Samuel Pinkava

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Samuel Pinkava

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Democratic Party

Education

Bachelor's

University of Maryland, 2008

Graduate

University of Maryland, 2009

Personal

Religion

Christian

Profession

Teacher

Samuel Pinkava (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New Jersey General Assembly to represent District 9. He did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on June 10, 2025.

Pinkava completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2025

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2025

General election

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 9 (2 seats)

Incumbent Gregory E. Myhre, incumbent Brian Rumpf, Lisa Bennett, and Rosalee Keech are running in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 9 on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate
		Gregory E. Myhre (R)
		Brian Rumpf (R)
	Submit photo	Lisa Bennett (D)
	Submit photo	Rosalee Keech (D)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 9 (2 seats)

Lisa Bennett and Rosalee Keech defeated Donald Campbell in the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 9 on June 10, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Lisa Bennett	40.1	10,802
✔	Submit photo	Rosalee Keech	36.4	9,812
		Donald Campbell	23.4	6,307

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,921
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Samuel Pinkava (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 9 (2 seats)

Incumbent Brian Rumpf and incumbent Gregory E. Myhre advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 9 on June 10, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brian Rumpf	54.0	22,511
✔		Gregory E. Myhre	46.0	19,180

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 41,691
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Samuel Pinkava completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Pinkava's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born in Norway, grew up in Baltimore, and now I have settled in Ocean County, New Jersey.

I am a veteran math educator of over 15 years. I have taught every math topic from 3rd grade to Calculus 3 to students from many different backgrounds.

I live with my wife and three young children. I am also very active in Scouting America as a Den Leader and Unit Commissioner.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Fighting for Ocean's Families
• Saving Ocean County $440 million in school taxes.
• Committed to ending the abuse and trafficking of children.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am very passionate about the safety of children and their education.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

I really like what Angela Merkel did for Germany. She brought Germany into a longlasting time of prosperity, and she was very balanced in most issues.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Elected officials must faithfully represent the needs of their consituents above all else.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am very good at connecting with different groups of people and then developing solutions that benefit all stakeholders.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibility for the State Assembly is to develop longlasting policies through consensus for the general welfare of all residents within our state.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I remember the Gulf War. I was about 6 years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I did basement waterproofing for two summers.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

When the governor and the majority are aligned, then the legislature develops the detailed policies to clearly define the governor’s vision. When the people are more divided on the governor’s agenda, then the legislature is a check on the governor to ensure they operate within the bounds of the law.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

The greatest challenges over the next decade will be related to economics. From artificial intelligence to cryptocurrency, our state will be a very different place in ten years. We must navigate these challenges carefully.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Previous political experience may help legislators more quickly navigate the rules and procedures of the Assembly, but faithfully representing the needs of the constituents is much more important.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Building relationships with other legislators is necessary to advance any ideas through the Assembly. Legislators are never able to do much on their own. Members of the Assembly must also persuade other legislators to support their proposals.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

I really like what Josh Gottheimer and Mikie Sherrill have done through the New Democrat Coalition.

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

If I do well in Legislative District 9, I may consider running against Van Drew in Congressional District 2.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

A few years ago, I helped a family move into their new house in Barnegat. The mother was so overjoyed by her community’s outpouring of love that she started crying. We really do take care of each other in Ocean County, and this community character is why I would be honored to represent our community in the General Assembly.

Should the legislature oversee or grant the use of emergency powers?

The governor should only have emergency powers in explicitly defined situations such as when there is a direct threat to the lives of millions of people.

What is the first bill you would introduce if elected?

My plan to amend S2 would save Ocean County over $300 million in school taxes by shifting the tax burden from those of us with high property values but low income to the communities that have higher aggregate income.

What committees interest you?

Education

Higher Education
Children, Families & Food Security

Science, Innovation & Technology

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Elected officials must be an open book on finances. We need to know who is supporting them.

Would a state ballot initiative process be good or bad for your state?

Ballot initiatives are good because they allow all residents to participate in government.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.

See also

2025 Elections

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the New Jersey General Assembly

Leadership

Representatives

District 1

Antwan McClellan (R)

Erik Simonsen (R)

District 2

Don Guardian (R)

Claire Swift (R)

District 3

Dave Bailey (D)

Heather Simmons (D)

District 4

Dan Hutchison (D)

Cody Miller (D)

District 5

William Moen (D)

William Spearman (D)

District 6

Louis Greenwald (D)

Melinda Kane (D)

District 7

Carol Murphy (D)

Balvir Singh (D)

District 8

Andrea Katz (D)

Michael Torrissi (R)

District 9

Gregory Myhre (R)

Brian Rumpf (R)

District 10

Paul Kanitra (R)

Gregory McGuckin (R)

District 11

Margie Donlon (D)

Luanne Peterpaul (D)

District 12

Robert Clifton (R)

Alex Sauickie (R)

District 13

Victoria Flynn (R)

Gerard Scharfenberger (R)

District 14

Wayne DeAngelo (D)

Tennille McCoy (D)

District 15

Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D)

Anthony Verrelli (D)

District 16

Mitchelle Drulis (D)

Roy Freiman (D)

District 17

Joseph Danielsen (D)

Kevin Egan (D)

District 18

Robert Karabinchak (D)

Sterley Stanley (D)

District 19

Craig Coughlin (D)

Yvonne Lopez (D)

District 20

Reginald Atkins (D)

Annette Quijano (D)

District 21

Michele Matsikoudis (R)

Nancy Muñoz (R)

District 22

Linda Carter (D)

James Kennedy (D)

District 23

John DiMaio (R)

Erik Peterson (R)

District 24

Dawn Fantasia (R)

Michael Inganamort (R)

District 25

Christian Barranco (R)

Aura Dunn (R)

District 26

Brian Bergen (R)

Jay Webber (R)

District 27

Rosy Bagolie (D)

Alixon Collazos-Gill (D)

District 28

Garnet Hall (D)

Cleopatra Tucker (D)

District 29

Eliana Marin (D)

Shanique Speight (D)

District 30

Sean Kean (R)

Avi Schnall (D)

District 31

William Sampson (D)

Barbara Stamato (D)

District 32

John Allen (D)

Jessica Ramirez (D)

District 33

Julio Marenco (D)

Gabriel Rodriguez (D)

District 34

Carmen Morales (D)

Michael Venezia (D)

District 35

Alaa Abdelaziz (D)

Shavonda Sumter (D)

District 36

Clinton Calabrese (D)

Gary Schaer (D)

District 37

Shama Haider (D)

Ellen Park (D)

District 38

Lisa Swain (D)

Chris Tully (D)

District 39

Robert Auth (R)

John Azzariti (R)

District 40

Al Barlas (R)

Christopher DePhillips (R)

Democratic Party (52)

Republican Party (28)