Assemblyman Erik Simonsen frames his agenda around protecting and strengthening South Jersey’s unique way of life. He emphasizes that Trenton’s policies too often prioritize North Jersey, leaving shore communities and rural towns behind. His focus is on redirecting resources and investment back home—supporting infrastructure upgrades, tourism, and agriculture so that families can thrive, young people can build their futures, and retirees can remain in the communities they love.

Simonsen believes family stability is the foundation of South Jersey’s future. He supports parental rights in education, safe neighborhoods, and housing affordability. His agenda emphasizes lowering the cost of living, ensuring seniors can age in place, and promoting schools that prepare students with practical skills and values.

Simonsen advocates cutting red tape, reducing taxes, and fostering an environment where entrepreneurs can succeed. He views small businesses as the backbone of South Jersey’s economy and seeks to balance growth with protecting the tourism and service industries that define the region. His agenda includes championing workforce development and honoring organized labor as critical to rebuilding opportunity in the region.

With New Jersey among the highest-taxed states in the nation, Simonsen consistently opposes wasteful spending and calls for balanced budgets. His agenda emphasizes fiscal restraint and demands that state government live within its means, returning more value to taxpayers and protecting future generations from unsustainable growth.

Safe communities are central to Simonsen’s agenda. He supports ensuring that police, firefighters, and first responders have the resources and respect they need to keep neighborhoods secure. His approach emphasizes accountability for criminals while prioritizing protection for law-abiding families.

As the son of a long-time coach and mentor, Simonsen connects his agenda to service and sacrifice. He supports policies that expand job opportunities, improve healthcare, and honor veterans with the benefits they’ve earned. This commitment extends to his belief in civic education—reintroducing civics in schools so young people understand public institutions, their rights, and their responsibilities as citizens.

Recognizing that South Jersey’s economy depends on its natural resources, Simonsen champions fair regulations for the fishing industry, investment in ports, and protections for local farms. His agenda balances economic use of natural assets with preserving them for future generations.

Simonsen was a leading voice in committee hearings on anti-Semitism legislation, working across party lines to ensure the bill passed unanimously after addressing free speech concerns. He emphasized the importance of distinguishing between protest and harassment, noting that students must be able to attend class without fear of intimidation. Simonsen has also expressed willingness to support similar protections against anti-Muslim harassment.

Drawing on his own experience as a longtime coach, Simonsen sponsored bipartisan legislation to ensure that stipends for coaches, band leaders, theater directors, and other extracurricular mentors count toward pensions. He argues that extracurricular leaders devote countless hours beyond the classroom and deserve compensation that reflects their contribution. Simonsen has connected this fight to a broader concern about underpaid public service roles in New Jersey and the strain created by two-year Assembly terms that force legislators into perpetual campaigning.

Simonsen has championed legislation directing the state to create a Career Education Guide for college students with disabilities, ensuring they are not left behind after graduation. He frames this as a return-on-investment issue: if families and taxpayers fund education, students should graduate with real career pathways. Simonsen has also supported grant programs like YouthBuild to give at-risk and disadvantaged youth work readiness skills across South Jersey.

Simonsen warns against Trenton policies designed for North Jersey that harm South Jersey’s tourism, agriculture, and small business economy. He has opposed proposals to eliminate tipping, which he argues would devastate restaurants and hospitality workers along the shore. He continues to fight for resources to return home from Trenton, noting that LD1 sends hundreds of millions in tax revenue to the state while receiving far less back.

Simonsen opposes state overreach that threatens farms and open spaces, particularly mandates that allow housing development through eminent domain on farmland. He argues for municipal decision-making authority, stressing the need to balance affordable housing goals with preserving agriculture, tourism, and environmental heritage.

Whether as mayor, coach, or legislator, Simonsen has worked to ensure communities have the resources they need to remain safe and resilient. He often stresses that the most meaningful part of the job is direct engagement with constituents — listening at town events, church, athletic competitions, and even music gigs. He views legislation not as an abstract exercise, but as a response to real-world needs expressed by the people of LD1.

Personally pro-life, Simonsen cites his faith and his wife’s background as a labor and delivery nurse. He supports exceptions when the life of the mother is at risk and opposes third-trimester abortions. While he voted against New Jersey’s current law, he respects the democratic process and has stated comfort with gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli’s proposed “reasonable compromise” plan as a middle ground for the state.

Assemblyman Erik Simonsen was born and raised in Cape May and Lower Township, New Jersey. He graduated from Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, completed coursework in special education at Rutgers University, and earned a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from the University of Scranton.

Simonsen worked in education for 32 years as a teacher, vice principal, and later Director of Athletics & Activities at Lower Cape May Regional School District. His classroom experience ranged from art and music to school-to-work programs for students with special needs. He also coached wrestling and football for many years and continues to compete as an endurance athlete.

Simonsen began his public service on the Lower Township Council in 2011 and later served as Mayor from 2017 to 2019. As Mayor, he emphasized fiscal conservatism, cutting taxes, building a $1.5 million municipal surplus, and leading revitalization projects along the Bayshore and Schellenger’s Landing.

In 2020, he was sworn into the New Jersey General Assembly representing Legislative District 1, serving alongside Senator Michael Testa and Assemblyman Antwan McClellan. His legislative work has included bills expanding opportunities for veterans in coaching, supporting small business recovery, reopening the Cape May MVC agency, and providing assistance with unemployment claims.

In Trenton, Simonsen serves on several key committees, including:

• Education Committee


• State and Local Government Committee


• Community Development and Affairs Committee


• Joint Committee on the Public Schools

He also participates in the Disabilities Caucus, reflecting his long career working with special needs students and his commitment to improving post-education workforce opportunities for young people.

Beyond public office, Simonsen is deeply connected to his community. He is an ordained deacon at Macedonia Baptist Church in Cape May, one of the county’s oldest congregations and home of the Harriet Tubman Museum.

A lifelong athlete, he continues to compete in triathlons, cycling events, and endurance races. He is also a professional musician and frontman of the band Twelve:01, with multiple albums released. His children’s CD “E is for Erik” was even considered for a Grammy nomination in 2015.

Family remains central to his life. He and his wife, Anna, raised two daughters, Katya and Viktoria, in Lower Township. He credits his late parents—his mother, a special education teacher, and his father, a long-time football coach—with inspiring his lifelong dedication to education, athletics, and service.