Gas prices, the economy and Trump were on the minds of NJ voters in a low-turnout primary

As they chose nominees for the U.S. Senate and 12 congressional seats, New Jersey voters expressed their passionate thoughts about the economy and the future of the nation, about gas prices, about a menu of issues from the proliferation of warehouses to a controversial artificial intelligence data center.

But on what turned out to be one spectacular June day, evidently most New Jersey voters opted to exercise their right not to participate in the 2026 New Jersey primary.

An exception was flight attendant Chico Bradley, 48, of Cherry Hill, even though the races in his area were not especially compelling. "Being an African American man, a Black American, people died for what I'm doing," Bradley said. Voting "matters on a deeper level."

On primary day, that attitude apparently was not widely shared. When the final figures are in, predicted Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, statewide turnout was likely to have fallen below that of 2025 and 2024, when about 20% of the eligible voters cast ballots.

That would be despite the fact that several thousand voters in the last month had switched from unaffiliated to Democratic or Republican to vote in contested races, he added.

At one polling place in Vineland, Cumberland County, where a controversial $17 billion AI day center under construction is a hot topic, just 10 voters had appeared in the first seven hours.

And in what may have been a harbinger of the voter traffic not to come, an hour after it opened for business, a polling place in Woolwich Township, Gloucester County - where voters were picking a Democratic nominee to run against the unopposed incumbent, Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew - was an excellent place to get some reading done.

Among those who did show up was Democrat Shawn Jones, 53, who works at a Philadelphia law firm and has watched gas prices dilute his disposable income. "I can't imagine how people who aren't making good salaries are doing," he said.

He demurred when asked whom he chose to oppose Van Drew in the multicounty 2nd District - Tim Alexander, a civil rights attorney; Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock; Terri Reese, former retail store manager; or ex-State Department official Bayly Winder. But suffice it to say he won't be voting for Van Drew. "Maybe there's a chance for a Democrat in the district," he said.

At Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish Hall in Cape May , where Mullock voted earlier in the day, Barbara Hughes, 84, said she voted for her mayor. "He's done a good job." She recalled how during the February blizzard Mullock visited people's snowed in homes on his personal tractor to help.

"He went above and beyond," she said.

Patty Ryan, 70, of Gibbstown, Gloucester County, said former USAID official Bayly Winder is the man to replace Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew in Congress. Ryan, a retired Aramark employee, voted for Winder without knowing anything about him. But that's kind of the point.

"He's new to me, but maybe that means he can change the way things are done," Ryan said as she walked out of the Greenwich Library, where she cast her ballot.

Henry Brennan, 22, an auto mechanic trainee, voted in Woolwich for progressive Democratic activist Terri Reese because she would "protect civil liberties and fight the corruption of the Trump administration."

In Ocean City, Thomas Muller, 70, a Republican who said he supports President Donald Trump "for the most part," said he came out to vote for Van Drew, even though he was uncontested.

"That was important," he said. "I like the fact that he's been doing it awhile and I think he keeps the Shore towns in his thoughts."

With four Republicans seeking to take on incumbent Democrat Cory Booker in the U.S. Senate race, Muller said he voted for Richard Tabor, saying Tabor was "the only one that reached out and sent me any sort of information."

He said beach replenishment was an important issue for him, and one for which Van Drew had recently secured funding.

Voting in Woodstown, Salem County, Don Layton also said he liked Van Drew for local reasons, praising him for securing more funding for the Atlantic City airport. "I'm more of a rural person and don't like flying out of Philly," he said. "Overall, Van Drew and I match up pretty well."

Like Muller, Layton said he approved of Van Drew's support of Trump, who was a source of criticism among other voters.

Bradley said the Trump presidency has "brought about a specific and unique form of racism that I am not used to in 2026."

Others took indirect jabs at the administration, while not mentioning Trump's name.

Jones said he would be all for a return to civility in government, "when Democrats and Republicans respected each other."

Mount Laurel resident Nancy Hillman cast her ballot this election because she wants to see "a major change in this country."

"I don't like the vision. I don't like the direction we are going. I don't like many of the attitudes of our culture, and I want to see change," said Hillman, 75, a Democrat and retired clinical researcher.

Doug Clark, 71, voting in Swedesboro, Gloucester County, was another voter who did not want to reveal his choice for the Democrat whom he wants to unseat Van Drew, but said the district needed someone to oppose the president's agenda.

"Prices are up," he said. "My wife had to start a garden this spring to help us feed ourselves. … I'm hoping the Democrats can get into power and help us."

In Atlantic City, Democrat Sherrie Terrell, 70, a retired school social worker and teacher who voted for Tim Alexander, said she couldn't recall when the two major parties were further apart. "Anything else I can get over," said Terrell. "The hate I can't get over."

In the 2nd District, it is possible that as many as 24% of eligible voters will have cast ballots, Rider's Rasmussen said.

Mathematically, it may well happen that the Democrat who wins will do so with the consent of fewer than 10% of all the eligible Democratic voters in the district.

"That's the story of primary elections," he said. "If you show up, you can have an impact."

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(Staff writer Dana Munro contributed to this article.)

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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 10:34 PM.