JACKSON – The 12th District New Jersey Assembly race features four candidates vying for two seats on the November 4 ballot.
Incumbent Republican candidates Alex Sauickie and Robert Clifton are facing a challenge by Democrat candidates Freshta Taeb and Kyler Dineen.
The Jackson Times spoke with Taeb and Sauickie for the first of two articles. This article was planned to be Clifton and Dineen’s responses, but Dineen did not respond to questions in time.
Clifton is 56 years old, married to Tracy Clifton and has two children, RJ (23) and Jack (19). He lives in Matawan and is currently employed as the director of government affairs for Comcast Cable.
Clifton served as mayor of Matawan from 1996 to 2005, County Freeholder from 2005 to 2012 (Freeholder Director in 2011), 12th District Assemblyman since 2012 and Assistant Minority Leader since 2024.
The Jackson Times asked him what issue he felt was the most critical to his constituents to which he responded, “affordability, taxes and energy costs have soared during Governor (Phil) Murphy’s time as governor. Overdevelopment from warehouses to affordable housing mandates, New Jersey is quickly losing its title as ‘The Garden State’.”
He also noted the issue of “school funding which in the seven years of the current school funding formula, school districts in the 12th Legislative District have lost over $50 million while the state budget has increased by over $20 billion.”
As to being accessible to the public “I believe I am extremely accessible. I meet with constituents every week on a wide range of topics. I have a full-time staff to assist constituents and we hold mobile office days around the district,” the candidate added.
As to his background experience that he feels best assist him in representing the public and serving in his role he said, “I believe that as a former mayor and freeholder, along with my current service in the Assembly, if I am re-elected to represent the 12th District, I have dealt with statewide issues such as overdevelopment and taxes at the local and county levels.”
When asked what he has learned during this campaign season he remarked that he was “proud of the campaign that Alex and I have been running. We understand the problems facing New Jersey’s families and we have ideas on how to solve them.”
“I know the problems and the issues but on the campaign trail you get to speak with the residents and hear their real-life stories and struggles. It gives you the insight you need when crafting legislation,” Clifton added.
When asked what he would like people know about him most he answered, “I am committed to serving the residents of the 12th district and fighting to make New Jersey a safer and affordable place to raise a family or start a business or retire in.”
In a related question about what distinguishes him as a candidate Clifton responded, “I think that the experience I have gained as a local, county and state level official distinguishes me as a candidate. There are very few issues that I have not dealt with before.”
