Three Middlesex County-based legislative districts – the 17th, 18th, and 19th – have elected all-Democratic legislative delegations, the New Jersey Globe projects, with Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge) among the winners.
In the overwhelmingly Democratic 17th district, which is centered around New Brunswick, State Sen. Bob Smith (D-Piscataway), Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-Franklin), and New Brunswick Councilman Kevin Egan defeated Republicans William Mikita, Susan Hucko, and Dhimant Patel.
Egan is the son of Assemblyman Joe Egan (D-New Brunswick), the longtime Assembly Labor Committee chairman who announced in July that he would retire. The path was quickly cleared for Kevin to succeed his father, and he won the Democratic convention uncontested; he’ll continue the highly diverse 17th district’s streak of electing an all-white, all-male legislative slate.
The Edison-based 18th district re-elected a full ticket of Democratic incumbents: State Sen. Patrick Diegnan (D-South Plainfield) and Assemblymen Sterley Stanley (D-East Brunswick) and Robert Karabinchak (D-Edison) easily won against Republican challengers Neal Shah, Teresa Hutchison, and Joseph Wolak, a councilman in South Plainfield.
And the 19th district, which includes Woodbridge and Perth Amboy, went strongly Democratic despite being somewhat competitive on paper. State Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Woodbridge) beat former Perth Amboy school board member Maria Garcia, who garnered little attention or fundraising, while Coughlin and Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez (D-Perth Amboy) beat Marilyn Colon and Sam Raval.
It looks like Coughlin, who has been Assembly Speaker for six years, may also have a larger Assembly caucus to work with next year given results in other districts around the state. The Assembly’s Republican minority has grown increasingly energized in recent years, but that could be tamped down if Democrats gain a substantial number of seats tonight.
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