Passaic County, roughly 525,000 people in northern New Jersey, spans dense, diverse cities and spread-out suburbs, from Paterson, the county seat and New Jersey's third-largest city, and neighboring Passaic and Clifton, to suburban Wayne and rural West Milford. Here's a nonpartisan guide to what Passaic votes on November 3, 2026, and why turnout shapes its outcomes.
What's on the ballot in Passaic County?
The statewide and federal races every voter shares, the U.S. Senate race and each voter's U.S. House contest, plus Passaic's local layer: county commissioner seats and county offices on their cycle, and municipal and school-board races across its cities and towns.
What shapes Passaic's electorate?
A sharp urban-suburban divide and real diversity. Passaic pairs dense, diverse cities like Paterson and Passaic, home to large Hispanic and Arab-American communities, with suburban and rural towns like Wayne and West Milford. It leans Democratic at the top of the ticket, but with genuinely competitive suburban pockets. That split makes the county a study in contrasts for turnout: multilingual, community-specific outreach in the cities, and suburban persuasion and turnout in the towns.
Why turnout decides Passaic's local races
Because a midterm lowers turnout, and Passaic's county and municipal races are decided by that reduced electorate. In the cities, reaching diverse, sometimes lower-propensity voters, including in their preferred language, moves numbers; in the competitive suburbs, voter ID and turnout decide close local races. New Jersey's early and mail voting stretches that work across weeks.
Frequently asked questions
What's on the 2026 ballot in Passaic County?
The U.S. Senate race and each voter's U.S. House race, plus Passaic's county commissioner and county offices on their cycle, and municipal and school-board races across its cities and towns.
What makes Passaic County's electorate distinctive?
A sharp urban-suburban divide and diversity, dense cities like Paterson with large Hispanic and Arab-American communities alongside suburban and rural towns, which calls for both multilingual city outreach and competitive suburban campaigning.
Why does turnout matter in Passaic's local races?
Because midterm turnout falls, and county and municipal races are decided by who shows up. In the cities, reaching diverse lower-propensity voters moves numbers; in the competitive suburbs, voter ID and turnout decide close races.
This reflects the cycle as of the date above. Facts drawn from nonpartisan sources including Ballotpedia and Vote.NJ.Gov.
Keep reading: New Jersey 2026 elections and multilingual texting.