NJ General Assembly Candidate for Legislative District 16
► Joseph A. Lukac III
► Joe Lukac III (R)
Manville resident
Manville Borough Councilman
In his words:
I was born and raised in Manville. I still live there with my wife and children. I come from a middle class hard working family. I know what working families go through on a daily basis to keep a roof over their heads and to provide the basic things their families need.
After graduating high school, I served proudly as an Army Combat Engineers for 12 years, honorably. I’ve been a member of electrical workers’ union IBEW#102 for 27 years.
I am serving my second term on the Manville Borough Council, and I have served on the school board.
Every one of us have witnessed Roy Freiman and his running mates rubber stamp the status quo ... raising taxes on the middle class, and driving working families and businesses out of New Jersey for far too long.
The residents of New Jersey deserve better. They deserve leaders who are efficient and effective problem solvers. ■
Should we end college tuition, and provide funding so students could attend for free?
I didn’t go to college. I went into the Army and learned a trade there. My son started his college career at Raritan Valley and he’s at Rutgers right now finishing up his degree. I see the bill every month — what’s it’s going to cost me.
Every student that I know of in those colleges are going to graduate and have a mountain of debt that they most likely will never be able to climb over. There’s just no way.
We need lower interest loans. Some of the kids I am working with in Manville will owe a half million dollars before they are done. That’s not fair.
We teach our kids from the first grade all the way up, to go to college and get a degree. I agree that college is not for everyone, but for the kids who get there, we need to give them a hand. We need to come up with a solution — one that’s a lot better than what we have now — to give our kids a brighter future.
Candidate Bio
Lukac grew up in Manville and returned to settle down in his hometown. “My parents instilled in me to help serve people and the greater community,” Lukac said in an interview with The Montgomery News.
Evolving demographics in both Somerset and Hunterdon counties lead Lukac to view his experiences in Manville as a microcosm for building New Jersey community spirit and removing barriers.
Every time it floods in Manville, for example, Lukac says the community pulls together.
“People show up to take care of their neighbors. They don’t care who or what the people are. I am proud of the camaraderie and generosity. It’s something that can’t be orchestrated more perfectly; people take it upon themselves to help their neighbors,” Lukac said.
Camaraderie was a major factor in leadership skills Lukac developed in the Army.
“A lot of people say they are a leader but they can’t explain what it means. Character, integrity and honor—they’re developed over a lifetime,” he said. “As an elected official, you are not there for one side (party) or another. You represent every family, every child, every parent, and every person.
That leadership quality instilled in you in the Army just drives you to want to do more, to make great things happen,” he said.
Lukac is a 12-year U.S. Army veteran, who works as an electrical and instrumentation supervisor/foreman and is a 27-year member of the electrical workers’ union, IBEW #102.
He grew up in Manville in the mid-70s and 80s and has been active locally, volunteering in his historic home community, and serving as a school board member for the district.
Lukac attended both Manville High School and Somerset County VoTech before joining the Army and serving in the combat engineers corps.
Lukac was elected as a Manville Borough Council in November 2017. ■