NJ 4th District Primary 2022: Smith Defeats Challengers: AP

Toms River NJ

07 June, 2022

8:04 PM

Description

Updated, 10 p.m. NEW JERSEY — Chris Smith has won the Republican nomination for New Jersey's 4th Congressional District for the November general election, according to Associated Press projections. The AP declared Smith the winner of the GOP primary as of 9:35 p.m. based on unofficial vote tallies, which remain unofficial until they are certified later in June as the final official results by the county clerks in Monmouth and Ocean counties. As of 11 p.m., Smith had 31,887 votes, with 10,197 votes in Monmouth County and 21,690 in Ocean County, with 335 districts reporting, according to the unofficial results. Mike Crispi had 20,498, 6072 votes in Monmouth and 14,426 in Ocean, and Steve Gray had 2,220, 1,023 in Monmouth and 1,197 in Ocean. It is the first time in many years that there are challengers to Smith, who has served parts of Ocean and Monmouth counties since he was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1980. Smith has represented the 4th District for the last 10 years, but redistricting after the 2020 Census is moving the northern half of Ocean County back into the 4th District. Smith has been running on his record of service to the area, including its veterans, and his efforts to ensure Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst did not get shut down as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Act efforts in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Smith also helped advocate for putting the new KC-45 refueling planes at the joint base, to ensure its role going forward. Smith has broad support from Republican officials in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Crispi, a conservative podcast host, has been campaigning under the "America First" slogan as having answered former President Donald Trump's call to unseat Republicans who voted for the $1 trillion infrastructure package earlier this year. Crispi has had Roger Stone, the GOP operative convicted of lying to authorities, running his campaign, and has promoted himself as Trump's pick though there was no formal endorsement. Crispi has called Smith a RINO and attacked him on his service. Gray, a former FBI agent, has been running on the similar America First slogan as well. Both men have attacked Smith over his vote on the infrastructure package and over his lengthy service in Congress. Mike Blasi remains on the ballot but withdrew his candidacy last month. Tricia Flanagan of Toms River, whose petition was disqualified, is running a write-in campaign. She too has said Smith has been in office too long. Results as of 11 p.m.; totals are unofficial. Republican Primary Mike Crispi, 20,498Chris Smith, 31,887Steve Gray, 2,220Mike Blasi, 733Write-ins, 85 Democratic Primary Matthew Jenkins, 18,899