Ramsay, Collier Lead Undecided Salem County Races

Two Salem County commissioner races were still unresolved early Wednesday, according to New Jersey Globe, after a ballot-scanning machine at the county Board of Elections malfunctioned, leaving approximately 1,800 ballots uncounted and prompting election officials to pause tabulation for the night.

Ed Ramsay and Paul Collier, both Republican incumbents, were ahead of their Democratic opponents, yet neither contest had been decided with thousands of votes remaining to be tallied. The remaining ballots could decide if Republicans keep their 5-0 majority on the county governing body or if Democrats reclaim a position in a county where power has shifted back and forth multiple times during the past ten years.

Ramsay and Collier Hold Leads, but 1,800 Ballots Remain Uncounted

In his bid for another three-year term, Ramsay led former Democratic Freeholder Charles Hassler by 628 votes, 8,662 to 8,034, or 51.76% to 48.01%. Collier, who was competing in a special election to finish an unexpired term, had a bigger lead over Democrat John “Buddy” Ayars, ahead by 1,261 votes, 9,114 to 7,853, or 53.64% to 46.22%. With about 1,800 ballots still uncounted, both contests stayed mathematically in play, though Hassler’s shortfall was significantly less than Ayars’s.

Election officials stopped counting for the night after the scanner malfunctioned, and no timetable for resuming the count was immediately available.

A Decade of Party Switches and Narrow Margins

The political history of Salem County is filled with abrupt reversals. The GOP took control of the freeholder board in 2017, even though Democrat Hassler defeated Republican incumbent Bob Vanderslice, which left Republicans holding a slim 3-2 majority. But five days before Christmas that year, Republican Freeholder Melissa DeCastro switched parties, giving Democrats a 3-2 majority without another election, with then-Senate President Steve Sweeney helping engineer the party switch.

Republicans regained control in 2018 when Mickey Ostrum beat DeCastro by 1,151 votes, bringing back the GOP’s 3-2 majority. The GOP has held the board since then, steadily widening their margin: Ramsay beat Hassler in 2020 by roughly 375 votes, and Republicans won the final Democratic commissioner seat in 2022 when retiring Democrat Lee Ware’s position shifted to the GOP. This completed a transition from Democratic control in early 2018 to a five-member Republican board four years afterward.

Rematch for Ramsay, Newcomer Path for Collier

For Ramsay, the contest is a rematch with Hassler, whom he unseated in 2020. Earlier this year, Ramsay also fended off a Republican primary challenge from construction company owner Lew Merryfield, who had won the backing of fellow Republican Commissioner Dan Timmerman and the top spot on the ballot; Ramsay won decisively.

A former mayor of Lower Alloways Creek, Collier became a commissioner in January following Mickey Ostrum’s resignation to take the role of Salem County Surrogate. At a Republican special election convention, he prevailed on the third ballot over Carneys Point Committeeman Wayne Pelura, 33-16, and then won the Republican nomination unopposed.

As New Jersey’s least populous county, Salem has seen many tight countywide races in which modest vote totals can decide which party controls the government. Currently, Republicans are leading in both contests, but the ballot scanner failure has postponed the final result of an election that might terminate their four-year control of all county commissioner seats.