Stephen Sweeney's 18-point lead proved a resounding victory for the South Jersey Democrat. | AP Photo | AP Photo Sweeney beats back challenge from NJEA; Beck defeated in District 11

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney easily won re-election in the 3rd Legislative District on Tuesday, putting to rest months of speculation as to whether the state's largest teachers union could take down New Jersey's highest-ranking Democratic official.

Tuesday’s election also saw at least two incumbents — Republican Sen. Jennifer Beck in District 11 and Democratic Sen. Colin Bell in District 2 — lose their seats in what were considered the most competitive races in the state.


Overall, Democrats picked up at least one Senate seat and likely two seats in the Assembly to expand their control of both chambers. They headed into Tuesday with a 24-16 majority in the Senate and a 52-28 advantage in the Assembly. All 120 legislative seats were up for election this year.

The 3rd District race was closely followed by political observers throughout the state, not just because of the high drama that followed the record spending, but because a Sweeney loss would have had a ripple effect throughout the Legislature.

Sweeney ended up sailing to victory with 59 percent of the vote, while his Republican rival, Fran Grenier, received 41 percent.

Sweeney's 18-point lead proved a resounding victory for the South Jersey Democrat.

Pummeled by attacks by the New Jersey Education Association — which poured millions of dollars into the 3rd District in hopes of ousting the incumbent senator — Sweeney and his allies pushed back with their own multi-million dollar campaign, turning what should have been a slam-dunk re-election campaign into the costliest state legislative race in New Jersey history.

The NJEA decided to launch an offensive against Sweeney, who union members have never forgiven for striking a deal with Gov. Chris Christie in 2011 to reform pension and health benefits for state employees and who last year reneged on a pledge to move ahead with plans to put a ballot question before voters to ramp up state pension payments.

Forced to spend millions of dollars to defend himself, Sweeney, in an interview with NJTV late Tuesday called the NJEA bullies.

“They were bullies. And I’m an ironworker. No one’s going to bully me,” he said.

But Sweeney also stressed he had “no issue” with classroom teachers, just the leadership that represents them.

“Their leadership made, I think, some very bad decisions,” he said. “And they have to reconcile that themselves.”

It remains to be seen whether Sweeney and the NJEA will be able to patch up their relationship. Should Sweeney remain Senate president, he could hold up legislation the NJEA wants to advance. Similarly, the union, with its 200,000-plus members and deep pockets, could continue to make things difficult for Sweeney or his Democratic allies.

It also could put Gov.-elect Phil Murphy in a tight spot. Murphy was endorsed by the NJEA but must work with Sweeney to advance his priorities.

The NJEA said in a statement that while Grenier did not win, “his insurgent campaign electrified New Jersey politics and energized NJEA members, who remain determined to endorse and campaign for pro-public education candidates regardless of party affiliation.”

“By taking on difficult fights that forced us to stand firm for what we believe in, we showed New Jersey that we will not back down when our values are at stake,” NJEA President Marie Blistan said in the statement. She did not say explicitly if that part of her remarks referred to Sweeney.

Neither Grenier nor his campaign manager responded to calls for comments.

A Sweeney loss on Tuesday not only would have meant that a Democrat from South Jersey would have been toppled from atop the party's leader board, it would have vastly changed the dynamics of the state Legislature.

Assemblyman Craig Coughlin is expected to unseat Assemblyman Vincent Prieto as speaker in the lower house. But the former, who hails from Central Jersey, is banking on a deal struck with South Jersey lawmakers, headed by Sweeney, to secure the necessary votes.

While the 3rd District race shattered campaign spending records, experts predicted that Sweeney would prevail. The district includes Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem counties.

New Jersey had its share of competitive races elsewhere in the state.

In the Senate race in the 11th District, Democratic challenger Vin Gopal upset Beck, the incumbent.

Gopal ended the night with 53.4 percent of the vote to Beck's 46.3 percent — a lead of more than 3,500 votes.

Many had expected the 11th District, which includes most of Monmouth County, to be the most competitive legislative race.

Hoping to turn the entire district blue after wresting both Assembly seats from Republican incumbents two years ago, Democrats made a solid play for Beck's seat: It was one of three legislative districts where total spending by candidates and outside groups that support them surpassed $4 million as of Oct. 27, according to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission.

"We were outspent $4 million to $400,000,” Beck told reporters after conceding to Gopal. “I have a legislative district that has registration that is more Democrat than Republican, almost 11,000 more Democrats than Republicans. The environment, with an unpopular governor and a presidency where people have questions, makes it a difficult environment to run in, and so there was nothing more we could have done.”

Incumbent Democratic Assembly members Joann Downey and Eric Houghtaling also won re-election in the 11th District

In District 2, Republican Assemblyman Chris A. Brown defeated Bell, capturing 54 percent of the vote, with the other 46 percent going to his Democratic opponent.

Bell, a former Atlantic County freeholder, was selected by his party to fill former Sen. Jim Whelan’s seat after the latter died of a heart attack in August. But Brown has held a seat in state government longer than Bell and entered the race with greater name recognition, according to a recent Stockton University poll.

On the Assembly side, incumbent Vince Mazzeo and running mate John Armato, a Buena Vista Township committeeman, clinched both seats for Democrats, capturing 27.9 percent and 26.3 percent of the votes, respectively.

Republican Vince Sera received 22 percent of the votes. His running mate, Brenda Taube, ended the night with 21.9 percent of the votes.

Tuesday’s election leaves the 2nd District, which represents Atlantic County, a split district, with one Republican and two Democrats in the Legislature.

Democrats had hoped to retain the Senate seat and to flip the second Assembly seat to blue. Because Brown made a run for the Senate seat, he had to give up his seat on the Assembly.

District 16 was considered another competitive district.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting by late Tuesday, incumbent Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker and his Democratic running mate, Roy Freiman, were leading Republicans Donna Simon and Mark Caliguire, with 1.4 percent separating second and third place.

Republican Christopher “Kip” Bateman had 51.6 percent of the vote, while Democrat Laurie Poppe had 48.4 percent of the votes in the district's Senate race.