Donlon, Peterpaul defend seats in Monmouth’s LD11

First-term Assemblywomen Margie Donlon (D-Ocean Twp) and Luanne Peterpaul (D-Long Branch) retained their Assembly seats in the 11th legislative district, the New Jersey Globe projects. 

This year posed a challenge to the freshman legislators, who had to win re-election without the help of State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch) at the top of the ticket. Some Republicans expressed hope that without the popular Gopal on the ballot, a flip could be in the cards — but the GOP challengers lacked strong funding, and Donlon and Peterpaul will return to Trenton.

As of 11:57 p.m. and with nearly all votes counted, Donlon and Peterpaul led the GOP ticket by a collective 54.8%-44.0% margin. They faced former Neptune City Mayor Andrew Wardell and real estate professional Jessica Ford in the 11th, which includes much of Monmouth County.

Gopal first won election to the Senate in 2017, but his former Assembly districtmates lost in 2021, largely due to Jack Ciattarelli’s coattails. He led a huge campaign in 2023 to regain the Assembly seats with Donlon and Peterpaul, a successful, $3 million effort.

This year, Gopal was not on the ballot and had his work cut out for him as campaign chair for Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s gubernatorial campaign, but he wasn’t far from the LD11 action, including by cutting an ad for the incumbents.

Still, Republicans said the 11th is a “Jekyll and Hyde district” depending on whether Gopal was on the ballot; on a good Republican night, they hoped the Assembly seats could fall into GOP hands.

Third-party candidate Felicia Simmons, a former Asbury Park school board member and progressive outsider running under the We the People banner, received a little more than 1% of the vote.

Donlon and Peterpaul vastly outspent their opponents, spending $950k to the GOP ticket’s $50k — and that sum doesn’t include spending from outside groups, like a Democratic Assembly PAC that spent $60k on internet ads.