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Simon concedes election, Zwicker officially wins

New Jersey Republican Assembly member Donna Simon conceded defeat to Democratic candidate Andrew Zwicker in the 16th District of the New Jersey AssemblyMonday.

Zwicker emerged on topNov. 9by 78 votes, after provisional votes were counted. Although Simon had the opportunity to ask for a recount of the votes untilNov. 18, she chose to concede the election.

Simon did not respond to a request for comment.

Zwicker had initially conceded defeat to Simon on Nov. 3, but a vote count the next day revealed that he was 29 votes ahead of her, and the final counting of votes in Middlesex County gave him a 78-vote lead.Zwicker explained that the elections eventually reached a point where, statistically speaking, he felt that he had the upper hand over his opponent.

He will be officially sworn into office onJan. 12, 2016.

Zwicker is the first Democratic candidate elected as a representative to New Jersey’s 16th Legislative District. The Democrats now hold 52 of the 80 seats, a majority in the New Jersey Assembly.

Zwicker is currently the Head of Science Education for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and noted that though he will still be involved with the University, his involvement will have to drop below 100 percent.

He will still be the head of science education, and will remain an advising fellow in Rockefeller College, he said. He also noted that he will not be teaching a writing seminar for freshmen in the spring, but that is not clear as to what his involvement with the Writing Center will be after that.

He explained that he is primarily looking forward to being the voice of the people of his district.

“There is now a voice for evidence-based decision making, which is my central platform,” Zwicker explained.

He noted that New Jersey currently has significant challenges, and that there will be a lot to do in terms of reforming them. However, he said is ready to begin working on them collaboratively.

“I look forward to being a part of the solution,” Zwicker said.

The elections took place on Nov. 3.

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