This Central Jersey legislative race reflects the national partisan divide

The state legislative races in District 16, which extends from High Bridge to Princeton, is reflective of the national partisan divide between Democrats and Republicans.

While the candidate slates offer genuine differences over the issues, both sides are using the same rhetoric to characterize their opponents like their counterparts in the nation's capital.

The Democrats are calling the Republican candidates "extreme politicians" while the Republicans are calling their Democratic opponents "too extreme for District 16."

The Democratic strategy is to connect the Republican candidates to former President Donald Trump while the Republicans have tied the Democrats to Gov. Phil Murphy.

District 16 contains parts of four counties, including Clinton Town, Clinton Township, Flemington, High Bridge, Lebanon Borough, Raritan Township and Readington in Hunterdon; Branchburg, Hillsborough, Millstone, Montgomery and Rocky Hill in Somerset; South Brunswick in Middlesex and Princeton in Mercer.

District 16 has become one of the most closely watched legislative races in the state as Republicans hope to put a dent the Democrats' long-standing majorities in the Senate and Assembly. Democrats hold a 46-34 edge in the Assembly, where 41 votes are needed for a majority, and a 25-15 lead in the Senate, where 21 votes are needed for majority control.

The district was once reliably Republican until it was reconfigured to include Princeton and South Brunswick, which gave the advantage to the Democrats.

But new district lines drawn after the 2020 Census have evened the advantage when solidly Republican Clinton Township was added, and Democratic Somerville was taken away.

It's now a battle of the Republican north against the Democratic south.

Andrew Zwicker, Mike Pappas run atop the District 16 tickets

Democratic incumbents Sen. Andrew Zwicker and Assemblyman Roy Freiman and newcomer Mitchelle Drullis are being challenged by Republicans Mike Pappas, Ross Traphagen and Grace Zhang.

Pappas, a former congressman from Central Jersey, is running against Zwicker in a rematch of the 2019 state Senate race won by Zwicker by a 53.3%-to-46.7% margin.

Assemblywoman Sadaf Jaffer, the first of two Muslim women elected to the Legislature, decided not to run for a second term.

In an off-year election, state Republicans see a chance to win back seats in the Legislature, especially in what is seen as a battleground district.

Democrats have responded by pouring money into the campaign with a barrage of cable and online advertisements.

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According to the Oct. 10 reports to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, the Democrats have spent $1,285,346 with $23,972 left in the bank.

The Republicans have spent $269,148 with $8,343 in the bank.

Richard Byrne, a Libertarian, is also a candidate for Zwicker's seat. Bryne is a U.S. Army veteran and Hillsborough resident for nearly four decades, according to his campaign website.

Byrne is a volunteer advisor for American Corporate Partners, helping fellow veterans, transitioning military members and their spouses with their careers, his campaign website says.

What are the election issues in District 16?

Like their fellow party members across the country, the Democrats are using abortion as their campaign cudgel against Pappas, whose strong and consistent opposition to abortion launched his political career beyond Somerset County in 1997 to the House of Representatives.

With the slogan "We need moderate public servants," the Republicans accuse the Democrats of supporting an "extreme energy strategy" to ban gas cars and gas stoves, promoting overdevelopment and destroying farmland.

The Democrats are also running on a record of lowering property taxes through rebates, bringing down the cost of prescription drugs and enacting tougher gun laws through criminal background checks and red flag laws.

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In 2015 Zwicker broke the Republican hold the 16th District by winning an Assembly seat over Republican incumbent Donna Simon by 48 votes He won reelection in 2017 before moving up to the Senate in 2019.

Meet the candidates in District 16

Zwicker, a Kingston resident, is a physicist and head of Communications and Public Outreach at the Plasma Physics Laboratory of Princeton University.

Pappas, a Branchburg resident, formerly served as mayor of Franklin and as a Somerset County freeholder. He served one term in the House of Representatives but was defeated for reelection by Rush Holt in 1998. He is township administrator in Bridgewater and serves on the Branchburg Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Bridgewater Planning Board.

Freiman, a Hillsborough resident, first won election to the Assembly in 2019 and was reelected in 2021. He is a former insurance executive with Prudential.

Drullis, a Raritan Township resident, is making her first run for political office. She previously served as the director of the district office of former U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski who was defeated by Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in 2022.

Traphagen, a Clinton Town resident, has served two terms on the Clinton Town Council. He is the CEO of a small marketing business, 1732 Solutions.

Zhang, a Princeton resident, is also making her first run for political office. She is the owner of 3D Financial Group, an accounting firm.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ election 2023: District 16 legislative race echoes partisan divide