Sen. Greenstein faces challenge from Ileana Schirmer
HAMILTON » One of the biggest election races in the Hamilton area this year is the showdown between Democratic State Sen. Linda Greenstein and Republican challenger Ileana Schirmer.
Greenstein since December 2010 has represented parts of Mercer and Middlesex counties as the state senator for New Jersey’s 14th Legislative District, which includes all of Hamilton Township and surrounding communities. She previously served in the State Assembly for six terms and has built her political career advocating for the working poor — she supports a $15 state minimum wage — and environmental protection, among other causes.
Greenstein is the mother of one son and a Plainsboro resident who often appeared at public events with her late husband Michael Greenstein, who died Wednesday. The senator in a September interview with The Trentonian talked about how she, her husband and their son had all been educated in public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. Greenstein said she believes “strong public schools are the backbone of a successful New Jersey.”
The Hamilton Township Education Association of teachers and educational professionals wants Schirmer to beat Greenstein in Tuesday’s general election; meanwhile, the senator enjoys fullfledged support from the statewide New Jersey Education Association. Greenstein has many endorsements from other labor unions, Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club of New Jersey, but Schirmer grabbed bigger headlines when she received the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida this summer.
Schirmer currently serves as a sitting councilwoman in Hamilton Township. She is a married mother of two and an entrepreneur who once ran a successful staffing firm and preschool before getting elected to town council in 2013. She won re-election to Hamilton Council in 2015 and has been a vocal advocate for consolidating Hamilton’s big-government, disjointed fire service into something more efficient and effective. Greenstein also favors consolidation and has attended Hamilton firefighter rallies supporting the cause.
During a radio appearance on New Jersey 101.5 earlier this year, Schirmer told radio personality Bill Spadea the main reason she’s running for state Senate is because she’s among the many New Jerseyans who “are sick and tired of politicians mismanaging our money. They take our taxes, spend it in ways that just does not make sense and every time they run out of money they go back to the ATM — which is us — and they withdraw more money from our pockets, and I am tired of it.”
Schirmer during her radio appearance said Hamilton Council has “run a tight ship” of keeping the township’s finances healthy during her tenure on the local governing body — although Schirmer last year supported a 1.5 percent increase on Hamilton’s municipal tax levy against the recommendation of Hamilton’s Republican Mayor Kelly Yaede, who wanted to hold the line on taxes. Schirmer suggested the tax increase was needed to boost Hamilton’s cash surplus to healthier levels.
Greenstein supported legislation last year that raised the gas tax by 23 cents per gallon. She defended her vote, telling The Trentonian in March that the state had “crumbling infrastructure” that needed to be addressed by raising revenue to fix the “dangerous roads.”
Voters across the 14th District will determine whether Greenstein gets four more years to serve alongside a new governor or whether Schirmer gets hired for the job that pays $49,000 per year.
The municipalities within the 14th District include Cranbury, East Windsor, Hamilton, Hightstown, Jamesburg, Monroe, Plainsboro, Robbinsville and Spotswood.