reform in New Jersey. She listed affordable housing as another major priority, saying she wants stronger enforcement of the state’s Mount Laurel doctrine, which requires municipalities to provide low-cost housing. She said she would also support consolidation of municipalities and school districts to reduce overhead and slow the rise of property taxes.
She highlighted beach erosion, flood preparedness and climate resiliency as urgent issues for shore towns. She said she supports resiliency planning but wants a more flexible approach to state regulations, reassessed every 10 years rather than projecting 75 years ahead. She also called for more investment in public transportation, especially in Cumberland County, to connect residents with jobs and attract businesses.
Rush said she wants to be a pragmatic voice in Trenton who can bring people together and find solutions.
“I am a problem solver. I’m pragmatic. I’m not someone who will just go along to get along,” she said. “If you’re looking for someone who will fight for the people of the district, that’s me. At the same time, I know how to guide structured conversations, find common ground and reach compromise. That’s where my strengths lie.”
Carol Sabo is the mayor of West Cape May, where she has served in local government since 2013, and as mayor since 2017.
She began her career in social work, spending more than 15 years with the state Division of Youth and Family Services in child protective services before working with children with developmental disabilities. She later worked in public education until her retirement in 2019.
Sabo holds degrees from Gettysburg College and Rutgers University. As mayor, she has emphasized affordability, labor rights, environmental protection and sustainable development. She partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build affordable homes in the borough and has worked to strengthen infrastructure and community services for year-round residents.
Sabo said her top priorities would be health care, education and the environment.
She supports affordable access to health care and reproductive care as well as preserving reproductive freedoms, adding that medical decisions should remain between patients and doctors. On education, she said she would work to ensure full state funding and fair distribution across districts.
She has also called for a “balanced approach” to energy production that includes wind, solar, natural gas and clean nuclear power, while keeping costs affordable. She said climate change is a reality that New Jersey must address through stronger building codes and shoreline development policies.
Sabo said affordability and housing stability remain pressing issues for Cape May County, where longtime residents are being priced out by rising property values and the growth of short-term rentals.
“We need a balance of affordable housing alongside other types of housing,” she said.
She also pointed to the need for more resources in shore towns, including grocery stores, gas stations and repair shops to sustain year-round residents beyond the tourism season.
Sabo said she wants to bring her experience as a social worker and mayor to Trenton.
“I’m a problem solver and a collaborator,” she said. “I don’t have an agenda other than doing what’s best for residents and taxpayers. I listen, I work across the aisle and I try to find reasonable solutions that people can live with.”
Assemblyman Erik K. Simonsen was born and raised in Cape May and Lower Township. After earning an undergraduate degree from Trenton State College and a master’s degree in administration from the University of Scranton, he returned to Lower Township, where he worked more than three decades in education.
“I was a teacher at Cape May County Special Services for 18 years and then a vice principal, supervisor and eventually athletic director at Lower Cape May Regional the last seven years,” he said.
His public service began at the local level.
“I got involved in politics in Lower Township, became a councilman,” he said. “Then they asked me to run for mayor. I was mayor until 2020, when I was elected into the Assembly.”
He currently serves on the Assembly committees for education, state and local government, and community development and women’s affairs.
“The number one is to look out for our constituents; we call it the real South Jersey down here,” Simonsen said. “It’s often overlooked in Trenton. Our environment down here is different. We have a lot of farmland, tourism and hospitality with our boardwalks and beaches.”
On energy policy, he said New Jersey should avoid relying on a single source. He said the state should pull from different energy sources such as nuclear and solar, natural gas and hydrogen.
“We kind of went all in on this wind energy, which didn’t work out, and now here we are at a crisis,” he said.
He pointed to transportation being a key need to connect the counties to jobs. He said he worked to help bring a new direct New Jersey Transit bus route that connects Vineland to Atlantic City, improving transportation for casino workers and residents traveling to the shore.
Simonsen said tourism and small business are economic drivers for South Jersey. He opposed legislation that would have eliminated tipping for servers.
“That was going to affect the owners as well as the servers, because the servers weren’t going to make as much money. The owners were going to have to incur the $17 an hour, which means their prices would have gone up,” he said.
Simonsen criticized state extended flood zone regulations he said would harm shore towns and raise insurance.
“It’s just not viable,” Simonsen said. “We’re all for the environment; the issue is [Gov. Phil Murphy] needs to do it incrementally. To do it all at once, is just going to destroy the economy down here.”
Education is another central issue on his campaign platform.
“I’m the longest sitting member on the education committee on the Assembly side,” he said. “We need to find a better way to fund our schools and fund our education system.”
“I care about the people that I represent,” Simonsen said. “I never got into politics for anything other than to help people. I was born and raised down here and I know this way of life inside and out. I know what the important issues are in Cumberland, Atlantic and Cape May counties.”
In person voting in New Jersey takes place Tuesday, Nov. 4. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot by mail is Tuesday, Oct. 28 and the ballot return must be postmarked by Nov. 4. Early voting takes place Saturday, Oct. 25 through Sunday, Nov. 2.
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