TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey primary voters assured that the state will have a woman representative in Congress next year, while U.S. Sen. Cory Booker will face a retired Washington policy consultant in a race the Democrat is heavily favored to win.
State Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman won a battle of state lawmakers in the 12th District Democratic primary on Tuesday, defeating state Sen. Linda Greenstein and two others. Physician Alieta Eck, who ran unopposed, picked up the Republican nomination in the heavily Democratic district stretching from Trenton to Plainfield. The winner will become New Jersey’s first female representative in a dozen years, succeeding the retiring Rep. Rush Holt.
Voters also set up a potentially competitive 3rd District general election battle between former Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur, a self-funded Republican, and Burlington County Freeholder Aimee Belgard, who easily won a three-way Democratic primary.
MacArthur, a former insurance executive, poured $2 million of his own money into the race against perennial candidate Steve Lonegan, who spent $800,000, including $300,000 of his own. Both moved into the district to run.
The current congressman, former Philadelphia Eagle Jon Runyan, a Republican, is not seeking re-election in the district that cuts across the center of the state from the Philadelphia suburbs to the shore.