New Democrat Challenger Vs. Senator Polistina In Atlantic City, NJ

It’s been an open secret for many weeks.

The “secret” is now officially out.

For those of you who thought that Victor Carmona was a place holder for the Democrat New Jersey state senate nomination in the Atlantic County District 2 race … you were absolutely right.

Just like that. Carmona is out and Caren Fitzpatrick is in.

Fitzpatrick is a current Atlantic County Commissioner. Fitzpatrick will leave her present regular Democrat New Jersey General Assembly nomination and will move-up to the Atlantic County District 2 Senate race to challenge incumbent State Senator Vince Polistina.

New Jersey Globe founder, editor and publisher David Wildstein was the first to go to print … however, I have known about the likelihood of this political move for many weeks.

Fitzpatrick unsuccessfully ran for the New Jersey General Assembly in 2021, losing to Don Guardian and Claire Swift.

Polistina defeated then New Jersey Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo in the same 2021 election to win the coveted Senate seat.

As the Atlantic County Democrat Primary nominating season began … Fitzpatrick had her pick of three different options.

• Run for her Atlantic County Commissioner seat.
• Run for the New Jersey General Assembly.
• Run for the New Jersey State Senate.

The truth is that any of the above three choices was going to be an uphill battle for Fitzpatrick, as it looks like a strong Republican year in Atlantic County.

It appears that Fitzpatrick has now chosen the most difficult path to victory … as Polistina is positioned as a strong candidate for re-election.

Many observers believe that Fitzpatrick’s best chance to win a seat this November, would have been to run for re-election for her Atlantic County Commissioner’s seat against the relatively unknown Linwood City Councilwoman, June Byrnes.

However, Byrnes would have entered a hypothetical race against Fitzpatrick as the favorite in my estimation.

We have spoken with Senator Polistina, who said:

“I welcome Caren to the race for senate after her disastrous 2 year odyssey for Assembly.”

“As everyone knows, there was going to be a replacement candidate at some point. Many are asking why the democrats didn't just file with this team initially.”

”The answer is simple. Democrats tried to recruit every viable candidate they could to run for senate. They even tried to get republicans to flip and run.”

“After getting rebuffed by everyone in Atlantic County who respects our work on their behalf, they reluctantly settled on this ticket. But just like democratic leadership didn't want this ticket, neither will the voters in District 2.”

“I look forward to the comparison of my record of bipartisan accomplishments with anyone who wants to run.”

“I especially look forward to the comparison with someone who is part of the extreme democratic socialist fringe that advocates for crazy things like defunding the police, giving billions of dollars of our money to foreign corporations, and limiting parental involvement in children's lives. Game on!” said Polistina.

We have requests for comments out to Fitzpatrick, Atlantic County Republican Party Chairman Don Purdy and Atlantic County Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman and I will add them upon receipt.

Developing.