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.
District 21 has not elected a Democrat since 1989, when then-Union County Freeholder Neil Cohen beat former Westfield Mayor Ronald Frigerio for an open Assembly seat. The district was politically competitive in the 1980's and included Cranford, Garwood, Hillside, Kenilworth, Roselle, Roselle Park, Springfield, Union and Westfield. That year, Assembly Speaker Chuck Hardwick (R-Westfield) gave up his seat to run for Governor and was replaced on the ticket with Frigerio. After he lost the gubernatorial primary, Assemblyman Peter Genova (R-Union) dropped his re-election bid and Hardwick was able to return to the Legislature. Cohen beat Frigerio by nearly 3,300 votes.
Redistricting in 1991 made the 21st considerably more Republican. Kenilworth, Roselle Park, Springfield and Union were put in a district with eight towns in suburban Essex County. Assemblyman Maureen Ogden, who had represented the 22nd district for ten years, ran with Essex County Freeholder Monroe Lustbader. They ousted Cohen by a margin of over 13,000 votes. After the election, Cohen moved from Union to Roselle and returned to the Assembly in 1993 when he won a seat in the neighboring 20th district.
Lustbader's death after a lengthy battle with cancer led to the election of Kevin O'Toole, the Chief of Staff to Essex County Executive James Treffinger, in a 1996 special election convention. O'Toole moved up to the Senate in 2001, paving the way for Munoz to win a State Assembly seat.
Garden State Equality fires new broadside at Dems Smarting over the state Senate's refusal to pass marriage equality and disillusioned at the moment with the Democratic Party majority, Garden State Equality’s 85-member Board of Directors unanimously decided against giving financial contributions to political parties and their affiliated committees. ...
“We will work harder and smarter to protect consumers, to preserve civil rights, to effectively regulate the alcoholic beverage industry, to ensure that the integrity of New Jersey’s casino gaming industry continues, to keep drives, passengers and pedestrians safe on our streets, to assist victims of crimes, and to remember always the importance of juvenile justice on issues affecting the state." -- Attorney General-designate Paula Dow, at her Senate confirmation hearing.
- PolitickerNJ.com, 02/08/10Press releases are submitted by PolitickerNJ users, not by staff. They do not represent the viewpoint of PolitickerNJ.com.
What will the 2010 Census
hold for districts? Probably the same safe set up. The only interest for "junkies" is the towns involved for internal party fights.