U.S. Army veteran and attorney Teddy Liddell has won the GOP nomination in the 1st congressional district, defeating former Collingswood school board member Claire Gustafson and union carpenter Damon Galdo for the right to take on Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), the New Jersey Globe projects.
The article first appeared here, at NewJerseyGlobe.com
U.S. Army veteran and attorney Teddy Liddell has won the GOP nomination in the 1st congressional district, defeating former Collingswood school board member Claire Gustafson and union carpenter Damon Galdo for the right to take on Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), the New Jersey Globe projects.
As of 10:16 p.m., Liddell has 47% of the vote to Gustafson’s 39%; Galdo is well behind with 14%.
Liddell had endorsements from the county GOP organizations in Camden and Burlington Counties, which make up a majority of the 1st district. But Gustafson, who was the GOP’s nominee for the same seat in 2020 and 2022, had the backing of the Gloucester GOP, which kept the race competitive.
If he were to win in November, Liddell would be the first Black Republican to ever be elected to Congress from New Jersey; several other Black GOP nominees in other districts around the state could make similar history.
That’s not particularly likely, though, in a deep-blue Camden-based district that hasn’t elected a Republican in nearly 50 years. Norcross beat Gustafson 62%-35% in 2022, and a similar outcome against Liddell should probably be expected this year.
Norcross himself briefly had a primary challenger this cycle: Tiff D’Amico, who is affiliated with the South Jersey Progressive Democrats. But while the anti-establishment progressive group filed candidates to run for county-level office, D’Amico dropped her campaign before the filing deadline, leaving Norcross unopposed.