NJ Voters Guide: 14th Legislative District
New Jersey’s 14th Legislative District is in the center of the state. It covers parts of Mercer County (East Windsor, Hamilton, Hightstown and Robbinsville) and Middlesex County (Cranbury, Jamesburg, Monroe and Plainsboro).
About 38% of registered voters are Democrats, 23% are Republicans and 38% are unaffiliated. Democrats hold all the seats in the district.
Democratic Assembly incumbents Wayne DeAngelo, a union president, and Tenille McCoy, a human resources executive and realtor, are seeking reelection. The Republican candidates are Marty Flynn and Joseph Stillwell, both of Hamilton. Green Party candidate Steven Welzer is also on the ballot.
Editor’s note: All candidates were contacted multiple times for the NJ Decides 2025 voting guide Q&As. Click on a candidate to see any answers provided.
Age: 46 Hometown: Hamilton Occupation: HR Executive / Realtor Personal or professional background: My story is a rich tapestry woven from a multitude of experiences, relationships, challenges, and triumphs. However, it’s impossible to summarize my story without describing the two halves that shaped my life. My Father Samuel McCoy III and my Mother. Without them my story would not be the same. Growing up in Hamilton, New Jersey with a strong foundation and nurtured potential I am who am today as a result of this. It is with those roots I inform my present and a bright future for my community and constituents. What is your top issue this year? My top three priorities are housing initiatives, healthcare, and workforce development. What are your specific proposals for making New Jersey more affordable? I’m dedicated to making New Jersey more affordable by actively combating market manipulation, tackling inflation, and lowering rising energy costs. My efforts ensure that all residents have access to a livable state while simultaneously fostering the growth of new jobs in the renewable energy sector. Do you support the state law designed to increase the amount of affordable housing and if not, how would you make housing less costly for residents? Yes. But while I support affordable housing, my vision is making homeownership more attainable for all residents, creating pathways to achieve the American Dream. My innovative mortgage bill requires lenders to offer borrowers the option to pay their mortgage biweekly, potentially saving them between $30,000 and $40,000 in interest and reducing their mortgage term by 8 to 10 years. I envision creating starter homes to help people create equity, especially our public workers like nurses, educators, and firefighters. How would you manage federal funding cuts to social services, health care, education, and other areas, particularly in light of the state’s budget challenges? First and foremost, strategic budgeting and protecting vulnerable populations should guide all decisions. While seeking additional revenue resources, the state should prioritize essential services, and look to expand public-private partnerships to help fill any voids.
Age: 61 Hometown: Hamilton Occupation: Consultant Personal or professional background: I am Hamilton resident, a career educator teaching and supervising at every level, including the graduate level. I become a district-level administrator at West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. I was a member of the leadership teams that built out High School North and Grover Middle School, as well as helped pass district-wide improvement referendums. I was then appointed Director of Economic Development and Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Hamilton, shepherding nine major economic development projects in Hamilton, resulting in over 1000 jobs. I was also the lead director on a $1.1 million animal shelter expansion project, doubling its occupancy. This outstanding project came in on time and on budget! What is your top issue this year? I have three E’s Plus one! Economy…. NJ has become unaffordable Energy…. Increases of 17-20% in June caused by the Democrat Radical Energy Plan Education… unfair funding , Parental Rights Sanctuary State/City status…. Causes crime concerns and drains funding from our underserved communities. What are your specific proposals for making New Jersey more affordable? I will also rein in the reckless tax hikes New Jersey has seen by helping the new Governor rework the School Funding Formula to lower costs for education and other state institutions. I will push for balanced budgets, structural reforms, and accountability, ensuring New Jersey’s finances work for residents, not against them. Fiscal sanity should be our future! I believe we can freeze property taxes based on your assessed property value. Do you support the state law designed to increase the amount of affordable housing and if not, how would you make housing less costly for residents? I do not support our present Mt. Laurel mandates. I believe a new approach including flexible code enforcement allowing for the refurbishing urban centers to include How would you manage federal funding cuts to social services, health care, education, and other areas, particularly in light of the state’s budget challenges? Backfilling federal cuts with state funds: NJ could increase allocations from its general fund or redirect existing revenue streams to preserve critical programs. This often means either raising taxes
Age: 59 Hometown: Hamilton Occupation: Assistant Business Manager IBEW 269 Personal or professional background: I’m a lifelong Hamilton resident and Assistant Business Manager of IBEW Local 269, and I’ve spent my career fighting for working families. In the Assembly, I’ve built a proven record delivering for our communities—securing school funding, strengthening public policy, improving infrastructure, and making life more affordable. As Chair of the Telecommunications and Utilities Committee, I hold companies accountable and fight against the rising energy costs. I live in Hamilton with my wife, Toni, our two daughters, and our new granddaughter who inspires me to keep fighting for New Jersey’s future. What is your top issue this year? My top priorities this election are affordability, addressing the energy crisis, and ensuring access to quality healthcare for every New Jerseyan. What are your specific proposals for making New Jersey more affordable? As Chair of the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee, I’ve made it my mission to tackle rising energy costs that are straining family budgets. I’ve held hearings to hold companies accountable and introduced legislation to reform the bidding process that drives up rates. I’m focused on keeping New Jersey a place where people can afford to live, work, and retire — by strengthening programs like Stay NJ, Anchor, and the Senior Freeze. We also need affordable healthcare. No family should have to choose between paying their bills and getting the care they need. That’s why I continue to fight for investments in our healthcare system and support policies that make care more accessible to everyone. Do you support the state law designed to increase the amount of affordable housing and if not, how would you make housing less costly for residents? Yes, I support the state’s efforts to expand affordable housing, because too many working families, seniors, and young people are being priced out of our communities. I believe we need a balanced approach that allows every town to meet its fair-share obligations while protecting local character and ensuring infrastructure keeps pace with growth. At the same time, we must make housing less costly by supporting first-time homebuyer programs, and cutting through red tape that drives up construction costs. How would you manage federal funding cuts to social services, health care, education, and other areas, particularly in light of the state’s budget challenges? I believe New Jersey must protect our residents from the harm caused by federal funding cuts. I’ll work to safeguard Medicaid, education, and food assistance by prioritizing essential services. I will ensure we use smart, targeted state resources to bridge gaps. My responsibility is to ensure New Jersey families don’t pay the price for Washington’s decisions and that our state remains affordable and compassionate. 
The candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.
Age: 75 Hometown: East Windsor Occupation: Retired from career in computer tech Personal or professional background: Steven Welzer has been a Green movement activist for over thirty years. He was a founding member of the Green Party of New Jersey in 1997 and he served on the Steering Committee of the Green Party of the United States in 2012. A lifelong resident of New Jersey, Steve holds a master’s degree in Economics from Rutgers University and was an editor of Green Horizon Magazine. Steve is currently a principal with the Altair EcoVillage project. What is your top issue this year? Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV). Voters don’t have to pick one candidate, they rank the entire field, in order of preference, without fear that this will hurt the chances of their favorite candidate or help to elect “the greater evil.” RCV promotes majority support by reducing the “spoiler effect.” It guarantees the election of majority winners, whose support extends beyond a narrow base. RCV uses a series of “instant runoffs” to find a winner with a majority of votes in the final round. It minimizes “strategic voting” by encouraging voters to choose their true favorite (hopefully, Green Party) without settling. What are your specific proposals for making New Jersey more affordable? We need a lot more affordable housing! But for decades, New Jersey has relied almost entirely on changing the zoning code to entice private development. The housing that does get built is often out of reach for working families who need it the most. We need to be constructing hundreds of thousands of new units over the next ten years. Any affordable development should get fast-tracked: no more pointless delays! Do you support the state law designed to increase the amount of affordable housing and if not, how would you make housing less costly for residents? My campaign is supportive but wants to highlight “new communitarian” innovations — cohousing neighborhoods and ecovillage communities. They save money and recreate old-style functional neighborhoods while fostering regenerative ecological practices. How would you manage potential federal funding cuts to social services, health care, education, and other areas, particularly in light of the state’s budget challenges? We need a more progressive taxation system. The rich and the mega-corporations get tax breaks that leave the burden excessively on the working- and middle-classes. In regard to healthcare, we should consider moving toward NJ-based Medicare for All.
