New Jersey

New Jersey election 2025: What voters need to know about the 1st District Assembly race

Published

5 months ago

October 11, 2025

New Jersey election 2025: What voters need to know about the 1st District Assembly race

Democrat Carolyn Rush

Carolyn Rush grew up in Medford and graduated from Shawnee High School. She earned her degree from Montclair State University and has owned a home in Sea Isle City for 25 years, living there full-time for the past decade.

Rush is a retired engineer. Early in her career, she worked in the intelligent transportation industry on the initial implementation of E-ZPass in New Jersey and other states. She later spent nearly 20 years with Lockheed Martin, where she worked on the Aegis defense system.

Carolyn Rush, Democrat, Candidate for New Jersey Assembly. (campaign)

Rush said she entered politics out of frustration with partisanship and gridlock. She has made two unsuccessful bids for Congress in the 2nd District Democratic primaries, in 2022 and 2024. She said those campaigns gave her insight into the challenges of fundraising and campaigning, and she chose to run for the Assembly to bring her experience to Trenton.

What are Carolyn Rush’s priorities?

Rush said her top priority is protecting the rights of New Jersey residents against what she views as federal government overreach. That includes reproductive rights, LGBTQ protections, environmental safeguards and gun safety laws.

Rush said she supports expanding access to care and fully funding New Jersey’s Reproductive Freedom Act. She said that New Jersey ranks among the lowest states for gun violence and said she will work to maintain strong background check and safe-storage laws.

Rush said she would push for health care reform in New Jersey. She listed affordable housing as another major priority, saying she wants stronger enforcement of the state’s Mount Laurel doctrine, which requires municipalities to provide low-cost housing. She said she would also support consolidation of municipalities and school districts to reduce overhead and slow the rise of property taxes.

She highlighted beach erosion, flood preparedness and climate resiliency as urgent issues for shore towns. She said she supports resiliency planning but wants a more flexible approach to state regulations, reassessed every 10 years rather than projecting 75 years ahead. She also called for more investment in public transportation, especially in Cumberland County, to connect residents with jobs and attract businesses.

Why is Carolyn Rush running?

Rush said she wants to be a pragmatic voice in Trenton who can bring people together and find solutions.

“I am a problem solver. I’m pragmatic. I’m not someone who will just go along to get along,” she said. “If you’re looking for someone who will fight for the people of the district, that’s me. At the same time, I know how to guide structured conversations, find common ground and reach compromise. That’s where my strengths lie.”

Democrat Carol Sabo

Carol Sabo is the mayor of West Cape May, where she has served in local government since 2013, and as mayor since 2017.

She began her career in social work, spending more than 15 years with the state Division of Youth and Family Services in child protective services before working with children with developmental disabilities. She later worked in public education until her retirement in 2019.

Carol Sabo, Democrat, Candidate for New Jersey Assembly (campaign)

Sabo holds degrees from Gettysburg College and Rutgers University. As mayor, she has emphasized affordability, labor rights, environmental protection and sustainable development. She partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build affordable homes in the borough and has worked to strengthen infrastructure and community services for year-round residents.

What are Carol Sabo’s priorities?

Sabo said her top priorities would be health care, education and the environment.

She supports affordable access to health care and reproductive care as well as preserving reproductive freedoms, adding that medical decisions should remain between patients and doctors. On education, she said she would work to ensure full state funding and fair distribution across districts.

She has also called for a “balanced approach” to energy production that includes wind, solar, natural gas and clean nuclear power, while keeping costs affordable. She said climate change is a reality that New Jersey must address through stronger building codes and shoreline development policies.

Sabo said affordability and housing stability remain pressing issues for Cape May County, where longtime residents are being priced out by rising property values and the growth of short-term rentals.

“We need a balance of affordable housing alongside other types of housing,” she said.

She also pointed to the need for more resources in shore towns, including grocery stores, gas stations and repair shops to sustain year-round residents beyond the tourism season.

Why is Carol Sabo running?

Sabo said she wants to bring her experience as a social worker and mayor to Trenton.

“I’m a problem solver and a collaborator,” she said. “I don’t have an agenda other than doing what’s best for residents and taxpayers. I listen, I work across the aisle and I try to find reasonable solutions that people can live with.”

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New Jersey

Devils Out to Rattle the Leafs | PREVIEW | New Jersey Devils

Published

4 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Devils Out to Rattle the Leafs | PREVIEW | New Jersey Devils

THE SCOOP

The Devils began their season-high seven-game homestand with a decisive victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. The win was their second consecutive victory after picking up a win in St. Louis earlier in the week.

There’s not a lot of runway left in the season, and stringing together a run of victories is at the top of their minds. New Jersey is 11 points out of the final Wild Card spot, and 13 out of third in the Metropolitan Division. Tuesday will mark the Devils final game before the NHL Trade Deadline, which is on Friday at 3 p.m.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are having a down year, based on where the expectations were set heading into the season. The Leafs have struggled to gain any traction in their season and sit just two points ahead of New Jersey with 64. Toronto is 12 points out of third in the Atlantic Division, and nine points out of a Wild Card spot.

The Leafs have a tendency to give up an abundance of shots to their opponents, ranking first in the league in shots against, per game with 31.8, which bodes will for a Devils team that averages 29.4 shots per game, ranking sixth in the league. Despite their overall struggles, the Leafs do have the league’s fourth-best penalty kill, working at an 83.1 percent efficiency.

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New Jersey

Former Lumberton, New Jersey, mayor Gina LaPlaca pleads guilty to 2025 DUI, sentenced to treatment program

Published

16 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Former Lumberton, New Jersey, mayor Gina LaPlaca pleads guilty to 2025 DUI, sentenced to treatment program

A former mayor in Burlington County, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to DUI and child endangerment charges after a 2025 traffic stop, according to prosecutors.

Lumberton Township committee member Gina LaPlaca, 46, was indicted last spring on child abuse charges after county prosecutors said she was observed driving drunk with her young child in the car, while serving as the township mayor.

Police arrested her at her home after reviewing video from a witness showing her swerving out of her lane and nearly hitting a utility pole. Lumberton police discovered her blood alcohol concentration was .30%, over three times the legal limit of .08%.

On Monday, LaPlaca was sentenced to three years in a diversionary program for first-time offenders after pleading guilty to driving under the influence and a fourth-degree child abuse charge. As part of the plea deal, LaPlaca will avoid jail time as long as she abides by the terms of the program.

Under the terms of the Pretrial Intervention or PTI program, she must attend regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and comply with any requirements set by the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

Judge Craig A. Ambrose also ordered LaPlaca to have an ignition lock device on her car that will prevent it from starting up if the driver has consumed alcohol. She said in court she had already installed one in October 2025, the county prosecutor’s office said.

If LaPlaca violates the terms of the PTI program, she could be prosecuted for the child abuse charge.

LaPlaca completed an intensive treatment program in May 2025 and said in a statement that she is “fully committed to my recovery” and is doing the “daily, intentional work” that comes with it. She apologized to Lumberton residents while acknowledging a private struggle with alcohol addiction that was no longer private.

“The weight of my actions is something I carry deeply,” she said in a statement shared on social media. “What I did was wrong. It was dangerous. It was inexcusable. I drove while intoxicated with my child in the car — a choice that could have caused irreversible harm. That reality is something I will live with, and learn from, for the rest of my life.”

LaPlaca served as mayor through 2025 but remains on the township committee. Terrance Benson was sworn in as mayor of Lumberton this year.

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New Jersey

Newark-bound United flight returns to LA airport for evacuation after reported fire

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Newark-bound United flight returns to LA airport for evacuation after reported fire

NEWARK, New Jersey — A United Airlines flight headed to Newark, New Jersey returned to the Los Angeles airport Monday about 40 minutes after taking off for an emergency evacuation after a reported fire, authorities said.

All flights at the LAX International Airport were ordered to remain on the ground for about half an hour during the flight’s return and evacuation, according to advisories from the Federal Aviation Administration. No injuries were reported.

The flight, which was en route to Newark Liberty International Airport returned to LAX to address an issue with one of the engines, the airline said in a statement. There was no mention of a fire, but the LA Fire Department said it responded and there was a fire that was contained as of an hour after the plane’s landing.

The flight took off at 10:43 a.m., began to turn around at about 11 a.m. and landed again at 11:19 a.m., according to flight tracker FlightAware.

The LA Fire Department said they assisted with the evacuation of more than 250 passengers and crew. Passengers exited the plane on the taxiway using slides and stairs and were taken to the terminal, the airline said.

The airplane was a Boeing 787-9, a variant of the popular line of 787 Dreamliner long-haul aircraft.

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