Two new candidates have emerged to contend for the twenty-fourth legislative district assembly seats, currently occupied by Parker Space and Gail Phoebus.

Senator Steve Oroho announced that he will run on the same ticket as current assemblyman Parker Space and new candidate Harold Wirths.

Gail Phoebus was summarily dumped from the ticket, in what has become the party of Oroho, when she openly criticized the bill sponsored by the senator to hike the gas tax. Phoebus’s plans for retaining her current seat are not yet made public.

Oroho’s gas tax increase has opened the door for a new set of Republican candidates who are openly opposed the new tax. Nathan Orr, of Branchville, and David Atwood, of Sparta, have announced they will be running on a joint ticket. Orr ran in the Republican primary in 2015 but lost, garnering only 12% of the vote while Space and Phoebus received 40% and 37% respectively. Atwood has never held or run for public office.