Eric Munoz

Union County Republican Party leadership in the 21st District today formally and unanimously aligned behind Nancy Munoz, the widow of Assemblyman Eric Munoz (R-Summit) to replace him as the GOP candidate to run with Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) this year.

Assemblyman Munoz, a trauma surgeon at the University of Medicine and Dentisry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) died last Monday following heart surgery.

Nancy Munoz is expected to seek the State Assembly seat of her late husband and will likely file nominating petitions for the District 21 seat before the Monday filing deadline.  Eric Munoz, a five-term Republican from Summit, passed away last Monday at the age of 61. Nancy Munoz is likely to receive endorsements from top GOP officials.  Former Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield, who had a chilly relationship with Eric Munoz, had been viewed as a leading candidate for the seat.

The filing deadline is Monday at 4PM, which means the campaign for State Assembly in the 21st district that some Republicans didn't want to start until after Eric Munoz's funeral today is already a little late.  Regardless of who wins the special election convention to fill the remaining ten months of his term, Republicans will need to file a candidate by Monday afternoon to avoid mounting a write-in campaign to win the June primary.

Republicans will likely put the name of a placeholder on their petitions - someone who will agree to drop out so the new candidate can run.  But election law in New Jersey is always a little fuzzy, and technically - not that the New Jersey Supreme Court necessarily cares - the Committee on Vacancies expires three days after the petitions are filed.  That could mean the Republicans will need to get their act together by next Thursday.

There is a growing effort to stop former Summit Council President Kelly Hatfield from winning a special election for State Assembly in the 21st district, and now some Republicans are saying that Nancy Munoz could emerge as a candidate for her late husband's seat.  Sources say that the relationship between Hatfield and Assemblyman Eric Munoz (R-Summit) was chilly, and that several Munoz supporters are actively looking for a way to deny her the Assembly seat. 

Munoz passed away on Monday afternoon, and the campaign to succeed him began almost immediately with conversations among some GOP Municipal Chairmen that evening.  For a while it looked as though Hatfield and Union County GOP Chairman Philip Morin would be the two candidates, with close Munoz allies backing Morin.  But sources say that Morin is concerned that Hatfield, who beat Leonard Lance at a 2008 Union GOP convention when she ran for Congress, has an edge on county committee voters in her district.  Nancy Munoz's candidacy could shake the race up.

Democrats do not view the race for State Assembly in the 21st district as winnable even with the death of popular Assemblyman Eric Munoz (R-Summit) and are unlikely to put up much of a fight in November against the winner of a special election convention to fill the vacant State Assembly seat.  Munoz and Assembly Minority Whip Jon Bramnick won re-election by more than 10,000 votes in 2007.

Eric Munoz, M.D. (1947-2009)

There will be no announcements regarding the scheduling of a special election convention until after Assemblyman Eric Munoz's funeral on Friday, but Republican leaders in the 21st district were busy yesterday talking politics and considering options for the upcoming Assembly race.  The early speculation is that there are two contenders for the Assembly seat: former Summit Council President Kelly Hatfield and Phil Morin, the Union County GOP Chairman and a former Mayor of Cranford.  Hatfield appears to be locking up some key endorsements in a campaign that won't officially begin until Friday, but Morin may have the backing of Nancy Munoz, the wife of the late Assemblyman.

Funeral services will be held on Friday for Eric Munoz, a five-term Assemblyman from Union County who passed away yesterday at age 61.  A viewing is scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday from 3-7 PM at the Dangler Funeral Home in Summit.  The funeral will be held at St. Teresa's Catholic Church at 11:30 AM.  

The number of Hispanics that will serve in the State Assembly, currently nine, could drop by one-third next year with the death of Eric Munoz (R-Summit) and the retirements of Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden) and Joseph Vas (D-Perth Amboy).  A fourth Hispanic legislator, Matthew Milam (D-Vineland) is considered the most vulnerable incumbent in the November 2009 general election.  Munoz and Vas are not expected to be replaced by Hispanics.

With profound sadness and grief, Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean issues a statement about the passing of his dear friend, Assemblyman Eric Munoz of Summit.

Assemblyman Eric Munoz (R-Summit) passed away on Monday at the age of 61.

Eric Munoz first went to the Legislature in 2001 amidst a game of political musical chairs in the old 21st district, which was about equally divided between Essex and Union counties.  The six -term State Senator, Republican Louis Bassano, resigned to take a job at the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.  The district had already been chopped up, with Bassano's home town, Union, being placed in the heavily-Democratic 20th district, where Raymond Lesniak was the Senator.

Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole won a special election for Bassano's State Senate seat, knowing that he would return to the Assembly eight months later.  His hometown, Cedar Grove, had already been redistricted into District 40, which was represented in the Senate by Henry "Tapioca" McNamara. 

Munoz defeated former Cranford Mayor Thomas Denny in a special election convention to fill O'Toole's Assembly seat.  At this point, four incumbent Assemblymen lived in the new 21st district: Richard Bagger, Thomas Kean, Jr. (who had won a special election convention earlier that year after Alan Augustine died in office), and Joel Weingarten, an Essex County Republican who had beaten Kean and Michael Ferguson to win the Union County GOP Convention in his 2000 campaign for Congress.  Bagger was unopposed for the GOP State Senate nomination; the incumbent, Senate President and Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco, was not running for the Legislature.