Asbury Park Press

Here’s most of what we needed to know in deciding which two candidates to endorse in the 11th District Assembly race:

The incumbent Democrats, Joann Downey and Eric Houghtaling, have backed most of Gov. Murphy’s profligate agenda for the past two years, including support for the millionaire’s tax, expansion of paid family leave and the nuclear subsidy fee. And both are hesitant to embrace much of state Senate President Steve Sweeney’s fiscal reforms, which offer the best hope for keeping taxes and spending from spiraling even further out of control.

Here's another reason: Democrats have a 54-26 edge in the Assembly. Only a handful of seats are competitive — District 11 being one of them. Republicans could badly use this seat, which they held until 2015, when Monmouth County party registration rolls began to become more favorable to the Democrats.

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District 11 Republican candidates Michael Amoroso and Matthew Woolley have been at a distinct disadvantage in campaign fundraising. The General Majority PAC, which is tied to Democratic South Jersey political boss George Norcross, has poured lots of money into the race, bankrolling glossy campaign mailers that have attempted to portray the Republicans as clones of President Trump. If there is anything positive about the PAC's focus on the district, it's that Democrats view it as vulnerable.

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For District 11 residents concerned about high property taxes and a school funding formula that left about half of Monmouth County school districts with less aid than they had a year ago — with more cuts scheduled for the next few years — Amoroso and Woolley offer the best hope for some relief. Woolley proposes rededicating the income tax to fully fund the schools.

Reducing property taxes is the top priority for Amoroso, who is president of the Freehold Township Board of Education and a local businessman, and for Woolley, a studio technician at a regional sports network who served as chief of staff to Assemblyman Sean Kean, R-Monmouth, and deputy director of strategic initiatives for Bob Hugin’s U.S. Senate campaign. He lives in Ocean Township.

Mindful of the fact that reducing property taxes is the top concern of her constituents, Downey, an attorney, also has identified that as her top priority, a claim not borne out by her voting record over the past four years in Trenton.

Downey and Houghtaling, an electrician and former mayor of Neptune Township, both pointed to their helping bring more school aid for the Freehold Borough School District as one of their biggest accomplishments. Unfortunately, they seem less concerned about the school districts that ended up with less aid, including Freehold Township, where Downey lives, and lackadaisical about the need to provide transparency about the revised school aid formula. Several school districts that believe they have been unfairly shortchanged have been forced to sue the state to provide specifics about how the aid distribution is calculated.

Both Republican candidates opposed Attorney General Gurbir Grewal's immigration directive that would limit the ability of local law enforcement to work with ICE, while both Democrats support it. Downey is the only District 11 Assembly candidate to support legalization of recreational marijuana.

Republicans — and taxpayers — need more voices in Trenton. Amoroso and Woolley have a legitimate shot at winning in the 11th District. Help put them over the top.

District 11 includes the following Monmouth County municipalities: Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Colts Neck, Deal, Eatontown, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Interlaken, Loch Arbour, Long Branch, Neptune, Neptune Township, Ocean Township (Monmouth), Red Bank, Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township, Tinton Falls, West Long Branch