The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Republican parties in Middlesex and Somerset counties have endorsed an all-Franklin Township slate for the state Assembly and Senate races in the 17th Legislative District.
The candidates are all newcomers to the political scene: Daryl Kipnis for senate and Nadine Wilkins and Robert Quinn for assembly. Somerset County Republicans made their endorsements several weeks ago, their Middlesex County counterparts picked their candidates on March 25.
Should they all make it through the June primaries, the GOP slate will face off against Democratic incumbents state Sen. Robert Smith and state Assemblymen Joe Danielsen – also a township resident – and Joe Egan.
The 17th District is comprised of Franklin, Milltown, Piscataway, New Brunswick and North Brunswick.
A graduate of East Brunswick High School, Rutgers University and Seton Hall University School of Law, Kipnis is an attorney who has lived in the township since 2006.
Kipnis identified education, jobs, the state’s economy and the environment as his main issues.
“Above all, I will provide unprecedented levels of constituent service and transparency, as it is my every intention to redefine the expectations of voters in the 17th District of what their state Senator could and should be,” he said in a statement. “Regardless of how you have ever voted in any election before, know that I will tenaciously serve you with honor, with respect, and without hesitation.”
Wilkins, a township resident since 2009, identified herself as “a mom, former special education teacher, small business owner, and a concerned citizen.”
A newcomer to politics, Wilkins said “the opportunity to represent and be a voice for people in the community is what prompted me to run. I want to make a difference for the people in the community by working to make NJ affordable as well as securing our children’s future.”
Neither Quinn nor Somerset County GOP chairman Al Gaburo or Middlesex County GOP chairwoman Lucille Panos responded to requests for comment.
Quinn, an operations director for a data center and disaster recovery firm in northern New Jersey, is an opponent of Common Core and PARCC tests and has said that he would like to look at traffic issues and business vacancy rates in the district.
