11th District Dems go at GOP on abortion in new TV ad

The ad, “Next,” connects the Republicans running in the district – State Senate candidate Steve Dnistrian and Assemblywomen Kim Eulner (R-Shrewsbury) and Marilyn Piperno (R-Colts Neck) – to anti-abortion laws in states such as Mississippi and Oklahoma. The ad also brings attention to the voting record of Eulner and Piperno, especially their vote for legislation that would have defunded Planned Parenthood.

The Democrats running, State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch) and Assembly candidates Dr. Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul, however, are not featured in the ad. Gopal voted to codify Roe v. Wade into state law; since the vote was taken during the lame duck session of the last legislature, Eulner and Piperno had not yet been sworn into office.

Script: “Political extremists Steve Dnistrian, Marilyn Piperno, and Kim Eulner. If they win, they’ll partner with other extremists in Trenton who’ve already tried to ban most abortions in New Jersey, arrest doctors, and impose massive penalties. Piperno and Eulner are so extreme they voted to defund Planned Parenthood, and against funding a local domestic violence shelter. Don’t let New Jersey go the way of Mississippi or Oklahoma. We must stop Dnistrian, Piperno, and Eulner.”

In an interview on New Jersey PBS this week, Dnistrian declined to state his position on abortion.

“I’m a wonderfully radical centrist,” he said.

When reporter Brenda Flanagan pushed him again, Dnistrian begged off.

“No, I’m going to let my constituents tell where they stood because I’m supposed to represent them.”

The 11th district is one of – if not the – most competitive races this year, where a current split in legislative power – a Democratic senator and two Republican assemblywomen —  has both parties eying the district as essential to the fight for majority control of both houses.

Democrats are increasingly centering abortion rights as their main issue this cycle. Last week, Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey endorsed 97 legislative Democrats, including Gopal, Donlon, and Peterpaul.

It is unclear whether abortion will outweigh other issues, such as off-shore wind projects and gender identity in schools, in the Monmouth County-based 11th, where those issues might be understood as being more pronounced.

Democrats in the 16th and 38th districts have also released ads emphasizing protecting abortion access.