Age: 44

Hometown: Elizabeth, NJ

Occupation: Assemblywoman, Principal/Superintendent

Personal or professional background: A lifelong educator and public servant, I serve as Principal/Superintendent and Assemblywoman for New Jersey’s 27th Legislative District. I hold degrees in education and leadership from Seton Hall University and Rutgers University, with 24 years of experience spanning from classroom teacher to superintendent. As the daughter of immigrants and a mother of three, I bring both lived experience and professional expertise to my work, championing education equity, reproductive freedom, and government transparency to create a more just and inclusive New Jersey.

What is your top issue this year? Affordability is my top issue this election. Families are struggling with the rising housing costs, healthcare, and everyday expenses. I am focused on making New Jersey more affordable for families and seniors, working to expand access to quality, affordable childcare, strengthen property tax relief through programs like ANCHOR and Senior Freeze, and create pathways to homeownership. I also support Retire Ready, a program that helps small business employees save for retirement when traditional plans like 401Ks are not available, bridging the gap for workers and promoting long-term financial security.

What are your specific proposals for making New Jersey more affordable? I supported the Medical Debt Relief Act to ease the burden of healthcare costs and will keep fighting to lower prescription drug prices. I’m advancing legislation to expand access to affordable childcare, free school meals, and create affordable homeownership pathways, especially for first-time buyers. I continue to support programs like ANCHOR, Senior Freeze, and StayNJ to deliver meaningful property tax relief and help seniors age in place with financial security.

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 law to increase affordable housing. New Jersey must do more to ensure that seniors, veterans, working families, and disabled communities can afford to live here. I also support streamlining local zoning and incentivizing mixed-income development to boost housing supply while preserving community character. At the same time, we must consider each community’s infrastructure and school capacity to ensure responsible growth with purpose, while preserving green spaces and promoting environmentally sound building practices and green initiatives.

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 must protect our most critical services. I will advocate for the strategic use of state surplus funds, prioritize programs that serve vulnerable populations, and ensure every dollar is spent effectively.

Find more information

Age: 58

Hometown: West Orange

Occupation: Retired – Sub Teacher

Personal or professional background: I am married, the father of triplets and an observant Jew. I lived in New Jersey my entire life. I grew up in Maplewood and graduated Columbia High School, I graduated Colgate University and earned two masters degrees at Teachers College Columbia University. I spent about seven years in education and about a 26 years in credit and collections.

What is your top issue this year? Make New Jersey affordable and return to the principles of the state moto Liberty and Prosperity. We need to limit the size and scope of government, limit the power of public employee unions. We need us free market principles of land use and have property rights to expand the housing supply so people can afford to live here.

What are your specific proposals for making New Jersey more affordable? Make us less litigious by having those who bring legal action and loose will have to pay the legal cost of the other side. Reduce of eliminate zoning rules so housing supply can expand based on free markets and reduce prices. Limit the power of public employee unions. We need to move our employees into a 401 K type pension and health care saving accounts for health care in retirement. I would require all school districts to merge in to a per K to 12 system and eliminate sending a receiving districts. I would demand reduction in administrative cost from hospitals or they would be subject to reduced state aid.

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? No – Housing and rent should be market based. We push back on zoning rules and radically expand the housing supply to reduce housing costs

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? Require health care providers to be more efficient and cut cost on administration. Allow non doctors to do more of the simple stuff in medical care and keep the complex stuff for the physicians.

Find more information

Age: 49

Hometown: Montclair

Occupation: Assemblywoman

Personal or professional background: My career began at NJ Network, where I worked on Images/Imagenes, a program highlighting cultural events and public affairs in Latino communities. I then served Congressman Steven Rothman for seven years, advancing to Director of Constituent Services. Later, I directed Latino Outreach for Governor Phil Murphy’s first campaign, engaging communities and organizing policy forums to ensure their voices were heard and addressed. I co-founded a government affairs firm with my husband, which I stepped away from upon being elected to the Assembly, so I could fully dedicate myself to serving my constituents.

What is your top issue this year? Throughout my first year in the Legislature, my top priorities have been addressing climate change and protecting immigrant communities. I have been working diligently to advance both the Climate Superfund Act and the Immigrant Trust Act. These remain my key priorities in this election, and I am hopeful they will pass by the end of this session. Regardless of the outcome, I remain committed to fighting for our environment and safeguarding our communities, and I plan to continue building broad coalitions next session to ensure these critical protections are enacted and sustained.

What are your specific proposals for making New Jersey more affordable? Making New Jersey more affordable requires both immediate relief and long-term solutions. I support expanding property tax relief programs like ANCHOR and Senior Freeze to ease burdens on homeowners and renters. We must invest in affordable housing, strengthen tenant protections, and expand access to childcare, one of the largest costs families face. Streamlining professional licensing and lowering health insurance costs will help more people join the workforce and support small businesses. Finally, ensuring fair wages will help working families make ends meet. Affordability must remain central to every policy decision so residents can thrive in our state.

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 do support the state law designed to increase the amount of affordable housing.

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 the state must actively advocate with our federal partners to restore and protect funding for these critical programs. At the same time, we need to strengthen state-level solutions to ensure that our communities are safeguarded, even in the face of cuts. This means improving coordination across state, county, and municipal governments so that resources are used as efficiently as possible. We should also identify areas where costs can be reduced without harming essential services, and ensure that communication across all levels of government is clear, direct, and effective.

Find more information

The candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.