The Asbury Park Press this afternoon endorsed state Senator Jennifer Beck (R-11) over Democratic challenger Vin Gopal in the state’s battleground Monmouth County election.

You can read the endorsement here.

The paper of record for the shore district last week backed Kim Guadagno over Phil Murphy in the gubernatorial election. In backing Beck over Gopal, the editorial cited the Democrat’s apparent refusal to more strenuously resist Murphy’s agenda.

On the trail, Gopal notes that he would be unafraid to buck Murphy on key issues, and cites what he says has been Beck’s inability to routinely stand up to Gov. Chris Christie.

But the Press endorsement expresses sufficient opposition to Murphy to take any comfort in Gopal.

“Given Gopal’s outside Democratic Party support and his history as a Democratic Party chairman, there is every reason to believe he would support the platform espoused by Murphy and the party Democratic leadership,” the editorial notes. “For taxpayers, that would be moving the state in the wrong direction. Beck, in our view, has been on the right side on most important issues, and has served her constituents well for nearly two decades. She richly deserves re-election.”