Clifton, Sauickie launch re-election bid

Assemblymen Robert Clifton (R-Matawan) and Alex Sauickie (R-Jackson) launched their re-election bids in the 12th legislative district Wednesday.

The 12th district, which is solidly Republican, reaches into parts of Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean counties. The pair’s announcement came with the endorsements of several dozen local GOP officials.

“Our communities, families, and especially seniors face many challenges – from high costs including skyrocketing utility bills, reckless policies threatening the overdevelopment of our communities, to ever-increasing taxes that are strangling small businesses and families,” Clifton said in a release. “I am seeking reelection to continue my track record of fighting against these extreme policies and to put people before reckless ideology.”

Clifton is seeking his seventh term in the Assembly, while Sauickie is seeking to secure a second full term. Sauickie was first elected at an August 2022 special election convention to replace the late Assemblyman Ron Dancer.

“As your representative, I work to deliver real results for our community – from legislation signed into law to preserve farmland, to ensuring our schools get their fair share of funding, to backing our veterans and men and women in blue, to fixing our roads and bridges,” Sauickie said in the release. “I am more excited than ever for the campaign ahead and another term fighting for common sense.”

The pair won their 2023 Assembly election easily, with more than a 10,000-vote cushion between them and their Democratic opposition.

Among the endorsers are Manalpan Mayor Eric Nelson, Millstone Mayor & Municipal Chairman Al Ferro, Upper Freehold Mayor Robert Frascella, North Hanover Mayor Ronald DeBaecke, Old Bridge Mayor Debbie Walker, Spotswood Council President Nicholas Legakis, Jackson Council President Jennifer Kuhn, and Plumsted Mayor Robert Bowen.