Joe Egan won’t seek re-election to State Assembly

Assemblyman Joseph Egan (D-New Brunswick) has changed his mind and won’t seek re-election after 22 years in the legislature, triggering a special meeting of the Democratic county committee in the 17th district to pick a replacement on the general election ballot.

The leading candidate to fill his spot on the ticket Is his son, Kevin Egan, a New Brunswick city councilman.

“After much consideration, I have decided to not continue seeking re-election,” Egan said.  “I am proud of all I have been able to accomplish, working together with my colleagues in Trenton and our great constituents of the 17th district.”

The 85-year-old Egan had been on retirement watch for the last two years, but chose to pursue a twelfth term in the Assembly.   He was unopposed in the June 6 Democratic primary.

Egan will complete his current term and retire on January 9, 2024.   His departure from the legislature is not expected to impact his post as business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 456, where he has been business manager since 1986.

“As I continue to serve out my term, I look forward to rededicating my time to my family and my position at Local 456,” he said.

He will conclude a political career that began in 1981 when he won a New Brunswick City Council seat.  He served as a councilman until 2010 and spent nine years as council president.

Kevin Egan works with his father at the IBEW and replaced him on the city council in 2010.

Democrats are looking to hold a special meeting this summer to pick Egan’s replacement.   Middlesex County has roughly twice as many county committee seats as Somerset.

“Service to my constituents has always been a priority and I will always find ways to serve my community,” stated Egan. I am honored to have served in this position for so long, and I look forward to continuing to support Democrats and bring positive change for the future of the community in this district.”

The 17th is heavily Democratic; no Republican has won the district, anchored by Democratic strongholds of New Brunswick and Piscataway, since New Jersey moved to a 40-district legislative map in 1973.  The district also includes North Brunswick, Franklin, and South Bound Brook.

The district is 29% white, 27% Hispanic, 19% Black, and 25% Asian.   If Kevin Egan wins, it will create a ticket comprised of three white men.

The special county committee meeting winner will run with State Sen. Robert Smith (D-Piscataway) and Assemblyman Joe Danielson (D-Franklin).

The Assembly seat is widely viewed as a New Brunswick seat.   New Brunswick had a Senate seat from 1956 until 2002, when John A. Lynch, Jr. retired.  After Smith moved from the Assembly to the upper house, Egan ran for assemblyman.

Redistricting moved the other 17th district assemblymen, Jerry Green, to the 22nd in 2001 when his hometown of Plainfield was shifted to the newly-drawn 22nd.  The other Assembly seat went to Somerset County, and Upendra Chivukula (D-Franklin) was elected.

Lynch’s father was elected to the Senate in 1955 and retired in 1977; Assembly Speaker William Hamilton (D-New Brunswick) spent four years in the Senate before running for governor, and Lynch Jr. went to the Senate in 1981.  Both Lynch’s served as mayor of New Brunswick.

Egan’s former chief of staff, Mitchelle Drulis, is the Democratic nominee for State Assembly in the 16th district.  If she wins, she will not get to serve alongside her longtime mentior

Egan’s retirement will also open up the chairmanship of the Assembly Labor Committee, where he is the longest-serving chairman in state history.  He is the vice president of the New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Union.

Danielson and Egan’s replacement will face Republicans Susan Hucko and Dhimant Patel.