Democrats spent $1.5 million to defeat Angelini and Casagrande

Assembly Members-elect Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey

Democratic Assembly Members-elect Joann Downey and Eric Houghtailing, and Independent Expenditure Committees supporting them spent $1,503,233 to defeat Republican incumbents Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande in the 11th legislative district election, according to an analysis of 2015 campaign spending published on PolitickerNJ.

Angelini and Casagrande spent $234,118 on their reelection effort.

For all of that spending, 700 additional Republican votes would have carried the day for Angelini and Casagrande. Those votes reside in Colts Neck, a Republican stronghold that had less than a 20% voter turnout and Freehold Township, another Republican stronghold in the district that did not turnout for the incumbents.  Casagrande and Angelini, while winning Freehold Township, did so with by a margin of less than 10%.

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Angelini Concedes LD 11 Loss

Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini

Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini released the following statement after the certification of the November 3rd elections: 

“The voters of the 11th District have spoken and I respect the choices that they have made. I congratulate Joann Downey and Eric Houghtaling and wish them nothing but the best.

Serving in the Legislature for the past eight years has been an incredible experience that I will always cherish.

I am proud of my legislative accomplishments and especially, my efforts to shine a light on the issues affecting the more vulnerable segments of our society, including young people and individuals struggling with substance abuse and mental illness.

I am forever grateful for the many wonderful friends, colleagues and supporters who helped make my time in the Assembly such a tremendous experience. I thank the residents of the 11th District for giving me the opportunity to serve and I look forward to what the next chapter of my life will bring.”

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N.J. Democrats pick up 4th new Assembly seat as Republican concedes in close race

TRENTON — State Assemblywoman Donna Simon conceded Central New Jersey’s 16th District race Monday, nearly two weeks after the legislative contest was deemed too close to call. Simon’s loss is a gain for state Democrats, whose Nov. 3 election wins expand their 48-31 majority by four seats, taking down four Republican incumbents. Simon (R-Mercer), an assemblywoman… Read the rest of this entry »

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Sen Michael Doherty: Gas Tax Sunk NJ Assembly Republicans

In an email to his Republican colleagues in the NJ Senate on Monday, Senator Michael Doherty said that the Assembly Republican leadership’s support of increasing the gas tax is what led to the loss of four seats in the lower chamber in last week’s election.

Rutgers-Eagleton conducted a poll in October on the gas tax.  See attachment and an extract of the results below.

Why did Republican Assembly leadership come out in support of a gas tax increase?

R Assembly candidates should have all come out 100% against a gas tax increase.

66% of voters oppose a gas tax increase.

We had 69% of Independent voters and 73% of Republican voters on our side.

Even 57% of Democrat voters oppose the gas tax increase.

We wouldn’t have lost any seats if R’s campaigned on being 100% against a gas tax increase.

“We didn’t have to lose any seats and could have picked up a few,” Doherty said told  MoreMonmouthMusings, “We had no message.”

Doherty said that he has not heard back from any of his Senate colleagues.

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Teachers Union — and Its Money — Helped Shape Outcome of Assembly Races

Gov. Chris Christie may claim in places like New Hampshire and Iowa that he has tamed New Jersey’s public employee unions, but you wouldn’t have known it from the smile on the face of one union’s leader. “We had a terrific week,” said Wendell Steinhauer, president of the New Jersey Education Association, as his union gathered… Read the rest of this entry »

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Democrats win their largest N.J. Assembly majority in 36 years

TRENTON — Democrats tightened their control of the state Assembly in Tuesday’s elections, wresting three seats away from a Republican party ruled by Gov. Chris Christie, a presidential candidate whose popularity has dropped at home. It means Democrats will control 51 seats in the 80-seat lower house as of January — their biggest majority since 1979.… Read the rest of this entry »

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Democrats oust Republicans in Assembly’s 11th District

TRENTON — In maybe the biggest upset of Tuesday’s legislative races, Democratic challengers have ousted both Republican incumbents representing the Shore’s 11th District in the state Assembly. Democrats JoAnn Downey and Eric Houghtaling defeated Republican Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande, according to the Associated Press. It’s the first time since 1991 that Democrats have… Read the rest of this entry »

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An Open Letter to Democrats in New Jersey

By Ernesto Cullari

Dear Democrats,

We want you. That’s right; we in the Monmouth, Ocean & Middlesex County GOP organizations want you to vote for our candidates on Tuesday November 3rd. The reason? Your own self interest.

Half of you want to leave New Jersey at some point, according to a poll conducted by Monmouth University and the Asbury Park Press. New Jersey actually leads the nation in families fleeing their home state to more affordable places like Florida and North Carolina. For every family that moves to the Garden State two families pick up and leave.

Elections have consequences. It’s no longer my team versus your team, families in New Jersey are hurting. For the last 15 to 20 years Democrats have ruled the State Senate and the State Assembly; with the exception of the Republican Governors we’ve had, we’ve had no reprieve from higher taxes and higher spending. It’s taken a toll on all our families.

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NJEA funded Democratic PAC rips drug prevention and anti-bullying programs

A Super PAC funded by the NJEA, New Jersey’s largest teachers’ union, and run by U.S.Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s former Chief of Staff, has spent nearly $200,000 so far on television and radio ads to imply that Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini (R-11 Monmouth County) “took” $1 millon in government grants for herself and her staff, rather than help New Jersey schools prevent drug abuse.

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Asbury Park Press Endorses Angelini and Casagrande in LD 11

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal is having a bad day year.

The Dems have put their eggs in the LD 11 basket this year, hoping to pick off one or two of New Jersey’s only all female legislative delegation in Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande.

Vin made sure that his county candidates for Clerk and Freeholder are residents of the 11th, in hopes that a hometown turnout boost for the county candidates, who are hardly campaigning elsewhere in the county, might help Eric Houghtaling of Neptune and Joann Downey of Freehold over the finish line.

Only in the 11th will you find a typical election year showing of road and lawn signs. Houghtaling and Downey are advertising on ESPN and even FoxNews.

Gopal has historically been able to count on an assist from the Asbury Park Press. Not this year and not where he needs it most.

In endorsing Angelini and Casagrande, APP called them “among the strongest legislators in New Jersey.”

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