June 04, 2024
Michael Candelori/for PhillyVoice
Three Republicans are running in Tuesday's primary in New Jersey's 1st District of the U.S. House of Representatives, which covers most of Camden and Gloucester counties. They are Claire Gustafson, Damon Galdo and Teddy Liddell. The winner will run against incumbent Rep. Donald Norcross, a Democrat, in November.
In New Jersey's 1st Congressional District, Theodore Liddell won the Republican party's nomination and will now run against incumbent Democrat Donald Norcross in November. Norcross ran unopposed.
Polls closed at 8 p.m. and results will be updated below as they become available. All results are unofficial until certified by election officials. Liddell beat Claire Gustafson and Damon Galdo in a race that was called shortly after 10 p.m., according to the Associated Press.
The 1st District of the U.S. House in New Jersey covers most of Camden and Gloucester counties, plus two municipalities in Burlington County. The heavily Democratic district has remained safe for Norcross, the labor leader who is seeking his sixth term.
Liddell is an attorney and former Army captain making his first run in the 1st District. His campaign calls for securing the southern border, reducing taxes and streamlining investments in national defense to make the U.S. military more efficient.
Claire Gustafson, a small business owner in the children's clothing sector, won the Republican primaries in the 1st District in the last two elections. Each time in November, she was defeated by Norcross by wide margins. Gustafson is an active member of her community in Collingswood, where she once served as a school board member and youth soccer coach. She is a member of the Camden County New Jersey Republican Women and serves on Collingswood's planning and zoning board. She had been campaigning to be the first woman elected to Congress in the heavily Democratic district. Her platform that called for stricter enforcement against illegal immigration and better policies to address the impact of fentanyl on the opioid epidemic.
Damon Galdo is a union carpenter who made his entry into politics in the last election cycle, falling to Gustafson in the Republican primary in 2022. Galdo's campaign also called for tighter immigration control, lowering taxes and targeting inflation to improve the cost of living for middle- and low-income families. Galdo also seeks to develop laws that protect free speech against controls put in place by tech companies on social media.
