MONROE: Local says he can ‘hack it’ in assembly

By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer
   MONROE — There’s no denying he’s young.
   In fact, if 21-year-old Republican primary candidate Brian Hackett succeeds in his bid for an assembly seat in the 14th District, he will be the youngest representative to have been elected to the house in the state’s history.
   But wisdom does not always come with age as this College of New Jersey junior, who appropriately enough is majoring in political science, has discovered.
   ”I’m just as qualified as any other individual who is running for the first time,” he said. “I’m qualified in a sense that the New Jersey government needs a young fresh perspective in the statehouse.”
   A lifelong resident of Monroe, Mr. Hackett first threw his hat into the political arena in 2006 as a recent high school graduate who ran for one of the Board of Education’s three open seats against eight other candidates.
   Although he fell short in the race, Mr. Hackett said he learned a number of “invaluable” lessons from his experience, including the ins and outs of local government, the art of debate and the importance of thoroughly researching the issues.
   Three years down the road, Mr. Hackett has served two terms as a Middlesex County Republican committeeman.
   His pre-adult accomplishments speak volumes about Mr. Hackett’s overachieving reputation as a Boy Scout who earned his Eagle Scout award at the age of 15, as a 2004 graduate of the FBI’s National Youth Leadership program and as a two-year representative to the school board while a Monroe Township High School student.
   Recently, working as research intern at the assembly’s Republican office, Mr. Hackett said his thirst for knowledge and political drive has only been intensified.
   ”It’s an opportunity I wish more state legislators have before they were in the house,” he said.
   Mr. Hackett said his real-life experience has been like most other New Jersey middle-class kids who have felt the crunch of the “last seven years of leftish rule in Trenton.”
   With the cost of living rising, property taxes soaring, affordable housing costs lingering, massive job cuts on the horizon and college students leaving the state in a mass exodus, Mr. Hackett said he has a lot of ideas to bring to the table.
   ”New Jersey was rated as the worst state to do business in,” he said. “To get out of this recession, we need to encourage job growth and decrease taxes, the exact opposite of what legislators are doing now.”
   The state government also should look to eliminate “elite bureaucratic patronage jobs” as opposed to targeting state workers, he said.
   ”The incumbents, they’ve had their chance to work and make the district better,” he said. “I believe we need new blood in Trenton,”
   Although Mr. Hackett has received full support from the Republican Party in Middlesex County, whether he will receive the Mercer County party’s endorsement is still up in the air, he said.
   ”I have the knowledge, I have the tenacity, and I have the will and the drive to run for this,” he said. “I received unanimous approval from the largest convention in the state. They’re thrilled that there’s a young voice that can bring people back into the party.”