Linda Gaglione

One election next week that has received virtually no attention: a special election for Neil Cohen's seat in the State Assembly.  Democrat Annette Quijano, who won a special election convention last summer after Cohen's resignation, faces Republican Linda Gaglione, a former Union Township school board member.  Expect Quijano, who has outraised Gaglione $52,175 to 0, to win this solidly Democratic district by  a wide margin.

Union County Republicans have chosen Union Township Board of Education President Linda Gaglione to challenge Assemblywoman Annette Quijano in the 20th Legislative Direct.

Gaglione unsuccessfully challenged State Sen. Ray Lesniak last year, getting 4,478 votes to Lesniak’s 9,760.  She was unanimously chosen to challenge Quijano at a county committee meeting on Tuesday night in Kenilworth. 

Quijano was recently sworn into office after being narrowly chosen by the Union County Democratic Committee last month to replace Assemblyman Neil Cohen, who resigned after child pornography was allegedly found on his legislative office computer.

Several months ago, there were suggestions that Genovese might get support -- mostly financial -- from a group of key Democratic insiders who wanted to use the 21st district State Senate campaign as a form of retaliation for Kean's U.S. Senate race against Robert Menendez last year. But Democrats now concede that Genovese has turned out to be a weak and largely unfocused candidate with little chance to score an upset in a legislative district where Menendez won 46% one year ago. Genovese's failure to mount an effective campaign has allowed Kean to spend money in other districts. Kean will likely be re-elected, probably by his usual margins, and seems well positioned to become the next Senate Minority Leader.

Mildred Barry Hughes, a Democrat from Union County, was the first woman to win election to the New Jersey State Senate when she won in 1965. She previously served three terms in the State Assembly.: Rutgers University Libraries PhotoIt's a minor correction at best: speaking at a meeting of Women Advocating for Good Governmen (WAGG), a division of the Women's Political Caucus of New Jersey, State Senator Diane Allen she was the eighth woman in New Jersey history to be sworn in to the State Senate. "It still upsets me," Allen said. "Hundreds of years -- eight women."

But actually, Allen was the ninth woman to serve in the State Senate. She was preceeded by Mildred Barry Hughes (D-Union) in 1966, Jerry English (D-Union) in 1971, Wynona Lipman (D-Essex) in 1972, Anne Martindell (D-Mercer) and Alene Ammond (D-Camden) in 1974, Leanna Brown (R-Morris) and Catherine Costa (D-Burlington) in 1984, and Martha Bark (R-Burlington) in 1997. Allen and Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) took office in January 1998.