On of our “2012 races to watch” is certainly living up to its designation, Save Jerseyans.
Incumbent Assemblywoman Donna Simon (R-16) is reportedly still holding on to a roughly 1,500 vote lead as of this writing following a special election in her district triggered by the passing of the late Peter Biondi last November.
Simon declared victory last night. Her opponent, art teacher Marie Corfield, is refusing to concede. Republicans remain cautiously optimistic but this year’s bizarre electronic voting circumstances in the wake of Hurricane Sandy are making close races that much more interesting.
Fundamentally, this campaign was always a proxy battle between Christie/NJ GOP forces and the Democrat/NJEA establishment. If Corfield catches up and wins, NJ Democrats have one more thing to crow about today. If Simon maintains her lead through the end, it’s an excellent sign for Republicans heading into 2013 that they were able to swim upstream against an Obama/Menendez wave in this critical swing legislative district.
We’ll keep you in the loop…
For some background on the LD16 race, click here.
To read her Save Jersey guest post, click here.
