Ned Thomson

Edward H. Thomson III (born 1953) is an American Republican Party politician who represented the 30th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly from August 24, 2017 to January 9, 2024.^[2] He replaced Dave Rible, who left office to serve as Director of the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.^[3] Thomson had previously served as mayor of Wall Township. He has served since 2022 as the Minority Conference Leader in the General Assembly.^[2]

Ned Thomson
Member of the New Jersey Assembly from the 30th Legislative District
In office August 24, 2017 – January 9, 2024
Preceded by	Dave Rible
Succeeded by	Avi Schnall
Personal details
Born	(1953-07-24) July 24, 1953 (age 71) Neptune City, New Jersey
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Sandi[1]
Children	Three[1]
Residence	Wall Township, New Jersey
Alma mater	New Jersey Institute of Technology College of Insurance[2]
Occupation	Actuary
Website	Legislative web page

Early life and education

Born in Neptune City, New Jersey, Thomson grew up in Avon-by-the-Sea, New Jersey, and attended Ranney School, Neptune High School and Blair Academy.^[4] Thomson attended the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he majored in actuarial science, and the College of Insurance, majoring in business administration.^[2]

Career

He served from 1995 to 2017 as a trustee of the New Jersey Public Employees Retirement System. He served on the Wall Township Board of Adjustment from 1990 to 1997 and on the township's Planning Board from 1997 to 2007 and again from 2013 to 2017. He served on the Wall Township Committee from 1998 to 2008, and was chosen by his peers to serve as mayor in 2002 and 2005.^[2] Thomson is president of E.H. Thomson and Co., which administers pensions for third party firms.^[1]

Having been nominated by Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie in June 2017, Assemblyman Dave Rible resigned his seat on July 17, 2017, to become Director of the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control after being confirmed by the New Jersey Senate.^[5][6] At a special convention held on August 4, Thomson was selected by Republican county committee members on the first ballot to replace Rible from a ballot of three candidates and was selected by acclimation to fill the ballot spot for a full two-year term the November election; for the interim seat, Thomson received 83 of the 154 ballots, ahead of Justin Flancbaum of the Lakewood Municipal Utility Authority with 53 votes and Jim Bean, a former councilmember from Belmar, with 18.^[7] He was sworn into office and took his Assembly seat on August 24.^[1]

In the November 2017 general election, Thomson (with 30,680 votes; 30.3% of all ballots cast) and his running mate, four-term incumbent Sean T. Kean (with 33,672; 33.3%), defeated Democratic challengers Kevin Scott (18,737; 18.5%) and Eliot Arlo Colon (18,160; 17.9%) to win both Assembly seats from the district for the Republicans.^[8][9]

In the 2023 New Jersey General Assembly election, Thomson lost re-election to Democrat Avi Schnall in what was described as "a major upset". Concurrently, Thomson’s running mates both won re-election (Senator Robert Singer and Assemblyman Sean Kean).^[10][11][12]

Election history

30th Legislative District General Election, 2023^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sean T. Kean (incumbent)	37,450	39.9
	Democratic	Avi Schnall	29,482	31.4
	Republican	Edward H. Thomson (incumbent)	18,076	19.3
	Democratic	Salvatore Frascino	8,868	9.4
Total votes			93,876	100.0
	Republican hold
	Democratic gain from Republican

2021 New Jersey general election^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Sean T. Kean	54,541	36.8	0.5
	Republican	Edward H. Thomson	52,678	35.5	1.7
	Democratic	Stephen Dobbins	20,800	14.0	0.4
	Democratic	Matthew Filosa	20,366	13.7	0.1
Total votes			148,385	100.0

2019 New Jersey general election^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Sean T. Kean	25,426	36.3	3.0
	Republican	Edward H. Thomson	23,662	33.8	3.5
	Democratic	Steven Farkas	10,063	14.4	4.1
	Democratic	Yasin “Jason” Celik	9,666	13.8	4.1
	The Other Candidate	Hank Schroeder	1,213	1.7	N/A
Total votes			70,030	100.0

New Jersey general election, 2017^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Sean T. Kean	33,672	33.3	1.2
	Republican	Edward H. Thomson III	30,680	30.3	3.6
	Democratic	Kevin Scott	18,737	18.5	2.6
	Democratic	Eliot Arlo Colon	18,160	17.9	4.2
Total votes			101,249	100.0

References

1. Staff. "Wall Township’s Thomson Sworn in as 30th Legislative District’s Newest Assemblyman", TAPinto.net, August 25, 2017. Accessed January 24, 2018. "Edward H. 'Ned' Thomson took his seat on August 24 as the new assemblyman for the 30th Legislative District, which includes Belmar and Lake Como. The former Wall mayor replaced David Rible, who left the post to become director of the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.... Thomson was tapped on August 15 during a special election of the district’s Republican Party County Committee to complete Rible’s term, and he will run for the seat on the GOP ticket in the November 7 general election."
2. Assemblyman Edward H. Thomson, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed February 20, 2022.
3. Johnson, Brent. "Here's the new face in the N.J. Assembly", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 19, 2017. Accessed January 25, 2018. "A former mayor of Wall Township will soon be sworn in as the newest member of the New Jersey Assembly. Edward 'Ned' Thomson, a Republican, is scheduled to take the oath of office Thursday to begin representing the Jersey Shore's 30th legislative district in the Assembly, the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature."
4. About Assemblyman Ned Thomson, Facebook. Accessed January 25, 2018. "Edward H. (Ned) Thomson III was born in Neptune and grew up in Avon-by-the-Sea. He now resides in Wall Township and has been a lifelong resident of Monmouth County. He attended Ranney School in Asbury Park/New Shrewsbury, played football for Neptune High School, and attended Blair Academy in Warren County."
5. Cervenka, Susanne. "Rible nominated to lead NJ liquor licensing agency", Asbury Park Press, June 15, 2017. Accessed January 24, 2018. "District 30 Assemblyman David Rible confirmed he was nominated Thursday night to lead the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the state agency that oversees the sale of alcohol in New Jersey."
6. Johnson, Brent. "Christie appoints top Republican lawmaker to state post", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, July 18, 2017. Accessed January 24, 2018. "A former top Republican state lawmaker has been sworn in as the new director of New Jersey's Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the board that regulates alcohol sales in the state. David Rible, who was the second-highest-ranking Republican in the state Assembly, assumed the job Monday – about a month after Gov. Chris Christie, a fellow Republican, nominated him and about two weeks after he was confirmed by the state Senate, the Assembly Republican office said. The move leaves a vacancy in the Assembly, the lower house of the state Legislature, with less than five months before an Election Day in which all 80 seats of the chamber are up for grabs."
7. "Thomson Is Elected On First Ballot In LD 30", More Monmouth Musings, August 14, 2017. Accessed January 25, 2018. "With 83 votes from the 154 delegates present, Assemblyman Thomson easily surpassed the 50% +1 requirement to be elected. Justin Flancbaum, the Executive Director of the Lakewood Municipal Utility Authority received 53 votes. Former Belmar councilman Jim Bean received 18."
8. Official List Candidates for General Assembly For General Election 11/07/2017 Election Archived December 5, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of State, dated November 29, 2017. Accessed January 24, 2018.
9. Barchenger, Stacy. "NJ elections: No change in District 30 representation", Asbury Park Press, November 7, 2017. Accessed January 24, 2018. "Incumbents holding their seats, according to unofficial counts in Ocean and Monmouth counties Tuesday night, were: Sen. Bob Singer of Lakewood and Assemblymen Sean Kean and Edward Thomson, both of Wall. By a solid margin of about 10,000 votes each they defeated challengers Amy Sara Cores, of Howell, for Senate and Assembly hopefuls Eliot Arlo Colon of Brielle and Kevin Scott of Howell, all Democrats."
10. Johnson, Brent. "Democrats have big night in battle for N.J. Legislature", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, November 8, 2023, updated November 28, 2023. Accessed December 25, 2023. "In a major upset in the Shore’s 30th District, Democrat Avi Schnall won an Assembly seat in the longtime Republican stronghold that includes Lakewood, home to one of the East Coast’s fastest-growing Orthodox Jewish populations. Schnall, a top Orthodox leader in the township and a former Republican, ousted Republican Ned Thomson, whose two running mates — Sen. Robert Singer and Assemblyman Sean Kean — won re-election."
11. Connolly, John. "NJ election results 2023: State Senate, Assembly seats decided", The Record, November 9, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023.
12. Official List Candidates for General Assembly for General Election November 7, 2023, New Jersey Department of State, December 6, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023.
13. "Candidates for General Assembly - For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2023 Election" (PDF). New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
14. "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For GENERAL ELECTION 11/02/2021 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
15. "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For GENERAL ELECTION 11/05/2019 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. December 2, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
16. "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2017 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 29, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 5, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2018.

External links

• Legislative webpage

New Jersey General Assembly
Preceded by Dave Rible	Member of the New Jersey General Assembly for the 30th District August 24, 2017–present With: Sean T. Kean	Succeeded by Avi Schnall