Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini Looks Back At Her Tenure in the Legislature

Mary Pat Angelini

By Mary Pat Angelini

On Monday my term serving in the NJ General Assembly will officially end. As I look back on my eight years in the Legislature, I’m proud of my legislative accomplishments and to have represented my constituents with honesty, integrity and personal accountability. I’m especially thankful that I was able to shine a light on issues that affect the more vulnerable segments of our society, including young people and individuals struggling with substance abuse and mental illness. I always felt that one of my duties as a public servant was to give a voice to those who are not always heard. Of course this was sometimes easier said than done, but I’m proud to say that I was able to make some tremendous headway.

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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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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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Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider Endorses Angelini and Casagrande in LD 11

NJTV’s Michael Aron interviews Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider. file photo

Long Branch, NJ- Mayor Adam Schneider, a Democrat, today endorsed Republican Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande for reelection in New Jersey’s 11th Legislative District.

Schneider said that Angelini and Casagrande are partners that Monmouth County and Long Branch need in the Assembly.

“It means a lot to have two representatives that partnered with me to help Long Branch recover, rebuild and safeguard against future storms,” said Mayor Schneider. “Mary Pat and Caroline are dedicated, hardworking leaders that continually demonstrate their commitment to putting partisanship aside to protect our families, make our state more affordable and provide more opportunities for our children. I will be working hard to help them secure the support they need to continue to bring both parties together to solve problems.”

The 11th Legislative District, which includes Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Colts Neck, Deal, Eatontown, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Interlaken, Loch Arbour, Long Branch, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township, Tinton Falls, and West Long Branch, is the only district in New Jersey that is represented by an all female delegation in the legislature.   In addition to Angelini and Beck in Assembly, the 11th is represented by Sen. Jennifer Beck in the State Senate.  Beck is not up for reelection this year.  All 80 seats in the Assembly are on the ballot on November 3rd.

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BECK, ANGELINI, CASAGRANDE, ARNONE & BISHOP SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON SHARK RIVER DREDGING

Press Release

photo via facebook.com/sharkrivernewjersey

Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, Monmouth County Freeholder Tom Arnone, and Neptune Township Committeeman Randy Bishop offered the following statement Monday to update residents on the progress being made in the effort to dredge Shark River state navigation channels:

“This project is closer to reality than ever before. This is a result of years of work coordinating with the many agencies that have authority over this project. This project focuses on what we can do, dredge the state navigation channels of the river” Arnone explained, a former Neptune City Mayor. “A project like this has to have full cooperation from the federal, state, county, and municipal governments. It has been a long process, but one that is moving forward”.

There are two permits necessary to move forward with the project: one from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the second from the US Army Corps of Engineers. NJ DOT has submitted applications for both permits. The State hopes to bid this project in time for a late-summer project award.  If a responsive bid is received, and the selected contractor chooses, dredging could potentially begin later this year.  The contractor may be given the option to conduct the work over two dredging seasons if necessary.

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Monmouth Legislators Ask DHS To Justify Ebola Facility At Fort Monmouth

The 11th and 13th district legislators representing much of Monmouth County including the communities host Fort Monmouth sent a letter to Department of Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Valez Esq. this afternoon asking for the legal and practical justification for quarantining individuals that may have been exposed to the Ebola virus at Fort Monmouth at a time when New Jersey is marketing the property as a place for businesses to grow, create jobs and to serve as an area for new housing opportunities for people who have not been exposed to Ebola.

The letter signed by State Senators Joseph Kyrillos and Jennifer Beck and Assembly Members Amy Handlin, Declan O’Scanlon, Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande was printed on Kyrillos’s letterhead.  The letter can be viewed here.

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