A powerful leader in Lakewood’s Orthodox Jewish community is expected to jump into the race for State Assembly as a Democrat, possibly putting one of the state’s most staunchly Republican seats into play.
Rabbi Avi Schnall, the director of the New Jersey office of Agudath Israel of America, will replace former Lakewood Mayor Marta Harrison, who quietly dropped out of the race earlier this week. He’ll take on Republican Assemblymen Sean Kean (R-Wall) and Ned Thomson (R-Wall) in the November general election.
Shnall is expected to focus on Thomson, not Kean.
Democratic county committee members in the 30th district have scheduled a special meeting at noon today to pick a replacement candidate.
Schnall had mulled an Assembly bid earlier this year, but decided against running.
There are 27,363 more Republicans than Democrats in the 30th district – a 39%-19% edge, with 41% of the voters unaffiliated with either party – but the ability of the Orthodox community in Lakewood, Howell, and Wall to split their ticket creates an interesting opportunity for Democrats.
Two years ago, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli carried the towns in the newly-drawn 30th district by a 64%-35% margin, while Republican legislative candidates won by 42 percentage points.
Schnall, who had been a registered Republican, endorsed Gov. Phil Murphy in that race.
Harrison, a former Lakewood mayor, agreed to step aside so that Schnall could become a candidate.
Democrats have no plans to put any resources behind Stephen Dobbins, who is challenging State Sen. Robert Singer (R-Lakewood).
The district also includes the Monmouth County municipalities of Avon, Belmar, Farmingdale, and Lake Como.
Click HERE to read Joey Fox’s take on how Lakewood’s Orthodox community could engineer a Democratic win in a Republican district.