Cardinale still intends to seek re-election

State Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest) still intends to run for a 13th term after overcoming a series of health issues over the past month.

“I have committed myself to running. My health is much better than it was a couple of months ago. It is much better. I don’t mind saying I was hospitalized a number of times for one thing after another,” he told the New Jersey Globe Monday.

Cardinale, at 86, is the oldest member of New Jersey’s legislature.

He told the New Jersey Globe he would seek re-election in February, before health issues — which the NJ Globe is not describing out of respect for the senator’s privacy — and the threat posed by COVID-19 kept him away from the legislature for a period of months.

“All of those things are in the past. I’ve lost a lot of weight, which is a side effect that was pretty good, but I don’t have any more swollen ankles, just by maintaining diet and through the medications and following the recommendations of the doctors,” Cardinale said. “I am fine. I am energetic. I’m actually getting antsy because of being cooped up so much with the virus.”

Republicans say Cardinale is a lock on their party’s nomination in the GOP-leaning 39th district.  Polling during the 2019 Assembly race showed Cardinale with high approval ratings.

Cardinale was first elected to the State Assembly in 1979 and to the State Senate in 1981, ousting incumbent Democrats in both elections.

Former Gov. Richard Codey and Cardinale share the record as the longest-serving state senators in New Jersey history.