Election 2007
November 2007

While at the end of the day, changes in overall legislative make-up were minimal, the 2007 legislative election was interesting on several counts.  Overall, only three NEW JOBS endorsed candidates lost on Election Day.  Also, NEW JOBS helped elect its first PAC Trustee alumnus to the State Legislature, former Trustee Scott Rudder from Lockheed Martin who won an Assembly seat in District 8.  Congratulations to Scott.

Here’s our election wrap-up with NEW JOBS endorsed candidates in bold:

• In the big picture, not much changed.  In the State Senate, Democrats picked up two seats and Republicans gained one seat, for a net change of one seat to the Democrats.  The Senate composition is now 23-17 in favor of the Democrats.  In the General Assembly, Democrat control shifted to 48-32 from 50-30 as Democrats dropped three seats and gained one.

• Nevertheless, new faces will dominate, as 42 of the 120 legislative seats changed hands.  NEW JOBS Trustees interviewed 20 of these winners this fall, many of whom are new to the State Legislature.

• Most promising, several of the incoming freshman legislators are employers who we know will be empathetic to business concerns.  These legislators include Matt Milam, President of  Foundry Services (District 1); Vince Polistina, owner of Polistina & Associates Engineering (District 2); Dave Rible, President of Dr. Lock Inc. (District 11); Mary Pat Angelini, CEO of Prevention First (District 11); Declan O’Scanlon, owner of FSD Enterprises (District 12) and Al Coutinho, owner of  Coutinhos Bakery (District 29);

• The action, such as it was, concentrated in only a few districts:

• In the Cape May/Cumberland District 1, challenger Assemblyman and Democrat Jeff Van Drew defeated incumbent Republican Senator Nick Asselta.  In the Assemblyman races, Democrat Assemblyman Nelson Albano and his running mate Matt Milam defeated Republicans Mike Donohue and Norris Clark.

• In Atlantic County’s District 2, Democrat Jim Whelan defeated incumbent Republican Senator Sonny McCullough while Republican Assembly candidates John Amodeo and Vince Polistina swept past their opponents, recapturing the seat currently held by Jim Whelan.

• In Monmouth County’s District 12, challenger Republican Jen Beck defeated incumbent Democrat Senator Ellen Karcher.  Beck’s Republican running mates, Declan O’Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande defeated their opponents incumbent Assemblyman Mike Panter and Amy Mallet.

• In the “Clean Election” Mercer/Middlesex District 14, Republican Bill Baroni scored an easy victory over Democrat Seema Singh but failed to keep his Assembly seat in Republican hands as incumbent Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein and running mate Wayne DeAngelo squeaked past Republicans Tom Goodwin and Adam Bushman.

• Finally, in Burlington’s District 8, Republican Assemblyman turned Democrat Fran Bodine was defeated by Republican Phil Haines. Assembly candidates Scott Rudder and Dawn Marie Addiego successfully restored Republican control in the district defeating Democrats Tracy Riley and Christopher Fifis.

• In other targeted races, NEW JOBS played a significantly role in successfully protecting our friends:

• In Monmouth County’s District 11, scene of a $300,000 last minute media buy against NEW JOBS endorsed Assembly candidates Dave Rible and Mary Pat Angelini, NEW JOBS supported candidates, include Republican Senate challenger Sean Kean, won easily.

• In Bergen County’s District 39, where Republican incumbents Senator Gerry Cardinale and Assemblyman John Rooney were targets of a multi-million dollar New York negative media campaign, NEW JOBS supported Cardinale, Rooney and Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk in their successful campaigns. 
• In other election news, the electorate demonstrated a new found fiscal conservatism in rejecting two ballot questions widely expected to pass:  Question 1 requiring the dedication of sales tax collections to property tax relief and Question 2 allowing the issuance of $450 million in state debt to finance multiple stem cell research facilities.