Somerset County Republican Chairman Tim Howes released the following statement in response to Senator Vin Gopal’s endorsement of former Montgomery Mayor Sadaf Jaffer in the 16th Legislative District Assembly race.

“Welcome to the campaign Mayor Jaffer. Senator Gopal’s release tells the public that you will focus on infrastructure. During this campaign, the public should hear about your signature project, the Montgomery Municipal Building. The public should know why the price of the new Montgomery Municipal Building increased by a factor of sixty percent after you became mayor,” said Howes.

“The original cost of the project was $25 million. After Mayor Jaffer took over the project, the cost ballooned to $40 million. It’s this type of unrestrained spending that is making New Jersey unaffordable for the middle class. The 16th District needs creative problem solvers like Joe Lukac and Vinny Panico in the Legislature to check Trenton’s unrestrained spending.”

The 16th Legislative District covers parts of Somerset, Hunterdon, Mercer and Middlesex Counties. It contains the Somerset County municipalities of Branchburg, Hillsborough, Manville, Millstone, Montgomery, Rocky Hill and Somerville.

Manville Borough Councilman Joe Lukac and Hunterdon Central Board of Education President Vinny Panico are the presumptive Republican nominees for Assembly in the 16th District.