Gopal wins re-election; Democrats pick up two 11th district Assembly seats

State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch) has won re-election, the New Jersey Globe projects, a huge win for the two-term senator after a grueling and competitive campaign.

Gopal’s Assembly running mates, Ocean Township Councilwoman Margie Donlon and former Municipal Court Judge Luanne Peterpaul, have won as well, defeating two incumbent Republican Assemblywomen, Marilyn Piperno (R-Colts Neck) and Kim Eulner (R-Shrewsbury).

As of 12:07 a.m., Gopal leads Republican public relations executive Steve Dnistrian by a massive 60%-39% margin. Donlon and Peterpaul have 28% of the vote each against Piperno and Eulner, who have 22% each.

Back in 2021, Gopal and his district-mates, Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling (D-Neptune) and Assemblywoman Joann Downey (D-Freehold), were expected to win re-election with little trouble. But instead, Downey and Houghtaling narrowly lost to Piperno and Eulner – Eulner only beat out Downey by just 347 votes – while Gopal won re-election just 52%-48%.

That meant that the 11th district was always going to be at the top of both parties’ target lists this year, since each had seats to defend. The district remained mostly the same in redistricting, though a couple of towns were shifted to make it slightly bluer.

On the Republican side, the big question was who would take on Gopal. A number of local officeholders – including both new assemblywomen, Monmouth County Clerk Christine Hanlon, and Monmouth County Commissioner Tom Arnone (R-Neptune City) – took a pass, so Dnistrian stepped up to run instead.

Democrats, meanwhile, initially had five candidates interested in running for the Assembly, among them Houghtaling, who wanted to avenge his 2021 loss. Donlon and Peterpaul ended up winning the Monmouth Democratic line with Gopal’s tacit support, and the new Team Gopal got through the Democratic primary uncontested.

In the general election, Gopal spent millions of dollars to defend his seat and flip the two Assembly seats, and millions more came in from independent expenditure groups affiliated with Senate President Nick Scutari (D-Linden) and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge). The race is near-certain to be the most expensive of the cycle when all is said and done, and one of the most expensive races in state history.

But while they were heavily outspent, Republicans honed in on a few key issues to keep themselves in contention. They hit Democrats hard on offshore wind projects under construction along the Jersey Shore (which got scuttled just last week) and on local battles over LGBT issues in Monmouth County schools.

Gopal countered with messaging on abortion and on his efforts to secure property tax relief and school funding for the 11th district – and he had a lot more money to put behind that messaging. Ultimately his campaign proved to be more than enough to overcome the Republican onslaught.

Gopal has been viewed as a rising star since he first arrived in the Senate, and his profile will likely only rise following tonight’s victory. He’s already the chairman of the high-profile Senate Education Committee, and could rise further in the State Senate or to the U.S. Congress at some point in the future.

See all 2023 election results HERE.