Clifton, Sauickie win in LD12

Assemblymen Robert Clifton (R-Matawan) and Alex Sauickie (R-Jackson) have won re-election in the 12th legislative district, the New Jersey Globe projects, after a quiet election cycle that saw neither assemblyman seriously challenged.

As of 9:44 p.m and with nearly every vote counted, Clifton and Sauickie each have around 31% of the vote, while their Democratic opponents, homelessness nonprofit leader Kyler Dineen and counselor Freshta Taeb, each have 19%.

The 12th district is one of the state’s most convoluted districts, covering disparate towns in Ocean, Monmouth, Middlesex, and Burlington Counties. Since 2011, the district’s county Republican organizations have developed something of a truce: Middlesex gets the Senate seat (since that gives Republicans senatorial courtesy over a huge blue-leaning county), while Ocean and Monmouth each get an Assembly seat.

Clifton has held the Monmouth Assembly seat since 2012; Sauickie joined him in the Ocean seat in 2022 after the death of Assemblyman Ron Dancer (R-Plumsted); and the Senate seat is held by State Sen. Owen Henry (R-Old Bridge), a former Old Bridge mayor who joined the legislature in 2024 after former State Sen. Sam Thompson was pushed to the side by local Republicans and proceeded to bafflingly switch to the Democratic Party.

Clifton and Sauickie – who made protecting the Henry Family Farm in Cranbury his mission this year – faced no GOP primary opponents for new terms, and Democrats had no shot of competing in the deep-red district. The Democratic ticket was a mixed marriage; Dineen had party support in the primary, while Taeb ran on gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop’s slate.