R. Bruce Land (born June 24, 1950) is an American Democratic Party politician who represented the 1st Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2016 to 2020.
Bruce Land | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 1st District | |
| In office January 12, 2016 – January 14, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Sam Fiocchi |
| Succeeded by | Antwan McClellan Erik K. Simonsen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 24, 1950 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Vineland |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1969–1971 |
| Unit | 101st Airborne Division |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
| Awards |  Bronze Star (2) |
Early life
editLand grew up in Millville, New Jersey and graduated from Millville Senior High School as part of the class of 1968. He was drafted to serve in the United States Army and was assigned to duty with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam during the second year of his two-year enlistment from 1969 to 1971, and was twice awarded the Bronze Star during the Vietnam War.[1][2] Land attended Cumberland County College, where he majored in business marketing. Land had worked in management of a department store in Vineland. He made a career change and began working for the New Jersey Department of Corrections, assigned to Bayside State Prison in Leesburg and South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton until his retirement in March 2008 with the rank of captain.[2]
New Jersey Assembly
editLand ran as a team with Democratic incumbent Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak, and won his first bid for elected office, defeating Republican incumbent Sam Fiocchi and his running mate Jim Sauro. Land and Andrzejczak spent four times as much as their opponents and were supported by $1.5 million in independent advertising that claimed that Fiocchi had not paid taxes.[1] In Land’s 2019 re-election campaign he and his running mate Matt Milam lost the election to republicans Erik Simonsen and Antwan McClellan.[3]
Tenure
editLand voted against raising the states minimum wage to $15 an hour alongside Matt Milam.[4]
Committees Assignments
edit- Homeland Security and State Preparedness [5]
- Military and Veterans' Affairs
- Tourism, Gaming and the Arts
- Regulated Professions
Electoral history
editGeneral Assembly
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Erik K. Simonsen | 27,304 | 27.15% | |
| Republican | Antwan McClellan | 26,264 | 26.11% | |
| Democratic | Bruce Land (incumbent) | 23,778 | 23.64% | |
| Democratic | Matthew W. Milam (incumbent) | 23,234 | 23.10% | |
| Total votes | 100,508 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bob Andrzejczak (incumbent) | 32,554 | 31.2 |  3.3
| |
| Democratic | Bruce Land (incumbent) | 30,938 | 29.7 | 3.3
| |
| Republican | Jim Sauro | 20,445 | 19.6 |  3.0
| |
| Republican | Robert G. Campbell | 20,250 | 19.4 | 3.8
| |
| Total votes | '104,187' | '100.0' | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bob Andrzejczak (incumbent) | 20,231 | 27.9 | 0.7
| |
| Democratic | Bruce Land | 19,140 | 26.4 | 2.2
| |
| Republican | Sam Fiocchi (incumbent) | 16,818 | 23.2 | 1.8
| |
| Republican | Jim Sauro | 16,395 | 22.6 | 0.9
| |
| Total votes | '72,584' | '100.0' | |||
References
edit- ^ a b Miller, Michael. "Andrzejczak, newcomer Land win in 1st District", The Press of Atlantic City, November 3, 2015. Accessed June 5, 2017. "The Assembly race saw $1.5 million in Democratic political action committee cash for a TV campaign alleging Fiocchi was delinquent in paying his taxes. As of October 21, the Democratic candidates had outspent the Republicans four-to-one, according to campaign finance reports."
- ^ a b Smith, Joseph P. "2015 Election: 1st Legislative District Democrats", The Daily Journal (New Jersey), October 28, 2015. Accessed August 18, 2016. "A 1968 Millville high school graduate, Land was drafted in 1969 for a two-year hitch. He was sent to Vietnam in his second year, starting as a squad leader and then platoon leader for his last seven months."
- ^ "Ocean City Councilman Elected To NJ Assembly: What Happens Next". Ocean City, NJ Patch. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
- ^ "Legislature passes minimum wage bill". Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Assemblyman R. Bruce Land (D)". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
- ^ "NJ general Assembly 01". Retrieved December 29, 2019.
- ^ "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2017 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 29, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
- ^ "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly for GENERAL ELECTION 11/03/2015 Election" (PDF). Retrieved December 3, 2015.
External links
edit- Assemblyman Land's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature (Archive from December 18, 2019)
- New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms