Kanitra, McGuckin win in LD10

Assemblymen Paul Kanitra (R-Point Pleasant Beach) and Gregory McGuckin (R-Toms River) have won re-election in the 10th legislative district, the New Jersey Globe projects, an unsurprising outcome in what was the state’s reddest district in the 2021 gubernatorial election.

As of 11:51 p.m. and with nearly all votes counted., McGuckin and Kanitra lead the Democratic ticket, former Essex County Freeholder Janine Bauer and former South Toms River Mayor Gigi Esparza, by a 63%-37% margin. (Bauer served briefly on the Essex County board in 2018 as an interim officeholder before moving full-time to the Jersey Shore.)

The 10th district is based in Toms River and Brick, two of the state’s most reliably and overwhelmingly Republican towns. Toms River is also home to many of Ocean County’s most prominent politicians, making for a frequently fractious local political scene.

In 2023, Ocean GOP Chairman George Gilmore (a Toms River resident) made a concerted effort to oust McGuckin, a longtime rival, and install an ally in the open seat left behind by Assemblyman John Catalano (R-Brick), who departed to run unsuccessfully for mayor of Brick. But McGuckin and Kanitra, then the mayor of Point Pleasant Beach, outmaneuvered their two pro-Gilmore foes and won the Ocean GOP line, which secured their place in the Assembly.

Toms River politics have continued to be unpredictable in the two years since – Dan Rodrick, a councilman aligned with neither Gilmore nor McGuckin, won the 2023 mayor’s race and has since become a local lightning rod – but McGuckin and Kanitra faced no primary opponents this year.

Democrats, on the other hand, did have a contested primary: Bauer on the county party line, South Toms River Democratic municipal chair Debra Di Donato and retired professor Phil Nufrio on gubernatorial candidate Steve Fulop’s slate. Bauer and Di Donato won handily, but soon afterwards Di Donato began looking to move out of district, and she was replaced on the general election ticket by Esparza, also a Fulop ally.

Republicans never had to worry about losing the deep-red district, however; more top-of-mind is what will happen in 2027, when 81-year-old State Sen. James Holzapfel (R-Toms River) will be up for another term.