З legislative redistribution Keeping his district almost completely intact, State Sen. Sam Thompson (R-Old Bridge) said today that it is “very likely” that he will run for re-election in 2023.
Thompson, the state’s oldest lawmaker at the age of 86, was first elected to the Assembly in 1997 in Manmouth County, which also included his hometown of Old Bridge. If he wins re-election, he will turn 92 when his next term ends.
In 2011, a change of district tore up its 13th county and placed it in the new 12th county, which included parts of Middlesex, Manmouth, Ocean and Burlington counties. The new, solid Republican constituency had a Senate seat that was open, and Thompson won the Senate primaries without opposition.
For a short time it looked like Thompson’s 12th district could be torn apart again by this year’s redistribution process; the original map proposed by Republicans placed Old Bridge in a highly competitive area of Middlesex County, which also included the hometown of Democratic MP Sterley Stanley (East Brunswick).
«[Both parties] kind of sticks to me, but I’m not worried ” Said Thompson at the time.
But ultimately a compromise map, developed by Democrats and Republicans together, kept the area largely intact, taking away a small portion of Burlington County cities and adding new parts of Middlesex County.
“I lost three cities in Burlington County … but I captured two cities here in Middlesex County,” Thompson said. “One of them – Spotswood – when I first came to the legislature, the first two years I represented Spotswood, so I will return it. The second is the small town of Helmet. I’m not dissatisfied at all. “
