They're already trying to grin through the discomfort in LD11 - and that's a contest that won't be decided until November.

When the Hillel Yeshiva School in Long Branch honored retiring state Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-13) last week, two empty chairs stood in an otherwise packed house.

Democrat Vin Gopal occupied one of them; and sure enough, state Senator Jennifer Beck (R-11) grabbed the other, to force standing room only.

There the two of them were: the senator and the man who wants her seat, elbow to elbow and forced to make polite conversation. In a departure from what is likely to ensue with the unfolding intensity of this general election contest, their interaction was cordial.