Coleman, Gusciora retain seats in 15th

The 15th District Assembly incumbents Reed Gusciora, D-Princeton Borough, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-Ewing, easily won re-election yesterday over their Republican challengers Kim Taylor and Werner Graf.

"A lot of the voters know mine and Bonnie's records," Gusciora said. "I think we capture the sentiment of our constituents. We do realize that times are tough economically. There are a lot of people hurting out there, and the people need to be assured that we understand their concerns."

"Reed and I both work very hard, we stay close to the community," Coleman said. "We're constantly and consistently out there. I think the key to our success in our district is that we don't ever go outside of it, we stay in the district."

In unofficial returns, Coleman was the top vote-getter with 22,758 votes, followed by Gusciora with 22,359. Taylor received 11,321 votes and Graf had 10,816 votes.

Both Gusciora and Coleman have served for more than 10 years in the Assembly. Coleman currently sits as the Assembly's majority leader, and post she has held since 2006, and Gusciora has served as deputy majority leader since 2008.

"It's a difficult district for Republicans, obviously," Graf said. "But we put up a pretty good fight, despite the handicap."

Taylor and Graf pinned their campaigns on pledges to reduce property taxes across the district by working to cut wasteful government spending.

Graf manages a technology company and lives in Hopewell Township. Taylor lives in Lawrence and works in the Hunterdon County treasurer's office.

Despite their easy victory, Gusciora said there was still a lot to tackle in the Assembly.

"There's a lot of work that still needs to be done," he said. "We still need to prioritize addressing the issue of high property taxes and getting the state's economy moving in a positive direction."

Coleman said she hopes to continue working on a package of reforms to the state's criminal justice system, while also working on addressing property taxes relief.

"We've got a whole lot of work to do," she said.

Contact Matt Fair at (609) 989-5707 or at mfair@njtimes.com.