The candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.

Age: 46

Hometown: Bernardsville

Occupation: Regulatory compliance manager

Personal background: I grew up in Fanwood and currently reside in Bernardsville. I received my bachelor of arts in English from the University of Mary Washington; my master of arts in English from Seton Hall University; and my doctor of philosophy in higher education leadership, management and policy from Seton Hall University. I spent many years teaching English at several high schools as well as two higher education institutions. After completing my Ph.D., I moved into higher education administration, where I primarily managed small-scale and large-scale initiatives associated with student conduct policies and management, Title IX education and student sexual violence prevention programming. After almost 20 years in education, I recently changed careers and now work in regulatory compliance for a telecommunications company. I have been a Bernardsville Council candidate and was named to the Bernardsville Council to serve from July 2021 to November 2021. Additionally, I have served on Bernardsville committees, including the Open Space Committee, the Cultural Arts Advisory Committee and as council liaison to the Department of Parks and Recreation. I currently serve as the president of the Rolling Hills at Bernardsville homeowners association and on the Main Street Bernardsville Promotions Committee. I also am a board member for Scotch Plains-Fanwood UNICO, Trilogy Repertory and Studio Playhouse. I have performed in community theater productions and as a background actor on many television shows and films. I have completed six marathons (including the New York marathon twice) and countless other races and enjoy riding my bike.

Political background: I ran for Bernardsville council three times and was on the council in 2021, and I’ve been involved with the Bernardsville Democratic Committee since 2016. On a more general level, I have been involved in politics for many years, starting with when I interned for the Union County Office of Public Information during my summers in college. I’ve campaigned for campaigns, including Colleen Mahr’s first mayoral race in my hometown of Fanwood. For me, politics always has been about collaborating across the aisle to find ways to help residents in whatever ways we can.

Why are you running for office? The issues that matter to me – common-sense gun safety, cost of living versus wages, women’s reproductive rights, academic freedom, increasing mental health services, support for our unions, improvements to our infrastructure, and so forth – also matter to many other residents in my district and residents throughout the state. I want to work with other legislators to find solutions that will benefit everyone, not just people in one party or another. For me, it starts with having meaningful conversations and looking for common ground while also being sure to listen to the people who put their trust in us: our residents.

Key election issue: Our transportation infrastructure – roads, bridges, and mass transit – has been in a precipitous decline for years. How many times have we boarded an NJ Transit train only to have it be delayed for one reason or another? The Gladstone Branch trains are over 40 years old and in dire need of replacement. How many roads and highways suffer from either too many potholes or uneven pavement – or both? Based on my conversations with residents, they’re very much aware of the decline, too. While we finally are seeing some progress (the eventual replacement of the Portal Bridge, the long-delayed construction of a new transit tunnel), we have so much more work to do if we want to stabilize our infrastructure.

Our first priority must be to ensure NJ Transit gets the funding it needs to improve its operations. While some might believe fare hikes are the only solution, I’d want a meticulous review of the state budget to see how we can reallocate dollars to our infrastructure without putting the burden on our residents, who have been paying fares for years for substandard services. In addition, I’d look to partner with other transportation agencies and see how we can work together to address transportation issues. For example, one resident I spoke with suggested looking into microtransit options such as Via (used in Jersey City) to fill in transportation gaps and to expand options for people who might not have access to traditional mass transit. I’d also look to work with counties and municipalities to address their infrastructure needs. All of the aforementioned would be done with the goal of minimizing environmental impact as much as possible. I believe that we can find creative, effective solutions to our infrastructure woes while preserving our environment.

Example of a successful project: While working as assistant director of student conduct at New Jersey City University, I was project manager for an initiative to install a universitywide database that, when completed, would help us manage our student conduct cases. I worked with multiple university departments and stakeholders, as well as an external vendor, from start to finish, all virtually since we still were in the midst of COVID-19. We had regular meetings and were in constant communication about the progress of the database. This was a project close to my heart since I had written my dissertation on challenges of handling Title IX student sexual misconduct incidents in higher education. Not only did we improve the efficiency of managing our cases, but more important, we helped our students by making it much easier for them to report incidents anonymously and to get them the support services they needed.

Example of a challenge faced: Writing my dissertation was one of the biggest challenges of my life. I’ve always found writing to come naturally to me, so I figured a dissertation would take awhile but wouldn’t be that difficult to write. I couldn’t have been any more wrong! I can’t tell you how many times I would complete a chapter draft and think I was in good shape, only to have my dissertation mentor tell me that the chapter needed a significant overhaul. Just when I thought I was done and ready to defend, she told me that I should postpone my defense for six months because my overall draft needed a great deal of work. Once I got over my disbelief, I doubled down and made the changes I needed to make. I went through each chapter and examined every sentence, every paragraph, every piece of data, and every reference. The end result: a dissertation (including references) of over 200 pages that was a much more powerful document compared to the first version. I had a successful defense, made a few post-defense revisions, and achieved my Ph.D.

On NJ’s gun laws: Common sense gun safety is absolutely vital to me. We are lucky to live in a state with such strict gun laws, and we need to ensure that those laws remain strict so that our residents are protected. I am firmly behind the federal appellate court’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit.

Do you agree with the Murphy administration’s climate change proposals: Yes

On housing affordability and property taxes: I live in affordable housing and am very sensitive to the overall cost of living in New Jersey. For starters, we have to look at why wages have not kept up with the rise in cost of living and what we can do to find more balance. Part of that means ensuring the very wealthy residents are paying their fair share of taxes and not shifting the burdens to our lower- and middle-class taxpayers. That also would mean a careful review of our tax codes. I also would want to look for ways to stimulate wage growth across the board so that our businesses have more money to pay their employees, who – in turn – would have more money to put back into our state while being able to live more comfortably and not have to worry about basic provisions.

Campaign website: ld21nj.com

The candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.

Age: 53

Hometown: Basking Ridge

Occupation: Teacher

Personal background: I am the mother of a college student and a career educator. I grew up in Pittsburgh as part of a large Irish-American family and have dual U.S. and Irish citizenship. I graduated from St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, with a degree in English and anthropology. After working for a couple of years in investment banking human resources, I became a teacher and have worked for the Rahway Public Schools since 2001. I currently live in Basking Ridge with my son, a dog and a couple of cats.

Political background: I am a lifelong Democrat. I believe in Democratic values, such as protecting the environment, equality and justice.

Why are you running for office? I want to make New Jersey more accessible to all New Jerseyans, keep our children and schools safe, make childcare and eldercare more affordable, protect a woman’s right to choose and solve the infrastructure problems that plague our district.

Key election issue: I believe we must fix eldercare. If we don’t turn our attention to the prohibitive costs and challenges of taking care of our aging parents, we are going to be at a crisis level within 10 years.

We need to remove restrictions from the Dependent Care Credit so that families can better afford the care they need. Further, we must examine long-term care planning programs and add resources for both clients and providers, mandate cultural competency training and other steps to promote better care for all of our residents, and require that long-term care facilities maintain clear policies to protect residents.

Example of a successful project: In 2011, the Rahway High School Social Action Club, which I ran, was given an award by the U.S. Green Building Association for “Water Champions” – a water use and conservation study and awareness program run in collaboration with the Rutgers University Water Resources Program, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and AmeriCorps. We were also recognized with resolutions from the Rahway City Council and the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders (now Commissioners) as well as by Kean University.

Example of a challenge faced: Though I could never in a million years compare my experiences to frontline workers during the early days of the pandemic, I am a teacher and had a special set of challenges in the spring of 2020. Rahway was hit particularly hard – students lost family members, a close friend and colleague lost both parents to COVID within a month of each other, and we lost two colleagues and friends – one to a heart attack and another to suicide. So many of my students were anguished and depressed. Many simply disappeared – they never showed up for virtual instruction. Still others got jobs to help their families. It was difficult, but I found that committing myself to just being there professionally and emotionally for my students and learning more about how to teach in a remote situation actually helped me during that time. Students are resilient, but they still had significant needs. The school community adapted to become what they needed.

On NJ’s gun laws: New Jersey has the third-lowest rate of firearm deaths in the country thanks to our common-sense gun legislation. I support the recent federal appellate court decision to dismiss the lawsuit challenging the new state law that allows the state attorney general to bring public nuisance claims against gun sellers and manufacturers.

On whether she supports the  Murphy administration’s climate change proposals: Yes. 

On housing affordability and property taxes: In order to address the daunting cost of living in the Garden State, there are several measures the Legislature can take, including but not limited to bringing back the estate tax, reinstatement of the 7% sales tax (average residents only see a nominal benefit – it benefits the wealthiest 2%), closing the combined reporting loophole, reinstating the apportionment formula and doing away with opportunity zone tax breaks.

Campaign website

The candidate did not respond to the questionnaire.

Age: 53

Hometown: Springfield

Occupation: Real estate

Personal background: Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. Graduated Morris County College with an A.S in Criminal Justice. Went to work as a police officer and detective for the Newark Police Department. Springfield resident for the last 16 years. Twice elected to township government and in the middle of my second elected term. I have been the public safety chair for the past five years.

Political background: Elected to Springfield Township Committee in 2018 and re-elected in 2021. Have served as two-time committeeman, two-time deputy mayor and mayor.

Why are you running for office? To keep New Jersey residents and students safe and protect pro-choice rights.

Key election issue:  Public safety.

Finding ways to fund more police for all departments.

Example of successful project: We have built and improved sports in Springfield with baseball and softball fields. All departments staffed and ready to help residents in my township

Example of challenge faced: Guiding Springfield through two devastating storms back to back in 2020 and 2021. We worked day and night for six months to restore our town to pre-storm conditions

On NJ’s gun laws: Gun laws in our state work well. I support gun ownership but also support background, mental and character checks for all. I also support full safety training, like I had to learn in the police academy.

On the Murphy administration’s climate change proposals: Yes, I support it but I would slow down the switch to electric. New Jersey isn’t ready to be fully electric within the next 10 years

On housing affordability and property taxes: Demand drives rent costs and that’s a hard one to take on. I do think there are ways to continue to improve the help hard-working families get as assistance but I would want to hear ideas from specialists in that area.

Final thoughts: If keeping New Jersey safe is a priority for residents, they need to choose someone who knows and understands how it is done. I have the law enforcement experience needed to guide our district.

Campaign website