16th District Race too Close to Call

Simon
Corfield

State Assemblywoman Donna Simon was leading Democratic challenger Marie Corfield by just over 2,000 votes last night, but too many mail-in and ballots have not been counted that could affect the outcome of the race.

“My race is not over yet!” Corfield declared on Twitter this morning. She had predicted before yesterday that outcome of the race would not be known until after mail in ballots were counted.

Unofficial results from Mercer, Hunterdon, Somerset, and Middlesex counties last night had Simon in the lead with 43,679 votes compared with Corfield’s 41,610 votes.

Corfield led Simon in Mercer County with 7,003 votes. Simon received 2,532 votes. In South Brunswick Corfield had 9,141 votes, while Simon had 5,701 votes.

But Simon led in Hunterdon County with 14,053 votes. Corfield received 7,723 votes. Simon had 21,393 votes in Somerset County, while Corfield had 17,743 votes.

It could be as late at Thursday or Friday for the outcome of the race to be known. In Somerset County, up to 4,500 votes still have to be counted. County clerks will be receiving mailed, emailed and faxed ballots throughout the week, which might affect outcomes in local races.

Corfield is an art teacher at Robert Hunter Elementary School who unsuccessfully ran for the Assembly in 2011. She became well known after she challenged Gov. Chris Christie about budget cuts at a town hall meeting.

Simon, a committeewoman in Raritan Township, was appointed to replace longtime Assemblyman Peter Biondi, who died two days after he was re-elected last year.