In the New Jersey primary, more than the U.S. Senate is at stake. Watch these races

New Jersey voters opting to cast their ballots in this year's primary election in person can do so starting Wednesday at designated early in-person polling locations or at their local polling place on June 4.

While the general election in November will feature the presidential contest, New Jersey's congressional delegation and myriad county and local races, the primary election is different.

For starters, the ballots will be different — at least for Democrats in most of the state. In the aftermath of a federal lawsuit filed by Rep. Andy Kim, who is running for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Bob Menendez, the Democratic primary ballots will use the office-block style used in all 49 other states instead of the county-line style that has been used in New Jersey for decades.

The Republican primary ballots will still use the county line design, at least for this year’s election, as the preliminary order issued in Kim's lawsuit only pertains to primary contests on the Democratic side.

All eyes on the Senate

While the presidential election is understandably grabbing headlines for all sorts of reasons, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have already secured enough delegates to be the presumptive nominees of their parties.

In New Jersey, there have been heated battles on both sides of the aisle to see who will earn spots on the November ballot to run for the U.S. Senate seat occupied by Menendez, who is on trial for a whole host of federal charges in relation to an alleged bribery and corruption scheme.

The county convention circuit at the beginning of the year pitted Kim against first lady Tammy Murphy, labor activist Patricia Campos-Medina and former Newark board of education member Larry Hamm, but after Murphy withdrew in March, all attention has turned to Kim and his grassroots effort to overturn New Jersey's county-line system.

On the Republican side, South Jersey businessman Curtis Bashaw and Mendham Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner battled for ballot position at their county convention and Bashaw walked away with the line in more than twice as many counties as Serrano Glassner. Two of the counties Bashaw holds were transferred after Alex Zdan dropped out of the race.

Bashaw announced his bid for the nomination in late January. State Sen. Michael Testa is serving as Bashaw's campaign chair. Serrano Glassner has been running since September and announced her candidacy days before the federal indictment against Menendez was released and effectively put the Senate seat in play.

The House of Menendez

While Menendez is not on the primary ballot, there is another member of the family that will be. Rep. Rob Menendez hopes to retain his seat in Congress but faces a tough race against Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla in District 8.

Rob Menendez has not been linked to any of the charges his father faces, but the familial connection has been the cornerstone of the Bhalla campaign.

The freshman Democrat has not come out in full opposition of his father, which Bhalla has frequently noted.

Rob Menendez has fired back and said in one campaign ad that Bhalla “wants to run against my father because he’s scared to run against me” before highlighting the work he’s done in Washington.

Assembly members vying for a shot in South Jersey

Meanwhile, in Legislative District 3, two sitting Assembly members are among the candidates vying for the seat held by Kim. Assemblymembers Herb Conaway and Carol Murphy as well as Joseph Cohn, Brian Schkeeper, and Sarah Schoengood look to be the Democratic nominee from the district.

For the Republicans, the four contenders for the nomination are Michael Francis Faccone, Shirley Maia-Cusick, Rajesh Mohan and Gregory Sobocinski.

Congressional District 10

Although Rep. Donald Payne Jr. died in April, his name remains on the ballot for the primary. Voters in District 10 will find out after the primary results are certified who has been chosen by the county Democratic committees within the district to be the nominee on the November ballot.

There is also a special primary in July and special general election in September for voters in the district to decide who will serve the remainder of this term.

Need to know: NJ's primary election is June 4

How you can vote by mail: 185K ballots have already been cast in early NJ primary voting

How to vote

New Jersey holds a closed primary, so voters must be affiliated with a party to participate but that party declaration can happen at a polling location moments before casting a ballot.

While vote-by-mail ballots have all been sent, voters can still apply in person at their county clerk’s office by 3 p.m. June 3. Those ballots must be returned one of three ways; by mail with a postmark no later than June 4 and received by June 10, via secure ballot drop box within the voter’s county by 8 p.m. June 4 or delivered in person to the county board of elections by 8 p.m. June 4.

There is early in-person voting at designated locations in each county between May 29 and June 2. Those polling locations will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Polls will also be open on the day of the primary at local polling places from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ primary 2024 races to watch