Buccos, Carroll Once Again Represent 25th

It's a familiar story in a marginally less familiar setting: Republican incumbents easily won Assembly and state Senate races in the 25th Legislative District Tuesday.

The district itself was reconfigured earler this year (a full breakdown of its current municipalities is at the bottom of this post). But even after the changes, it remains fairly safe territory for GOP candidates running at the regional level.

"Redistricting was tough on Democrats," said Lew Candura, the chair of the Morris County Democratic Committee. "They extended the 25th, they made it very Republican. The northern and western parts of Morris County are also very Republican."

But Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, one of the winners in Tuesday's election, didn't buy that idea: "The Democrats didn't configure these districts to lose," he said.

Anthony M. Bucco of Boonton and Carroll of Morris Plains will return to their Assembly seats, having bested Gale Heiss-Colucci of Mine Hill and George Stafford Wharton. State Senator Anthony R. Bucco, the assemblyman's father, beat Democrat Rick Thoeni of Denville.

The elder Bucco said Gov. Chris Christie's influence helped Republicans this year. He said he looks forward to passing legislation that's part of the so-called "toolbox" (a series of reforms meant to help local governments stay under a property tax cap).

Bucco said he's also encouraged by progress made recently getting the NJEA, the state's teachers union, to enter discussions with the Christie administration. The union and administration have battled publically over moves to curb spending, often at the cost of public employee benefits or salaries.

"I advised their lobbyist last year that was the only way to make progress, and now they're willing to talk about reform, he said.

His son, the assemblyman, said the win "shows that we can reach across the political aisle and get results. now i'm ready to to back to Trenton and get to work.

Anthony M. Bucco and Carroll have both said previously that controlling spending and taxes would be among their priorities in a coming term. Carroll, known for a libertarian ethic, also said he'd work to curb over-regulation.

Collucci had said she'd work toward goals including property tax relief while maintaining services, job creation, environmental protection, educational improvement, and infrastructure improvement. Stafford had said he sees the entrenchment of paid professionals who are also major campaign contributors to candidates as the biggest obstacle to tax relief and shared services.