President of Middlesex

Donald Trump’s record in U.S. presidential elections stands at one win and one loss. His ledger is a bit better than that in Middlesex Borough.

Here, Trump has not been outpolled in a presidential election. As the Republican former president prepares for Thursday’s televised debate against current President Joe Biden, Trump stands undefeated in Middlesex in his two runs for the nation’s highest office.

There were a few caveats and quirks to Trump’s 2020 win in Middlesex over Biden, which came four years after he defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 borough presidential voting.

If he does not win back the presidency on Nov. 5, will Trump still pull off a Middlesex Borough three-peat? Will he again best his Democratic opponent in local voting?

Trump’s 2-0 win-loss record stands above his predecessor, Barack Obama. Obama was 1-1 in Middlesex while winning two terms in the White House.

Trump received 52.7% of Middlesex Borough’s 2016 presidential vote to Clinton’s 43.8%, with other candidates receiving the rest. 

The 45th president was the top vote-getter again four years later, but the 2020 victory could be viewed as carrying an asterisk.

Trump fell two votes shy of getting an absolute majority in the Middlesex 2020 presidential voting, coming up just short with 49.9%. Biden received 47.7% with other candidates comprising the remainder. 

When combining the vote totals for Biden and the other 2020 presidential challengers, three more Middlesex voters voted against Trump than for him four years ago.

That combined anti-Trump vote included 31 write-in tallies for people not on the presidential ballot. If the write-ins are removed from consideration, Trump received about 50.2% of the Middlesex Borough vote, still down a bit from 2016.

Obama, a Democrat, was outpolled in Middlesex in 2008, although he defeated GOP opponent John McCain for the presidency. McCain had 52.1% of the borough vote that year. Obama received 46.4%

Four years later, Obama won a second White House term, defeating Republican Mitt Romney. Obama bounced back from his earlier Middlesex defeat. He defeated Romney in local voting by a 50.8% to 47.7% margin in 2012.

What accounts for Trump’s past voter support among Middlesex Borough voters, particularly in 2020? That year, Biden easily won New Jersey and captured a relatively close national election.

Trump’s second Middlesex victory came roughly one year after his first impeachment in December 2019 by the House of Representatives on charges that he solicited Russian interference in the 2020 election. Two months later, the U.S. Senate acquitted him of the charges.

While the impeachment may have contributed to the slight slippage in Trump’s Middlesex support, it was not sufficient enough to give Biden a local victory. 

It remains to be seen if Trump’s ongoing legal problems since 2020 and the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol have eroded his standing with Middlesex Borough voters. Likewise, will the legal entanglements of Biden’s son, Hunter, affect the sitting president’s support?

Or, will voters ignore the circumstances of Trump’s ongoing legal cases and Biden’s son’s recent felony gun possession conviction? Will the election instead be decided on the economy, immigration and concerns about the respective candidates’ ages?

Trump’s two local wins came as the Middlesex Borough Republican Organization (MBRO) was beginning a string of victories in municipal government elections. 

In 2016 – the year of Trump’s first Middlesex win – local voters also elected two Democrats to Borough Council seats. The following year, the local GOP began a still-running string of 15 council victories and two more for the mayoralty.

The series of Republican wins has coincided with hard times for the Middlesex Borough Democratic Organization in the wake for former Mayor Ron DiMura’s 2019 indictment. MBRO candidates for the council and mayoralty had no Democratic opposition in 2023 and two council candidates are again unchallenged this year.

Is Trump’s winning streak another indication that Middlesex has turned Republican red?

CNN will air the Thursday, June 27 Biden-Trump debate at 9 p.m. It will be moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. There will be no studio audience. Microphones will be muted when it is not a candidate’s turn to speak.

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