Caldwells Back Booker, Lonegan in U.S. Senate Primary

The Caldwells voted for the two front-runners in the U.S. Senate primary Tuesday to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Frank Laugtenberg.

After the ballots were tallied in town, Newark Mayor Cory Booker lead the Democratic primary and three towns overall with 526 votes, and Steven Longean lead the way for Republicans with 309 votes, according to unofficial results. 

As expected, Booker and Lonegan won their parties' primary nomination. The two will face off for in the special general election on Oct. 16.

Tuesday’s overall turnout was a tepid, and Democrats outvoted Republicans nearly 2-1, 908 to 481, respectively. 

The following is the number of votes all candidates received in Tuesday’s primary, followed by the percent of the overall vote, according to unofficial results. 

Caldwell

Democrats

• Cory Booker: 187
• Sheila Oliver: 7
• Frank Pallone: 101
• Rush Holt: 46

Republicans

• Steven Lonegan: 118
• Alieta Eck: 24

North Caldwell

Democrats

• Cory Booker: 120
• Sheila Oliver: 5
• Frank Pallone: 35
• Rush Holt: 28

Republicans

• Steven Lonegan: 33
• Alieta Eck: 97

West Caldwell

Democrats

• Cory Booker: 219
• Sheila Oliver: 7
• Frank Pallone: 72
• Rush Holt: 76

Republicans

• Steven Lonegan: 158
• Alieta Eck: 51

In the previous presidential primary in 2012, votes for the Democrats were hard to come by. That year, votes for Republicans in Caldwell, North Caldwell and West Caldwell tallied 488, 468 and 927, respectively, compared to 142, zero and 477 for Democrats, respectively.

And when it came to residents’ wallets in 2012, all three towns gave more money to the Republican candidate Gov. Mitt Romney than President Barack Obama.