1st district is among New Jersey's most competitive

The best shot for the Republicans to pick up a State Assembly seat is in the first district, where incumbents Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam will need to defend their seats without the benefit of State Sen. Jeff Van Drew at the top of the ticket.  They won in 2007 as the popular Van Drew was ousting GOP incumbent Nicholas Asselta by twelve points.  Albano, swept into office as Van Drew's running mate in 2005, won comfortably; Milam beat Republican Michael Donohue by 2,020 votes.  This is the first time in history that Cape May County is represented by all Democratic legislators.

Milam won't be helped by his admission that he parked in a handicapped spot last October.  The freshman Assemblyman initially sought a trial, alleging that the spot was not clearly marked.  This is not the most egregious offense for a New Jersey legislator in recent years, but it could make a decent mailer and cable TV ad.  Donohue is reportedly interested in running again.

District 1 may be among the most politically competitive in the state, although it has clearly trended Democratic over the last three years.  George W. Bush carried the district over John Kerry by 4,792 votes, and Barack Obama beat John McCain by 5,095.  Jon Corzine beat Doug Forrester by 2,984 in the 2005 gubernatorial race, and Tom Kean, Jr. defeated Robert Menendez for U.S. Senate in 2006 by 3,439.  All three of those races were about 53%-47%.

In 2008, Republican U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo carried the towns in the first district by 22,835 votes, a 63%-37% margin over Democrat David Kurkowski, a Cape May City Councilman.  In the race for U.S. Senate, Democratic U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg defeated Republican Dick Zimmer by 6,291 votes, a 54%-46% margin.