Phillip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Republican freeholders from Hunterdon and Somerset counties pounced on what they labeled “elitist” comments by Democratic Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker about their counties during a Democratic event in Princeton.
The freeholder boards of both counties, which make up part of the 16th legislative district that Zwicker represents, on Tuesday issued a joint statement in response to his remarks at a meeting of the Princeton Community Democratic Organization, in March. They provided a quoted excerpt of Zwicker’s comments, as well as a link to a YouTube video of him speaking.
“Because the 16th district, as I know you don’t want to accept, is well beyond our borders. It goes into Somerset County. Goes into Hunterdon County and goes into Middlesex County,” Zwicker said. “And Somerset and Hunterdon County are not quite like Princeton. I don’t know if you’re aware of that.”
But for officials of both counties, including Somerset County Freeholder and Assembly candidate Mark Caliguire, Zwicker’s remarks crossed a line.
“It was evident from watching Assemblyman Zwicker’s remarks in front of the Princeton Democrats that he wishes his legislative district included only Princeton and that he and many in the audience perceive themselves as superior to people who live in Somerset and Hunterdon counties,” Caliguire said in the statement. “It’s a shame to know that Mr. Zwicker judges someone’s worth based solely on their zip code or their ideology.”
Caliguire is running with former Assemblywoman Donna Simon against Zwicker and his running mate, Roy Freiman.
The Zwicker comments also upset freeholders in Hunterdon.
“At best, Andrew Zwicker was caught on tape pandering to his far-left base in Princeton. At worst, Assemblyman Zwicker actually believes his own elitist nonsense and is even more detached from reality than I thought,” Hunterdon County Freeholder Director John Lanza said in the same statement.
For his part, Zwicker issued a statement of his own Thursday in which he said the freeholder boards in both counties “made an unwarranted partisan attack that couldn’t be farther off base.”
“Using a partial video clip out of context for cheap political gain should be beneath these public officials, one of whom, of course, is running against me,” Zwicker said. “In reality, I was pointing out to supporters in Princeton that the political makeup of the district is diverse and not as heavily Democratic as in Princeton.”
Princeton, a part of Zwicker’s district, helped propel the first-term lawmaker to victory two years ago. His strong showing in town two years ago enabled him to upset Simon in a race that he won by 78 votes. He became the first Democrat to ever win in that district, made up of parts of Mercer, Somerset, Middlesex and Hunterdon counties.
But Al Gaburo, the chairman of the Somerset County GOP, reacting to Zwicker’s comments in March, said Thursday that the Democrat should move his legislative district office out of Montgomery.
“And so to be in Princeton and kind of make snickering comments about Somerset and Hunterdon country is offensive and, quite frankly, in my view, shows people sort of what his priorities are and who he really is,” Gaburo said.
Yet Zwicker said he would put his “bipartisan legislative record of representing the entire 16th district up against either of my opponents.”
“New Jersey faces great challenges when it comes to affordability, high-quality public education, clean air and water and open space preservation, and I’m working hard on these issues and growing an innovation economy that will benefit all,” Zwicker said. “I challenge my opponents to share their ideas for improving our state instead of a steady diet of the kind of partisan mudslinging that divides us as a state and a country.”
For his part, PCDO President Owen O’Donnell could not be reached for comment.
