GOP picks candidates for 38th district

Bergen County Republicans have picked their candidates for Senate and Assembly in the 38th district special election.

Daisy Berger Ortiz, a former freeholder and council candidate from River Edge, will challenge State Sen. Joseph Lagana (D-Paramus).  Former Rochelle Park Mayor Jayme Oulette and retired teacher Gail Horton of Paramus will take on Assemblyman Christopher Tully (D-Bergenfield) and Assemblywoman Lisa Swain (D-Fair Lawn).

The winner of the State Senate race will complete the remaining 38 months of the term Democrat Bob Gordon won last year.  Gordon resigned from the Senate after Gov. Phil Murphy appointed him to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

Lagana resigned from the Assembly to move into the Senate seat, and Assemblyman Tim Eustace left to become deputy executive director of the North Jersey District Water Commission.

The 38th was drawn to be competitive, but Democrats have dominated the district for the last fifteen years.  The GOP has not won in the Bergen-based district since 2001, although they nearly took out Eustace in 2013.