Democrats hold dim hopes for win in the 21st District

BY JULIE O'CONNOR

It's always a lopsided race in the staunchly Republican 21st District, and the four candidates vying for two Assembly seats on Tuesday say it won't be much different this year.

But Democrats Bruce Bergen and Norman Albert, both attorneys who have run unsuccessfully in the past, maintain that facing off against incumbent Republicans Nancy Munoz and Jon Bramnick still furnishes a platform to spotlight their issues.

The 21st District includes parts of Union, Morris and Somerset counties.

"It's obviously a long, uphill battle for Democrats in the 21st," Bergen said, "but there should be a choice on the ballot even if it's a difficult district for a Democrat to win in."

In the overwhelmingly Democratic 20th District -- comprising Elizabeth, Kenilworth, Roselle and Union Township -- the Assembly race is uncontested as incumbent Democrats Joseph Cryan and Annette Quijano face no Republican opponents.

After fending off their own party's right wing in the 21st District primary, Munoz and Bramnick hope their moderate record will allow them to appeal to the center of both parties.

Munoz was appointed to her Assembly seat following the death in March of her husband, Eric Munoz, a trauma surgeon and professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Bramnick, an attorney who lives in Westfield, is a former Plainfield city councilman who has been a state assemblyman since 2003. He is the third-ranking Republican in the Assembly, and in his spare time performs stand-up comedy at charity auctions.

Bramnick has supported laws on pedestrian safety, and said he wants residents selected at random every few months to be allowed to address the Legislature with their problems.

Munoz, a nurse for more than 35 years who lives in Summit, said she will advocate for measures to train more nurses to address the current shortage, and for a Breathalyzer device that prevents repeat drunken drivers from starting their cars while intoxicated.

While all the candidates expressed their desire to control wasteful spending, Albert, a former Cranford committeeman and mayor, said cuts should not be made indiscriminately.

Police, fire and schools should be "untouchables," he said.

"They say we can do more with less, and I just don't believe it's so," Albert said. "We need to make sure we maintain the services we need even in hard times."

Bergen, who serves as Springfield Township attorney, agreed funding should be protected for education, health care and the environment. He said he doesn't believe in "change for change's sake," but questioned whether Munoz has sufficient experience for the Assembly.

In response, Bramnick said the Democratic challengers "don't have legislative experience in Trenton either," and Munoz added she "would argue with anybody who said I wasn't qualified to do this. There are very fine legislators currently in office whose first elected position was at the state level."

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