On March 10, independent candidate Matthew Dumpert was elected to the Oakland, New Jersey, city council, in a partisan special election. See this story. It is very rare for independent candidates to win partisan elections in New Jerwey. Dumpert defeated his only opponent, the Republican incumbent. The election was held because the same seat had resulted in a tie vote in the November 2025 election.
Oddly, the Democrats did not have candidates in the 2025 primary. The 2025 general election chose two council members. Another independent finished first and was elected. The tie was for second place between a Republican and an independent. The headline should have been “Another Independent Elected to Oakland, New Jersey Borough Council.” Democrats have not been totally noncompetitive in Oakland. They had elected a Democrat mayor in 2020. There had also been a dissident slate in a Republican primary.
The 2025 election was coincident with the New Jersey gubernatorial and legislative election, so Democrat voters would come out to vote for governor. In Oakland, the gubernatorial race was 52.4% R, 47.6% D. If they moved down to borough council, they would be inclined to vote for the non-Republicans. Meanwhile, the independents only needed to peel off about 5% of the Republican gubernatorial vote. The borough council vote was substantially below the gubernatorial vote. This may in part be in confusion about the “Vote For Two” and some voters not being aware that Oakland had a borough council.
Turnout for the special election was less than 1/3 of the gubernatorial vote in November 2025.
Note New Jersey terms write-in votes as “personal choice”