he moves to turn the state in a new direction in early 2018.
Democrats extend State House majorities
The Democratic wave extended beyond the governor’s race
and into the State Senate and Assembly on Election Day. Dem-
ocrats increased their hold in the Senate by one seat to a 25-15
majority – their largest since 1981. Democrats also picked up
two additional seats in the Assembly, hiking their majority to 54
members – their largest in that chamber since 1978.
The GOP losses are stunning when viewed compared to the
prior eight years. When Christie was elected, the Democrat-
ic majority in the Senate and Assembly was 23-17 and 47-33,
respectively. During much of that time, Christie was the most
popular Republican governor in the nation and for a time was
a front-runner for president. But, coupled with another loss in
redistricting legislative districts for the GOP in 2011, Christie
spent almost no time focused on building his party’s numbers
in the legislature. With most of his time spent fundraising to
support his political ambition and travels, legislative Republi-
cans saw their numbers drop even when running on Christie’s
agenda.
The losses at the end of an administration aren’t without
historic comparison, however, as popular Republican Gover-
nor Kean went from a massive re-election landslide in 1985 to
a massive loss in GOP assembly seats when his term ended in
1989. But the slow decline in the Republican minority status
will be further complicated by the impression that New Jersey
is now a “blue state” and that the governor and legislature are
firmly in the grip of their opposition.
History shows that misguided policy and redistricting could
quickly change fortunes in future elections. But GOP leaders
in the state must now change their focus from Chris Christie’s
agenda to something far different if they are to reconnect to vot-
ers who were looking for something different in 2017.
Sweeney beats the NJEA
In the marquis battle of NJ State Senate races, Senate Pres-
ident Steve Sweeney easily fended off the multimillion-dollar
barrage of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) to win
re-election and likely secure his spot as the next session’s Sen-
ate’s leader. The race will go down in history as the most expen-
sive legislative race in state history, with more than $20 million
poured into the 3rd District.
In many ways, the GOP Senate candidate in the race took a
back seat to the Sweeney-NJEA battle. The NJEA, soured with
the Senate president’s votes for pension reforms and for failing
to post a vote on a pension-funding constitutional amendment,
made defeating Sweeney its primary goal in state legislative
races. But Sweeney held back the challenge and was re-elect-
ed by an overwhelming margin with 59 percent of the vote.
The impact the race will have on relations between the Senate
president, many of his allies in the Senate and the state’s largest
teachers’ union will be one of the most watched stories of the
next legislative session.
Brown takes back 2nd District for GOP
In the only bright spot for Republican challengers opposing
sitting State House Democrats, Republican Assemblyman Chris
Brown defeated Colin Bell for the State Senate seat in the 2nd
Legislative District. The district, including Atlantic City, has
been politically turbulent for a decade, electing both Demo-
crats and Republicans. But Brown, running to replace the late
Democratic Senator Jim Whelan, had long ago struck out as an
independent GOP voice by challenging Governor Christie on
issues like the takeover of Atlantic City, North Jersey casinos
and public employee rights. Brown beat Bell 54 percent to 46
percent, despite the Democrats winning both the 2nd District’s
assembly seats and the Atlantic City mayor’s office. Brown is the
only Republican to knock off a Democratic senator in this elec-
tion.
Gopal stuns Beck
The Democratic victory in Monmouth County’s 11th District
Assembly race in 2015 gave them hope that they could win back
a Senate seat in the routinely GOP county. Running against a
highly respected and often independent Republican Senator
Jennifer Beck, Vin Gopal was initially given an outside chance to
keep the race close. Beck was well funded and had broken with
the governor on a number of key issues recently. But buoyed by
the Murphy victory, aggressive fundraising and months of “Get
Out The Vote,” Gopal stunned the political world by easily beat-
ing the incumbent senator by 4,000 votes. It was a loss the Re-
publicans couldn’t afford for a number of reasons as it gives the
Democrats a foothold in Monmouth County while knocking a
major player off the GOP bench.
GOP incumbents sweat out close races
It was a long and frustrating night for Republicans across
New Jersey in several races where they managed to hold on to
seats they never expected to lose.
State Senator Kip Bateman, a longtime and well-known Re-
publican, held on to his seat in the 16th District by less than
2,000 votes.
The normally safe Republican 8th District in Burlington
County may see a recount as GOP Assemblyman Joe Howarth
and his running mate Ryan Peters were clinging to a small lead
of a few hundred votes over Democratic challengers the day af-
ter the election. No one watching legislative races this year put
this district in the competitive column, but the Murphy win in
Burlington County may have trickled down ballot to this race.
Perhaps more surprising was the tightness of the outcome in
the very Republican 21st Legislative District. Home to the Sen-
ate and Assembly GOP leaders, Tom Kean and Jon Bramnick,
and their running mate, Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz, this
district has never been a Democratic target. But in an intense
mayoral race in Westfield, a major town in the district, a Demo-
crat won in a landslide. Coupled with the bad environment for
Republicans and this local reality, Bramnick and Munoz won
with just a 2 percent margin of victory over their nearest Dem-
ocratic challenger.
Democratic spending in other legislative races and the Mur-
phy victory in places like Bergen County caused some initial up-
set concerns, but in the end, the GOP was safe in the 39th and
40th Districts.
New faces coming to Trenton
The coming year will be a time of change in Trenton, not just
with the incoming Murphy administration, but with the addi-
tion of 15 new legislators moving into the Senate from the As-
sembly or fresh off their first election. There will be five new
senators, three Democrats and two Republicans. Brown and
Declan O’Scanlon will take new seats in the Senate. Democrat-
ic Assemblyman Troy Singleton moves up into the vacant 7th
District Senate spot, Gopal takes over in the 11th and former
Democratic Assemblyman and Union County Sheriff Joe Cry-
an returns to Trenton as the 20th District senator. The Assembly
will swear in 10 new members from across the state, five from
each party.
With a new governor and newly elected legislators account-
ing for 13 percent of the NJ State Legislature, early 2018 will
prove a test for them personally and for the policy agenda of the
leadership in the State House. d
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