Rachel Gouk – Lead

Katherine Nisky - Supporting

15th District Assembly Race
Democrats dominate election, take both Assembly seats

HAMILTON, N.J.  The 15th District Assembly Democratic incumbents, Reed

Gusciora and Bonnie Watson Coleman, dominated the election last week over their

Republican opponents, Kim Y. Taylor and Werner Graf.

The candidates attended their respective party’s campaign events Tuesday night

as the votes were being tallied. Other party members and residents from the 15th

District of Mercer County— Trenton, Ewing, Lawrence, Hopewell and Princeton —

attended.

Gusciora, 49, of Princeton Borough, will serve his eighth term in office, and

Assembly Majority Leader Coleman, 64, of Ewing, will serve her seventh term.

In unofficial reports from the balloting event, Coleman had the highest vote count

with 22,758 votes, followed by Gusciora with 22,359. Taylor received 11,321 votes and

Graf had 10,816 votes.

Former Hamilton Councilwoman Aileen Thorton attended the Mercer County

Democrats party on Tuesday night and shared strong views on the Democratic Party.

“Legislation in the 15th District will hopefully deal with the property tax issue,”

Thorton said. “They should also focus on job creation, health care and [providing]

affordable education.”
 According to Thorton, supporters of the 15th District include state employees,

women and minorities.

“I would think that the legislatures would create a stimulus package that helps the

people more than creation problems,” she said.

The placement of funds into property taxes has a positive effect on the views of

supporters.

“I think if they can bring more work to property tax, it would benefit our state,”

Thorton said.

Julie Willmot, a resident in the 15th District, is a strong supporter of the

Democratic Party, supporting individual rights, higher education and a woman’s right to

choose.

“Today it is absolutely [all about] the economy, employment and getting people

back to work,” said Willmot.

Willmot agrees with Coleman’s decision on New Jersey's law enforcement

ventures, supporting Coleman’s bill to convict the selling of drugs within 1,000 feet of a

public school.

“They should have a stiffer penalty for peddling drugs in close radius of a school,”

said Willmot, stating that there have been a few reported complaints brought up during

community meetings.

Willmot associates the Democratic Party with President Barack Obama.

 “They’re lucky they have a Democrat in the White House,” said Willmot, stressing

on the Recovery Act and the work force.

“The stimulus money is finding its way into New Jersey,” said Willmot. “And the

reason that’s important for us is because it is actually going to put people back to work.”

Gusciora and his campaign went out among the people to seek their support and

their vote.

“Although I’ve been in the office since 1995, the important thing is not to take the

office for granted. So we went out and knocked on doors, talked to voters and we ran a

mail campaign,” he said.

Gusciora acknowledges the difficulty he will have in improving the unemployment

rates.

“There are always difficulties because we’re in a global recession. People are

just angry out there, there’s a lot of fear,” he said. “And in addressing their concerns —

unemployment is high, property taxes are high, there are people losing their homes,

people are concerned about health care — all those issues overshadow the local state

assembly rights.”

At the same time, he said, the state has to start addressing education standards.

“Education is always a primary concern for people in New Jersey,” Gusciora

said. “People here have high education standards. We want to make sure students,

even college students, remain in school and have the opportunity to apply for student

aid.”
 Gusciora said that the incentive of offering aid would motivate students to pursue

a higher education.

“It helps boost the economy and keeps the state moving,” he said.

Confident about the future, Gusciora looks forward to another term in office.

“I’m glad I’m coming back for another two years,” said Gusciora.

Taylor and Graf of the Mercer County 15th District Republican Party did not

receive the poll results they were hoping to see Tuesday night.

When the poll results finally settled, Taylor had 17 percent of the votes and 16

percent voted for Graf. Independents Daryl Mikell Brooks and Charles Green barely

reached a 1 percent vote each.

Taylor and Graf would still like to see an increase in property value by making a

change in the growing property taxes. They believe that by preventing small businesses

from disappearing, they could focus on creating more jobs to solve the unemployment

crisis.

According to Taylor and Graf, the most vulnerable citizens in the 15th District are

being neglected and their rights need to be protected. They believe that people who do

not need financial assistance should be given the same amount of safety requirements

as those who are less fortunate. In general, they want to help senior citizens, children

and families to feel at home and not worry about being victims of crime.

Taylor and Graf claim there were financial errors made by the previous

administrators, and promise the people of the 15th District that no one would have to
pay for mistakes because there would not be any.

Republicans and Democrats alike were able to save money during the campaign.

Finance reports show the Assembly Democrats raised $6.8 million, and spent $4

million, and Assembly Republicans raised $2.9 million and spent $1.2 million.

Graf personally would like to see the federal government put more money into

education, including special education. He also believes that schools are the perfect

opportunity to experiment with going green and saving energy. He supports a woman’s

right to see an ultrasound in a life-altering situation.

An important issue in the community that Graf feels strong about is the Trenton

water sale. The city has transferred a large amount of money into the general budget,

and many taxpaying citizens are unaware of this problem. He aims to fight the issue and

protect the assets of the people in the 15th District.

“It is going to put Trenton into an even deeper hole,” Graf said of the water sale

issue Tuesday night. “It is not about authority, it is all about influence.”

Taylor is concerned with the state’s unemployment rate and claims Democratic

incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine has not acknowledged the unemployment rate increase

and has failed to provide the poor children with health insurance.

“With Christie as our governor we will be seeing great changes in New Jersey,”

Taylor said.