New Jersey 2024 primary results: Trump-backed GOP Senate candidate falls to Christie-backed Bashaw

New Jersey held its presidential primary on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were projected to win their races, but the down-ballot races were less predictable.

ABC News reports Curtis Bashaw is projected to win the New Jersey Republican Senate primary.

The result is a defeat for Trump, who endorsed North Jersey Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner, and a victory for former New Jersey Governor -- and vocal Trump critic -- Chris Christie, who supported Bashaw.

While Bashaw supports Trump, he is seen as the more moderate of the two choices and has donated to a number of Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin in 2021.

ABC News also reports Andy Kim is projected to win the New Jersey Democratic Senate primary.

Kim currently represents New Jersey's 3rd congressional district. If he wins the general election in November, he will be the first Korean American elected to the U.S. Senate.

The current Democratic Senate seat he is vying for is held by Bob Menendez.

Menendez filed a petition Monday to get on the U.S. Senate ballot in the Garden State as an independent candidate.

Menendez is accused of accepting cash, gold bars, luxury wristwatches and other perks from New Jersey businessmen in exchange for official favors to benefit the businessmen and the governments of Egypt and Qatar.

He is the first sitting member of Congress to be charged with conspiracy by a public official to act as a foreign agent.

Menendez, 70, has denied all wrongdoing and called the prosecution "overzealous."

While Kim was expected to secure the Democratic nomination and is the front-runner to win in November in the safely blue seat, Menendez's entry on Monday into the general election as an independent will likely siphon votes from the Democratic nominee in the general, giving Republicans the glimmer of an opportunity to flip a seat Democrats must win to hold the Senate.

Kim had entered the race last fall in response to Menendez being charged.

First-term Rep. Robert Menendez Jr., son of embattled Senator Robert Menendez, is projected to win the Democratic nomination for New Jersey’s 8th congressional district, setting him on a glide path to re-election.

Menendez Jr. claimed the nomination comfortably on Tuesday night, taking 54% of the vote with 54% of the expected vote reporting at press time. The result will come as a relief for Menendez Jr., who faced a difficult challenge from Hoboken mayor Ravi Bhalla amid headwinds from his father’s eye-popping corruption scandal. Bhalla’s vote share stands at 35%.

Polls were open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

State significance

There are 12 delegates up for grabs in the Republican presidential primary, one of the lowest amounts in the path to the party's nomination.

In the Democratic primary, there will be 126 delegates awarded.

In general elections, New Jersey is a traditionally Democratic state. The last time it was won by a Republican presidential candidate was in 1988, with George H.W. Bush.

Biden won the state in the 2020 general election with 57% of the vote, beating Trump by double digits.