Durr won every single town in his victory against Sawyer

Just a few months ago, State Sen. Ed Durr (R-Logan) looked like he was in serious trouble. Durr had famously managed to unseat a sitting Senate President, but would he be able to beat the local Republicans, led by his former running mate Assemblywoman Beth Sawyer (R-Woolwich), who wanted him gone?

With Tuesday’s Republican primary election now in the rearview mirror, those concerns look almost quaint. Durr crushed Sawyer by more than 30 points, 65%-35%, scoring a landslide victory in each of the 3rd legislative district’s three counties.

In fact, Durr’s victory was so dominant that he managed to win every single town in the 3rd legislative district – all 38 of them. 

The same feat was nearly replicated by his running mates, Assemblywoman Bethanne McCarthy Patrick (R-Mannington) and Hopewell Township Committeeman Tom Tedesco, who beat Sawyer’s running mate Joseph Collins 38%-38%-24%. Collins came in first in only one town, and finished second in two others.

A majority of the district’s voters live in Gloucester County, where both Durr and Sawyer are from. Durr had the county organizational line, but Sawyer ran with her own slate of candidates and had Column A on voters’ ballots, so the visual power of the line was not as strong as it might have been.

Clearly, though, ballot design was not too much of a setback, since Durr carried the county 64%-36%. His victory was actually something of an anomaly countywide; the rest of Sawyer’s affiliated slate, including 4th district Senate candidate Chris Del Borrello and four county-level candidates, all won their primaries off-the-line.

There were a few Gloucester towns where Durr came close to losing: East Greenwich, Harrison, and Sawyer’s home of Woolwich were all within a couple percentage points of going to Sawyer.

East Greenwich in particular stands out, supporting Durr by just two votes, 282-280 – a margin that could theoretically be reversed by the small number of ballots that remain to be counted. The reason for the close result there likely stems from local Republicans’ dissatisfaction with Durr; East Greenwich Mayor Dale Archer considered running against Durr himself, and the local candidates for township committee ran on Sawyer’s slate rather than on the county line.

Next-door Salem County, home to about 30% of the district’s Republican voters, doesn’t have a county line at all, with every candidate appearing on the ballot as equals. Salem Republicans officially backed Durr, but there was clearly some dissension within the ranks, since two county commissioners – one of whom, Mickey Ostrum, briefly ran against Durr before dropping out in March – supported Sawyer.

Nevertheless, Durr did essentially the same in Salem County as he did in Gloucester County, beating Sawyer 64%-35%. The result indicates that in the wake of his defeat of former Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford), Durr has become enough of a household name among South Jersey Republicans that he can win easily even without a county line to boost him. 

The most Durr-loving part of the district, though, was Cumberland County, where the six towns in the 3rd district each gave Durr more than 70% of the vote. The county overall supported Durr 76%-24%.

That strong showing can be attributed to a combination of factors: a Cumberland-based running mate in Tedesco, the strong support of fellow State Sen./GOP chair Mike Testa (R-Vineland), and an unambiguous position on the county organizational line – unlike in Gloucester, where Sawyer’s rival slate made the ballot design murkier.

For the Republicans who wanted to see Durr defeated, the results will surely prompt some hand-wringing. If anti-Durr forces had convinced Gloucester GOP chair Jacci Vigilante to dump the incumbent senator; if Ostrum had remained in the race instead of dropping out; if Sawyer had raised enough money to get her message out, would the result have been any different?

It’s of course impossible to know for certain, but Durr’s convincing victory is evidence that he would not have been easy to beat no matter the circumstances.