Edition: U.S. / Global

A Clear Choice Confronts the Voters In One New Jersey Assembly Contest

By JOSEPH F. SULLIVAN, Special to The New York Times
Published: October 15, 1989

In a year when Republican control of the New Jersey Assembly could vanish with the loss of only two seats, Democrats are hoping to upset two veteran Republicans in the Sixth District in Camden County. Democrats are banking heavily on differences over abortion to give them a victory in the district, but Republicans, who now hold a 41-to-39 edge in the Assembly, say the race here will turn on other issues.

The incumbents, Republican Assemblymen John A. Rocco, 53 years old, and Thomas J. Shusted, 63, oppose a woman's right to choose abortion, while their Democratic challengers, former Assemblywoman Barbara Berman, 51, and retired Superior Court Judge Mary Ellen Talbott, 67, support that right.

Mr. Rocco would allow abortions when a woman's life is in danger or in cases of rape or incest. Mr. Shusted would make no exception.

The incumbents and challengers acknowledge that they present a clear choice to those for whom abortion is the overriding issue, but they differ on how important the issue will be in deciding the winners on Nov. 7. 'Our Overall Record'

''This is a pivotal issue in this campaign,'' Mrs. Berman said, ''and it is one that will attract Republican votes to our side.''

Volunteers from an abortion-rights coalition knocked on doors in Haddonfield, Voorhees and Cherry Hill on Oct. 7 to urge support for the Democrats, and they plan to return.

Mr. Shusted, however, disputes the notion that the abortion issue is pivotal. ''There are people on both sides who will vote based on this one issue,'' he said. ''But we believe the majority will not vote on a single issue but on our overall record.''

The two incumbents have been in office for 10 years in a district where enrolled Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 10,000 people but where independent voters are almost as numerous as those affiliated with the major parties. 'Get Them Out!'

Voters in the district do have other issues on their minds. Joe DiRose, pumping gas at a Texaco station on Route 70, said he would support candidates who promise to get government out of people's personal lives. ''They pass laws to force us to wear seat belts and tell us we can't smoke,'' he said. ''What is this, Russia? ''And if they want to reduce auto insurance rates, they should stop requiring us to buy such expensive coverage,'' Mr. DiRose said.

For Paul Maguire, an insurance agent who listens to motorists' gripes about insurance costs in his office in the Springdale Plaza mall, the issue of whom to vote for is clear. ''It's simple,'' he said, ''Whoever is in office, get them out!

''The state hasn't educated the public to the causes of the high policy costs,'' he said. One cause, he said, is the state's dense population and number of cars, which leads to high accident rates. ''I think the national average is something like 94 cars per square mile, and here in New Jersey it's 863 cars.'' Clogged Highways

Insurance rates are an issue in this suburban district where residents range from blue collar to upper-middle class, and roads clog with traffic at any hour of the day. Mr. Rocco and Mr. Shusted said that they voted for four Republican bills that would have helped control auto insurance costs, but that the measures were rejected in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Mrs. Berman and Mrs. Talbott said a compromise measure supported by the incumbents and enacted last year takes away a motorist's right to sue unless the driver exercises an option to recover that right, at a higher premium cost. In addition, the new law requires those injured in an accident to pay $1,200 of the first $5,000 of medical costs from the accident unless their medical insurance pays it, they said.

Mrs. Berman is a lawyer, as is Mrs. Talbott, who went to law school after her husband died and earned her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 41. She became the first woman appointed to the Superior Court bench in Camden County.

Mr. Shusted, also a lawyer, is a former member of the State Commission of Investigation and a former Camden County Prosecutor. Mr. Rocco, a former associate professor at Rider College, is the vice president of a title insurance agency. Aid for Camden

Mr. Rocco, who is the Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore, and Mr. Shusted, who is Judiciary Committee chairman, urge the district's voters not to throw away their political clout in the Assembly. They also point to their support for bills that aid Camden, even though it is not in their district. Mr. Rocco is the sponsor of the bill that will locate an aquarium in the city and another that established the successful bond referendum that provided $7 million to refurbish Rutgers University's business school there.

''Helping Camden is important because it is the county seat, and any erosion in the city's tax base shifts the burden of paying county taxes to suburban towns,'' Mr. Rocco said. ''In this county, for every $1 of property taxes that supports local services, $4 goes to the support county programs.''

Democrats hold a slim 4-to-3 majority on the county freeholder board, and with two seats and control of the board on the ballot below their names, and the gubernatorial race above them, Mr. Rocco and Mr. Shusted said they feel like the filling in a sandwich.

James J. Florio, the Democrat who has represented parts of Camden County in Congress for 14 years, is running against Jim Courter, the Republican Representative from Hackettstown for the governorship. Mr. Florio is the area's best known public official, and his presence on the ballot worries the Republican incumbents, even though they won re-election in 1981, the last time Mr. Florio ran for governor.

''The lead he appears to have in the governor's race has to concern us,'' Mr. Shusted said. ''Our job is to get some of those who may vote for him to come back to our column and support us.''

''It's never easy in this district,'' Mr. Rocco said. ''Democrats outnumber Republicans by 10,000 and we've always been a target, but we've been getting stronger in each election.''

Map of the Sixth District in New Jersey (NYT)