Three Democratic incumbents kept their State Senate and Assembly seats in New Jersey’s 14th Legislative District, once all votes were officially tallied after midnight early Wednesday.

The race was watched closely as Senator Linda Greenstein (D) had a fierce challenger in Richard Kanka (R). Kanka’s daughter Megan was raped and murdered years ago at the age of seven. His advocacy for Megan’s law offered him nationwide name recognition. However, it was not enough.

“I got a very gracious concession call from Mr. Kanka, and I want to give him and his wife great credit for the work they did on Megan’s Law,” Greenstein said Tuesday night in Hamilton. The 14th district consists of towns in Mercer and Middlesex counties.

Greenstein defeated Kanka 55%-45%.

Assemblymen Wayne DeAngelo (D) and Dan Benson (D) held on to their seats as well, earning 29% and 28% of the vote respectively.

During their victory speeches, all three thanked the local labor groups for their support.


Video by Dino Flammia

“They said we were one of the top three contested districts in the state of New Jersey. Organized labor, my brothers and sisters, we proved them wrong,” said DeAngelo.

Greenstein said the first item on the Senate’s agenda is house leadership. They are expected to discuss house roles at some point this week.

As for the issues concerning New Jersey residents, Greenstein said, “We’re going back to our jobs issue, back to our tax issue, and of course, education is going to be a really big issue.”

She explained that one of the advantages of being on the Senate Budget Committee is almost every bill comes through her first.

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