By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
In the past presidential election, Lee Eric Newton was best known as the Donald Trump supporter who sat on Nassau Street in front of Princeton University and had lots Trump lawn signs in front of his home in West Windsor., Now, he’s running for office himself, in a bid to defeat an incumbent lawmaker with a hefty war chest to defend her seat in the 15th Legislative district spanning parts of Mercer and Hunterdon counties., Newton has filed to run as a Republican against state Sen. Shirley K. Turner, who has served in Trenton first as an Assemblywoman starting in 1994 and then as a senator since 1998., Neither Newton nor Turner could be reached for comment Tuesday., Turner, in a campaign finance report filed earlier this year, had $675,196 available to spend on her race., The 15th district is made up of 10 towns, in the two counties, including Hopewell Township and Hopewell Borough. Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, who is part of the legislative delegation for the area along with Turner and Assemblywoman Liz Muoio, said Tuesday that he did not think the district is compatible with President Trump’s vision for America., He called it a “diverse” district with challenges that include urban education and revitalization., But Rimma Yakobovich, a Republican from West Windsor running for Assembly against the two Democrats, said Tuesday that she is unhappy with the direction of the state. For example, she points to Gusciora as someone who has spent more than 20 years in Trenton voting to raise taxes, like hiking the gas tax last year. She said that as a lawmaker, she would vote to repeal that increase., She also points to a “huge problem” with drugs in the state, and supports longer prison sentences for drug dealers and drug manufacturers., Yakobovich is running with Emily Rich, of Lambertville, for the two Assembly seats. Rich could not be reached for comment., Political observers see 2017 as shaping up as a good year for Democrats in the state. They already control both houses of the Legislature, 52-28 in the 80-member Assembly and 24-16 in the 40-member state Senate., The top of the ticket race will be the battle to replace Gov. Chris Christie, the two-term Republican whose public support has sunk. A poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University, in March, found he had a 20-percent-job-approval rating, which represented a slight improvement.
