Erik Simonsen Archives - New Jersey Globe

Ten election bills cleared an Assembly committee. What do they do?

May 13, 2022 5:51 pmMay 16, 2022 12:41 am

A raft of ten bills concerning New Jersey’s elections, including seven spearheaded by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge), passed the Assembly State and Local Government Committee yesterday. If ultimately signed into law, the bills could make important changes to how...

Testa, McClellan, Simonsen win in the 1st district

November 2, 2021 10:38 pmJune 14, 2022 10:11 am

The New Jersey Globe is projecting that State Sen. Michael Testa (R-Vineland), Assemblyman Antwan McClellan (R-Ocean City), and Assemblyman Erik Simonsen (R-Lower) have won re-election to the 1st legislative district. Testa defeated former parole board hearing officer Yolanda Garcia Balicki...

Conservative activists looking to undo Muñoz coalition for minority leader

October 19, 2021 6:51 pmOctober 19, 2021 6:51 pm

Some conservative leaders are making a play to pull back votes from a coalition to make Nancy Muñoz the new Assembly Minority Leader, applying pressuring individual lawmakers. Several legislators have told the New Jersey Globe that calls are coming from...

Testa leads Garcia Balicki by 13 in Stockton poll

October 13, 2021 12:14 pm

State Sen. Michael Testa (R-Vineland) leads his Democratic opponent Yolanda Garcia Balicki by a 49-36% margin, according to a rare legislative poll of the 1st legislative district released today by Stockton University. The poll also found Testa’s running mates, Assemblyman...

Republicans crushing Democrats in 1st legislative district fundraising

October 12, 2021 12:28 pm

Democrats held the 1st legislative district as recently as 2019, but fundraising reports released today by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) show that the party does not seem to be mounting a strong effort to take back...

Democrats to switch Assembly candidates in 1st district

August 26, 2021 9:56 amAugust 26, 2021 11:24 am

A Democratic candidate for State Assembly in the 1st district has dropped out of the race and will be replaced on the ticket on September 2 by Dr. Julia Hankerson, a former state Department of Human Services official. Christopher Wilson...

Dim Democratic hopes in the 1st legislative district as parties turn sights elsewhere

August 3, 2021 11:05 amSeptember 14, 2021 10:04 am

For 12 years, Democrats could call New Jersey’s 1st legislative district their own. Led by then-State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), the Democratic Party held the district’s Senate seat and both Assembly seats for 6 consecutive cycles between 2007 and...