Former Rocky Hill Mayor Ed Zimmerman is sizing up a Republican run for the Assembly in the 16th District.

A veteran executive director of the Somerset County Governing Officials Association Executive Director, Zimmerman has been talking to party leaders and examining the prospects of opposing incumbent Assemblymen Andrew Zwicker and Roy Frieman in 2019.

Highly motivated to go for one of the two battleground seats by all appearances, Zimmerman faces the possibility – at the very least – of fellow county resident Somerset Freeholder Mark Caliguire also taking another crack at an LD16 run.

Caliguire ran unsuccessfully last year on a ticket with former Assemblywoman Donna Simon, who hails from the Hunterdon portion of the district.

Area Republicans are encouraged by the dual dynamics of Governor Phil Murphy’s 2018 budget and the absence of a mayoral contest next year in heavily Democratic South Brunswick, which helped Dems’ turnout last year.