Pub. 15 2016-2017 Issue 4

N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S I S S U E N O . 1 , 2 0 1 7 34 new jersey auto retailer Democrats hold 24 State Senate s e a t s t o t h e Re pub l i c a n’s 16, and in the Assembly, there are 52 Democrats and 28 Republicans. Five longtime State Senators have announced their retirements, including Jim Whelan, a Democrat from the 2nd legislative district, which includes most of Atlantic County; Republican Dianne Allen, of Burlington County’s 7th legislative district; Monmouth County Republican Joe Kyrillos (13th leg- islative district) ; Union County’s Raymond Lesniak, who represents the 20th legislative district, is leaving the State Senate to pursue his gubernatorial bid; andRepublicanKevin O’Toole representing Passaic, Bergen and Essex’s 40th district. In the 2nd legislative district, both members of the State Assembly (who are of differing par- ties) will be running to succeed JimWhelan. Republican Assemblyman Chris Brown and Democrat VinceMazzeowill be running, but thatmeans that bothof the district’sAssembly seats will be vacated. Four Democrats have announced candidacies for the two Demo- cratic nominations: Buena Vista Township Councilman John Armato; former Demo- cratic Assembly nominee Colin Bell; former Atlantic County Surrogate Jim Carney; and Atlantic County Freeholder Ernest Coursey. Republicans include former Margate City Commissioner Brenda Taube and Brigantine CouncilmanVince Sera. The races in the 2nd District promise to be among the most com- petitive and costly general elections this year. In the 13th legislative district, which includes the northern portion of Monmouth County, the battle to succeed State Senator Joe Kyril- los is competition between Kyrillos’ two for- mer running mates, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon andAssemblywomanAmyHan- dlin. Because this is a strongly Republican leaning district, the real competition for this seat is among the Republicans. When the Monmouth County Republican convention is held (a date had not been set at press time) , it is likely that whoever is not chosen as the State Senate nominee will opt to remain as an Assembly candidate. Unlike other areas of the State where succession battles are wag- ing, there’s no ill will between O’Scanlon and Handlin. Prospective candidates to fill out the remaining Assembly nomination include Monmouth County Freeholder Ser- enaDiMaso, FairHavenCouncilmanRobert Marchese and Middletown Mayor Gerald Scharfenberger. A less amicable contest will occur in the 40th district, where former Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano, who is now the Bergen County GOP Chairman, is vying to replace O’Toole. His ticket includes former State Senator Norm Robertson and Joe Bubba, Jr., who are running for the State Assembly. Opposing DiGaetano in the Re- publican primary is Passaic County Clerk Kristin Corrado, who is joined on her slate by Assemblyman Kevin Rooney. Things are less messy in Union County’s 20th district, where Ray Lesniak is likely to be replaced by Union County Sheriff Joseph Cryan, who had served in the State Assembly from 2002 to 2015, and in Burl- ington County’s 7th, where Dianne Allen, a Republican, is likely to be replaced by Assemblyman Troy Singleton, a Democrat. Allen is the only Republican to be elected from the district in over 20 years. There are also several interesting primary elections not related to open seats caused by retirement to watch: • In the 24th legislativedistrict,which includes all of Sussex County and elevenmunicipali- ties in Warren County, Republican Assem- blywomanGail Phoebus is challengingState Senator Steve Oroho. The Assembly slate running with Oroho includes incumbent Republican Assemblyman Parker Spice, and HaroldWirths, who has served as New Jersey’s Labor Commissioner. Running with Phoebus is former Morris County Freeholder David Scapicchio • In the 26th district, Assemblywoman Bet- tyLou DeCroce faces a primary challenge from Morris County Freeholder William “Hank” Lyons. • In the 39th legislative district, State Sena- tor Gerald Cardinale, who has served in the Legislature for 37 years, is facing a primary battle from John McCann, a former Cresskill Councilman. The chal- lenge in this election is the result of party infighting: Cardinale was a supporter of the former Bergen County Republican Or- ganization (BRCO) Chairman Bob Yudin, who was unseated in that post by Paul De- Gaetano, after Yudin’s slate of candidates lost successive general elections. McCann is a supporter of the newBCROChairman DeGaetano (running to replace retiring Kevin O’Toole) , and DeGaetano is supporting McCann in his efforts to unseat Cardinale. Looking ahead to the general election, in addition to the competitive election in the 2nd district, Monmouth County’s 11th district will see an expensive and combative race when former Monmouth County Democratic Party Chairman Vin Gopal challenges State Senator Jen Beck, a Republican. Gopal joins Democrats Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling and As- semblywoman Joann Downey as the only challengers who unseated incumbents in the 2015 legislative elections. All eyes will be on New Jersey’s political contests, with the governor’s race and a rare number of competitive legislative elections. It’s sure to be an exciting political year. Brigid Callahan Harrison, Ph.D is Professor of Political Science and Law at Montclair State University, where she teaches courses in American government. A fre- quent commentator on state and national politics, she is the author of five books on American politics. Like her on Facebook at Brigid Callahan Harrison. Follow her on Twitter @BriCalHar.