New Jersey's 16th legislative district
It gained the Democratic strongholds of Princeton and South Brunswick and lost Bridgewater, Mendham Borough and the Somerset Hills, all of which leaned Republican.[12] Long-time Senator Raymond Bateman (who had previously served from the 8th district and the Somerset County district) ran for Governor of New Jersey in 1977, losing to Brendan Byrne, with John H. Ewing taking Bateman's seat in the Senate and Elliott F. Smith taking Ewing's former seat in the Assembly.Peter Biondi won re-election and was joined in the Assembly by Denise Coyle, a member of the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders.[19] In 2011, Coyle declined to run for re-election as her Bernards Township home was moved out of the district[20] and the seat was won by Jack Ciattarelli, a member of the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders.Biondi's seat was then vacant again until Readington Township committeewoman Donna Simon was sworn in on January 30, 2012 [21] as an interim appointee pending a November 2012 special election where she defeated Marie Corfield by just under 1,000 votes out of 91,000 ballots cast.