Will Democrats play in Somerset County?
By Wally EdgeJames Dowden, a Democrat who spent twenty years as the Mayor of Bridgewater, a Republican town of 42,900 people in Somerset County, has not ruled out a bid for the State Senate in the sixteenth district. Many Republicans expect the incumbent, Walter Kavanaugh, to retire after 32 years in the Legislature, and the conventional wisdom is that Assemblyman Christopher Bateman will emerge as the leading candidate for the Senate. Before his retirement, Dowden was the Vice President for Administration at Raritan Valley Community College, where Bateman's father, former Senate President and gubernatorial candidate Raymond Bateman, was the longtime Chairman.
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In recent years Somerset County has been supporting Republicans
In recent years Somerset County has been supporting Republicans in state-wide races by much narrower margins, but Republicans still are winning there. Plus, Somerset continues to send Republicans to most local offices and the legislature. In the upcoming legislative elections, Dems will probably focus more on retaining their Senate and Assembly seats in other GOP-leaning areas (ex. Monmouth-12, Cape May-1, and Atlantic-2) instead of "acquiring" any new ones.
This just looks like of those "inside baseball" what-ifs, that g
This just looks like of those "inside baseball" what-ifs, that get thrown here from Somerset County from time-to-time.
If Dowden ran in the 16th, he would just get all his GOP buddies upset.
Watch out for the Dowden-Flannery 16th senate what-if---"the Battle of the two Bridgewater Mayors". I can see that coming next.