Assemblymen Kevin Egan (D-New Brunswick) and Joe Danielsen (D-Franklin) will seek re-election next year, setting up another competitive Democratic primary in the 17th legislative district.
“Yes,” Egan said when asked whether he plans to seek another term.
“I do,” Danielsen said.
The two incumbents faced a serious primary challenge last year from Loretta Rivers, a Piscataway Board of Education member who ran on Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s Democrats for Change slate.
Egan led the three-way contest with 11,428 votes. Danielsen received 10,564, while Rivers finished with 10,101 — coming within 463 votes of defeating Danielsen for the second Democratic nomination.
Egan and Danielsen collectively spent more than $400,000 on the primary. Rivers reported raising $5,994 and spending $4,296. She also received $2,955 from Fulop’s gubernatorial campaign.
Rivers won the Middlesex County portion of the district by 390 votes, while Danielsen carried Somerset County by 853 votes. She won Piscataway, North Brunswick, and South Bound Brook, and came within 40 votes of carrying New Brunswick.
In June 2026, an insurgent candidate for Piscataway council toppled a veteran incumbent, and an incumbent...