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Charles Laspata, a union electrician from Millville, filed petitions in the spring to challenge Republican incumbent Michael Testa for his 1st Legislative District Senate seat.

It does not sound like hes done much about the campaign since then.

Democratic leaders in Cape May and Cumberland counties say they have not heard from Laspata, and attempts to contact the candidate through email, social media and by phone have been unsuccessful.

We havent had any contact with him, said S. Harvey Roach, chairman of the leadership committee for Cape May County Democrats. The candidates were picked in Cumberland County and introduced to Cape May County.

But there does not seem to be any more contact with the candidate from the Cumberland County party.

He hasnt spoke to me, said former Cumberland County Democratic party Chair Nancy Sungenis on Tuesday. She led the party when Laspata filed petitions to run. The current party leader, Kevin McCann, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Laspata has not withdrawn from the race, but hed be easy to miss. His name does not appear on a flyer for a meet the candidates event the Cape May County Democrats plan to hold remotely Sept. 18, at which his running mates, Assembly candidates Damita White-Morris and Eddie Bonner, are set to speak.

He also is missing from the candidate profiles on the respective websites of the Cumberland County and Cape May County Democratic parties.

In his second term in office, state Sen. Mike Testa, R-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, has b

He has no campaign website of his own, and there is little activity on his personal Facebook page. The website of New Jerseys Election Law Enforcement Commission does not show any of the required campaign finance forms have been filed for the primary election.

Campaign finance forms for Testa from June show his campaign had more than $230,000 left at the end of the primary.

Finance reports from the Assembly side show Republican incumbents Erik Simonsen and Antwan McClellan with a closing balance of $31,440 at the end of an uncontested primary, while Democrats White-Morris and Bonner did not raise any money.

Its possible the Democrats have been busy raising money all summer, said John Froonjian, executive director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University. But he said there does not seem to be any campaign activity from Laspata at all. That includes actions that dont cost the campaign anything, such as communicating with news media or filling out a questionnaire for Ballotpedia.

It is tough to be a Democrat these days in the 1st District and in much of South Jersey, which has trended Republican in recent elections, Froonjian said Monday. But I think its a fair question for the media and voters to ask whether this is a candidacy in name only or will the candidate or the slate actually be out seeking votes or running ads.

Meanwhile, Testa appears to be a rising star, building a statewide profile despite being in the minority party in the Senate.

The district which encompasses all of Cape May County, most of Cumberland County and three towns in Atlantic County had once been firmly Republican, but then-Democrat Jeff Van Drew put together a team that kept the district blue for a decade before running successfully to succeed U.S. Rep. Frank Lobiondo, R-2nd, in 2018, bringing that seat to the Democratic column for the first time since Bill Hughes announced he would not run for reelection in 1994.

Van Drew became a Republican in his first term, throwing his support behind then-President Donald Trump, shortly after Testa, Simonsen and McClellan flipped New Jerseys 1st District to the GOP, ousting Van Drews picks of Bruce Land, Matthew Milam and Bob Andrzejczak.

The 2nd Legislative District has hosted the top-spending race three times since 2001 and ranked in the top five six times, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. This year, however, spending has been light so far.

That was a relatively close race, but the GOP teams reelection effort in 2021 was not, with the incumbents far outpolling the Democratic challengers that year.

This spring, Republicans challenged Laspatas place on the ballot, according to a story in the New Jersey Globe in April, which stated that Laspata had gathered just 115 signatures for his place on the primary ballot. A judge was not convinced enough of those signatures were invalid to remove him from the ballot, the news story states.

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Contact Bill Barlow:

609-272-7290

bbarlow@pressofac.com

Twitter @jerseynews_bill

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Democrat challenging Testa is ghosting the campaign - Press of Atlantic City