Running for office in Atlantic County, New Jersey.

The short version.

A plain-language guide to how county ballot access works in all 21 New Jersey counties. New Jersey holds its big legislative and local elections in odd years, but that does not make 2026 an empty year for county candidates. County commissioners serve three-year staggered terms, so commissioner seats are on the ballot in every county in every year, even ones. The partisan doors for November 3, 2026 have closed: primary petitions were due at 4 p.m. on Monday, March 23, the primary was held Tuesday, June 2, and the independent petition deadline fell the same day. Two doors are still open. Municipalities running a non-partisan election alongside the general take nomination petitions until Thursday, August 20, 2026, and a general-election write-in needs no filing at all. After that the calendar points at November 2, 2027, when all 40 State Senate seats, all 80 General Assembly seats and another round of county and municipal offices are up. There is no Governor's race in 2027.

New Jersey routes candidates by the size of the district rather than by the kind of office. Petitions for county office are addressed to the county clerk; petitions for the State Senate, the General Assembly, a congressional district or anything larger than a single county go to the Secretary of State; everything smaller goes to the municipal clerk (N.J.S.A. 19:23-6). That is why this page leads with the county clerk. The county board of elections and the superintendent or commissioner of registration are separate offices that maintain the voter roll and run the count, and they are listed here too because that is where a campaign goes for the voter list. The body that governs a New Jersey county is the Board of County Commissioners. The old title chosen freeholder was abolished by P.L.2020 c.67 with effect from January 1, 2021; boards have 3, 5, 7 or 9 members depending on the county, and a handful of counties elect some or all of them by district rather than county-wide.

This page covers that for Atlantic County and points you at your local election office for anything specific to your county. It is not legal advice; the official rules live with your election office and the New Jersey Division of Elections.

Atlantic County by the numbers.

New Jersey election calendar (2026).

New Jersey runs one statewide election calendar for every county. The 2026 dates below are the official ones. The 2027 dates are computed from the statutory formulas rather than published: the Division of Elections has not issued a 2027 chronological timeline yet and is expected to do so around late December 2026.

• Mon Mar 23, 2026, 4 p.m.Deadline to file a primary petition for county office -- CLOSED. N.J.S.A. 19:23-14 sets this at the 71st day before the primary, as amended by P.L.2022 c.7 and c.70. Do not confuse it with the 64th-day item elsewhere in the same chapter, which is the county clerk's notice of the offices to be filled, not a candidate deadline.
• Tue Jun 2, 2026New Jersey's 2026 primary election -- PAST. The primary falls on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June (N.J.S.A. 19:2-1).
• Tue Jun 2, 2026, 4 p.m.Deadline for an independent or direct-nomination petition onto the November general election ballot -- CLOSED. N.J.S.A. 19:13-9 puts this at 4 p.m. on the day the primary is held, not at any point closer to the general election. It is the most commonly misreported deadline in New Jersey, and in 2026 it shut in June.
• Thu Aug 20, 2026Nomination petition deadline for a non-partisan municipal election held on general election day -- OPEN as of the August 14, 2026 check of these dates. N.J.S.A. 40:45-8 requires petitions on or before the 75th day before a regular municipal election, which is Thursday, August 20 for a November 3, 2026 election. This route exists only in municipalities that hold non-partisan elections, and many of those vote in May instead. Your municipal clerk is the only office that can tell you which calendar your town is on.
• Tue Nov 3, 2026New Jersey's 2026 general election. On the ballot statewide: one United States Senate seat and all 12 seats in the House of Representatives. In every county: at least one county commissioner seat, and in a number of counties the sheriff, county clerk or surrogate as well. A write-in candidacy needs no advance filing.
• Mon Mar 29, 2027, 4 p.m. (computed)Expected deadline for 2027 primary petitions, computed as the 71st day before the primary under N.J.S.A. 19:23-14. Not yet published.
• Tue Jun 8, 2027 (computed)Expected 2027 primary election, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June (N.J.S.A. 19:2-1). Independent and direct-nomination petitions would be due at 4 p.m. the same day (N.J.S.A. 19:13-9).
• Tue Nov 2, 2027 (computed)Expected 2027 general election, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (N.J.S.A. 19:2-3). All 40 State Senate seats and all 80 General Assembly seats are up, alongside county and municipal offices. There is no Governor's race: Governor Sherrill was elected in November 2025 to a term running to January 2030, so New Jersey's next gubernatorial election is 2029.

The 2026 dates are official. The 2027 dates are computed from the statutory formulas, and the method was checked by recomputing every 2026 date and matching the published calendar exactly, but they are not official until the Division of Elections issues its 2027 timeline. Which seats appear on your county's ballot in any given year is a county question, and the county clerk is the only office that certifies the answer.

Offices on the ballot in Atlantic County.

These are the elected offices a New Jersey county fills, with the term lengths that decide how often each one comes around. The Division of Elections publishes candidate lists only for federal office; county offices are certified by each of the 21 county clerks separately, so the county clerk is where you confirm what is actually on your ballot this year.

• Board of County Commissioners -- 9 members, and Atlantic is one of only three counties that does not elect all of them county-wide: 5 are elected from equally populated districts and 4 at large. Commissioners serve 3-year staggered terms, so at least one seat is on the ballot here every year.
• County Executive -- Atlantic is one of five New Jersey counties with a directly elected county executive, alongside Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Mercer. The seat is not on the 2026 ballot.
• Sheriff -- on the November 3, 2026 ballot, 3-year term.
• County Clerk -- on the November 3, 2026 ballot, 5-year term.
• County Commissioner at large -- two seats on the November 3, 2026 ballot.
• County Commissioner, District 3 -- one seat on the November 3, 2026 ballot.
• Surrogate -- 5-year term, not on the 2026 ballot.

Statewide and legislative seats covering Atlantic County are on the same ballot:

• United States Senator -- one New Jersey seat is on the November 3, 2026 ballot.
• House of Representatives -- all 12 New Jersey seats are on the November 3, 2026 ballot. A congressional petition needs 500 signatures (N.J.S.A. 19:23-8(a), as amended by P.L.2025 c.20).
• State Senate -- all 40 seats, next up on November 2, 2027. The Senate runs a 2-4-4 cycle under N.J. Const. art. IV, Sec. II, para. 2, so its years are 2021, 2023, 2027 and 2031. A petition needs 250 signatures and is filed with the Secretary of State, not with the county clerk (N.J.S.A. 19:23-6).
• General Assembly -- all 80 seats, elected every two years and next up on November 2, 2027. A petition needs 250 signatures and also goes to the Secretary of State.
• Governor -- not on the ballot in 2026 or 2027. Governor Sherrill was elected in November 2025 to a four-year term running to January 2030 (N.J. Const. art. V, Sec. I, para. 5), so New Jersey's next gubernatorial election is 2029. A statewide petition needs 2,500 signatures.

The county offices above run on clocks of their own, and those clocks decide when you can run. The Board of County Commissioners is the county's governing body, and its members serve 3-year staggered terms (R.S. 40:20-2 and 40:20-21) on boards of 3, 5, 7 or 9 members (R.S. 40:20-20). Because the terms stagger, most counties put one to three commissioner seats on the ballot every single year, even-numbered years included. Sheriff is a 3-year term, and County Clerk and Surrogate are 5-year terms (N.J. Const. art. VII, Sec. II, para. 2); the Surrogate is the county's probate court, and the County Clerk is also the office every county candidate files a petition with. A directly elected County Executive exists in only five counties, the charter counties of Atlantic, Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Mercer; everywhere else the board appoints a county administrator or manager, which is a hired job and not an elected one. Municipal office -- mayor, council, committee or commission -- runs on each municipality's own calendar, and non-partisan municipalities vote either in May or alongside the November general election. New Jersey publishes no single statewide list of which county offices are up in a given year. Each county clerk certifies its own, and the counties post them at different times and in different formats. Treat the list on this page as a starting point and confirm it with the county clerk before you gather a single signature.

How to get on the ballot.

There are four routes onto a New Jersey ballot, and none of them costs a filing fee. Two of the four closed for 2026 back in the spring. The two that remain open are a non-partisan municipal petition and a general-election write-in.

Non-partisan municipal petition -- open until Thursday, August 20, 2026.

If your municipality holds a non-partisan election on general election day, nomination petitions are filed with the municipal clerk on or before the 75th day before that election (N.J.S.A. 40:45-8), which is Thursday, August 20, 2026. This is the only regular filing window still open in New Jersey as of the August 14, 2026 check of these dates, and it applies to municipal office, not to county office.

General-election write-in -- open, and it requires no filing.

New Jersey does not require a write-in candidate to register in advance for the general election. Votes are counted for the person written in, and a plurality wins. It is the one route that is still open for county office in 2026, and in a low-turnout county race it is not as hopeless as it sounds.

Party primary petition -- closed March 23, 2026; expected to reopen in March 2027.

A candidate seeking a party's nomination for county office files a petition addressed to the county clerk (N.J.S.A. 19:23-6) by 4 p.m. on the 71st day before the primary (N.J.S.A. 19:23-14). For 2026 that was Monday, March 23. The next one is expected on or about Monday, March 29, 2027.

Independent or direct nomination -- closed June 2, 2026.

A candidate running outside the party primaries reaches the general election ballot by a direct nomination petition. The deadline is 4 p.m. on the day the primary is held (N.J.S.A. 19:13-9), which in 2026 was Tuesday, June 2. It is not a deadline that sits close to the general election, and assuming otherwise is the most expensive mistake an independent candidate can make in New Jersey. The next one is expected on or about Tuesday, June 8, 2027.

Filling a vacancy on the ballot.

If a nominee withdraws, dies or is disqualified after the primary, the party committee may name a replacement under the vacancy provisions of N.J.S.A. 19:13. A ballot line can reopen after the primary, which is worth knowing even though it is not something a candidate can plan around. Ask your county clerk what the current status of a seat is.

Statutory references: N.J.S.A. 19:23-6 (petitions for county office are addressed to the county clerk; State Senate, General Assembly, congressional and statewide petitions to the Secretary of State; everything smaller to the municipal clerk) · N.J.S.A. 19:23-14 (primary petitions due 4 p.m. on the 71st day before the primary, as amended by P.L.2022 c.7 and c.70; March 23, 2026) · N.J.S.A. 19:2-1 (primary on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June; June 2, 2026) · N.J.S.A. 19:2-3 (general election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November; November 3, 2026) · N.J.S.A. 19:13-9 (direct nomination petitions due before 4 p.m. on the day of the primary election; June 2, 2026) · N.J.S.A. 19:23-8 as amended by P.L.2025 c.20 s.2 (2,500 statewide; 500 per congressional district; 250 for State Senate or General Assembly; for a county, 1 percent of the party's last General Assembly primary vote or 300, whichever is less, with a floor of 150) · No filing fee is prescribed in Title 19. N.J.S.A. 19:23-7 lists what a primary petition must carry -- signatures and addresses, a working e-mail address, and a certificate of qualification with the R.S. 41:1-1 oath -- and money is not among it. · N.J.S.A. 40:45-8 (non-partisan municipal nomination petitions filed with the municipal clerk on or before the 75th day before a regular municipal election; August 20, 2026 for a November 3, 2026 election) · R.S. 40:20-1 as amended by P.L.2020 c.67, effective January 1, 2021 (the board of chosen freeholders became the board of county commissioners); R.S. 40:20-2 and 40:20-21 (3-year staggered terms); R.S. 40:20-20 (boards of 3, 5, 7 or 9 members) · N.J. Const. art. VII, Sec. II, para. 2 (sheriff 3 years; county clerk and surrogate 5 years) · N.J. Const. art. V, Sec. I, para. 5 (four-year gubernatorial term; Governor Sherrill was elected November 2025, so the next gubernatorial election is 2029 and there is no Governor on the 2027 ballot) · N.J. Const. art. IV, Sec. II, para. 2 (State Senate runs a 2-4-4 cycle: 2021, 2023, 2027, 2031; all 80 General Assembly seats are elected every two years) · N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1(b) (the county commissioner of registration furnishes a list of registered voters in any or all election districts in the county to any voter who requests it, capped at $375) and 19:31-18.1(c) (the only prohibited use is commercial or charitable solicitation of the voters on the list). Fees and signature counts change; confirm before you file.

The Atlantic County Clerk.

This is where a county candidate actually files. N.J.S.A. 19:23-6 addresses every petition for county office to the county clerk, and the clerk's election division is also the office that certifies which county seats are on the ballot, holds the district maps where a county elects commissioners by district, and publishes the certified candidate list.

Petitions for county office go to the County Clerk (N.J.S.A. 19:23-6). The voter roll and the count are run by a separate office: the Atlantic County Board of Elections at the Historic Court House Complex, 5903 Main Street, Mays Landing, NJ 08330, 609-645-5867, and the Superintendent of Elections and Commissioner of Registration at 5920 Main Street, Mays Landing, 609-645-5882. That is also the office a campaign asks for the county voter list under N.J.S.A. 19:31-18.1(b). County government here is physically split across three towns: the courthouse in Mays Landing, the County Office Building in Atlantic City, and the commissioners in Northfield. The district seats mean a candidate can run in roughly a fifth of the county rather than all 23 municipalities.

Contact details verified 2026-08-14. Official statewide sources: NJ Division of Elections: County Election Officials · NJ Division of Elections: Candidate Petition Filing · NJ Division of Elections: Candidate Petitions and Forms · NJ Division of Elections: Chronological Election Timelines · NJ Division of Elections: 2026 Election Information · N.J.S.A. 19:23-8 (signature requirements, as amended in 2025) · N.J.S.A. 19:13-9 (independent petition deadline) · New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).

Common questions.

After you qualify: the field operation.

New Jersey is the most unevenly shaped canvassing state in the country. Bergen County has 70 municipalities and elects all seven of its commissioners county-wide, so there is no home turf to anchor a campaign in. Hudson County elects all nine of its commissioners by district, and those districts cut across town lines, with Jersey City alone split among several of them. Warren County has a three-member board, so one at-large seat is a third of county government. Monmouth County has five commissioners covering 53 municipalities. The practical consequence is that a county race in New Jersey can mean anything from a few thousand doors in one district to a genuine statewide-scale operation across dozens of towns, and the plan has to be built from the county's actual shape rather than from a generic county-race playbook.

That is the part Motion51 was built for. You scope your district, cut turf, and send volunteers out with a phone instead of a clipboard. It works offline, so canvassing does not stop where the cell signal does, and every door is logged with a timestamp for your records. Our For Candidates page walks through what that looks like.

Counties next to Atlantic.

Running in a district that crosses a county line? Each of these has its own guide.

See all New Jersey counties →