The races for Congress in Monmouth County are snooze fests. Our incumbent congressmen, Chris Smith and Frank Pallone are heavily favored to be reelected by wide margins.
But just south of us in Ocean and Burlington Counties, the CD-3 race between freshman Democrat Congressman Andy Kim and Republican businessman David Richter is one of the most competitive and closely watch races in the nation. The partisan balance of power in the House of Representative could depend on the outcome of that election.
Burlington County Republican Chairman Sean Earlen has some explaining to do.
According to a December 21, 2019 article in the Pine Barrens Tribune, the Burlington County Republican Screening Committee put Kate Gibbs, a former Burlington Freeholder, through a “thorough vetting process” prior to endorsing her for the CD-3 nomination to challenge freshman Congressman Andy Kim at the December 7, 2019 nominating convention.
Earlen is a former mayor of Lumberton, Gibb’s hometown.
A “thorough vetting process” is time consuming and expensive. It is one of the most important roles of Party leadership. Voters, donors and other leaders alike depend on Party leaders to put forth candidates with the records and character worthy of the offices they are seeking.
David Richter defeated Kate Gibbs, 68-60, at the Ocean County GOP nominating convention on Wednesday evening, securing a favorable ballot position in the Republican primary for the right to take on Congressman Andy Kim in the Ocean portion of the 3rd Congressional District.
Gibbs won the support of the Burlington GOP at a convention last December. The two will now face off in what could be an ugly primary campaign.
Ocean County Republican leaders will convene in Toms River this evening.
Their most important order of business will be to endorse a primary candidate for the nomination to challenge Democrat Congressman Andy Kim in the 3rd District. The candidate they chose will appear on the June 2 primary ballot in the same column as President Donald J. Trump, the Party’s U.S. Senate candidate (likely Rik Mehta), Freeholder Joe Vicari and the local candidates for municipal offices throughout the Ocean portions of the district.
David Richter is the best candidate to take on Congressman Kim in the general election.
The pre-primary for the GOP nomination CD-3 has gotten ugly. Rightfully so.
David Richter, the former international construction executive who is vying for the 3rd district GOP nomination to take on Congressman Andy Kim, released an ad on facebook and youtube this afternoon that highlights his opponents’s arrest record and compares her, Kate Gibbs, to Snooki. The ad is hard hitting. Just like Andy Kim’s ads will be in October if Gibbs wins the primary on June 2.
David Richter, the former CEO of Hill International, a global construction management firm, has had a tough start to 2020. Richter, of Princeton, was the front runner for the GOP nomination for Congress in the second district of New Jersey and was poised to end the political career of Congressman Jeff Van Drew.
The impeachment of President Donald J. Trump upended Richter’s self-funded path to Congress. In a deal brokered by former Governor Chris Christie, according to the NY Times, Van Drew became a Republican and pledged his undying support to the President. Trump, seeing a opportunity much larger than picking up one congressional seat in New Jersey, provided Van Drew with a first class political operation and cleared the path for the freshman congressman to win the GOP nomination for reelection.
Andy Kim, the Democrat candidate running against Congressman Tom MacArthur in the third congressional district is recruiting volunteers for his campaign among the Spring Lake Heights Democrats. Spring Lake Heights in in the 4th congressional district where Josh Welle, address none of your business, won the nomination to lose to Congressman Chris Smith in November. Read the rest of this entry »
Former Asbury Park Councilman Jim Keady, left and Belmar Mayor Lawless Matt Doherty, also left
Former Asbury Park Councilman Jim Keady, the man who provoked Governor Chris Christie into his famous “Sit Down and Shut Up” rant and then asked him out to dinner was easily defeated in his bid to become the Democrat nominee for the House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District.
Frederick John LaVergne will challenge Congressman Tom MacArthur the November general election. Based on unofficial results, LaVergne was the choice of 62.7% of CD-3 Democrats with 32,493 votes to Keady’s 19,347 votes.
LaVergne, who had the backing on the Burlington County Democrats, reportedly spent $600 on his primary campaign. Keady is reported to have spent $55,000.
In the race to replace Congressman Jon Runyan as the GOP nominee in the 3rd congressional district (Ocean and Burlington counties) former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan is doing what anyone who has observed New Jersey politics for the last twenty years expected he would do. He’s attacking his opponent, former Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur, as a tax and spend RINO who paid for the GOP establishment support. In the race between carpetbaggers, Lonegan is attacking MacArthur for be a worse carpetbagger.
MacArthur has the support of the Burlington and Ocean GOP machines. Lonegan, who beat Cory Booker in the district in last October’s special U.S. Senate election, has superior name recognition, a PolitickerNJ commissioned poll that gives him a huge lead, and his trademark attention getting rhetoric.
MacArthur counter-attacked Lonegan in a Open Letter last week by calling him desperate, negative, angry, caustic and creepy. All the things Lonegan’s supporters love about the guy.
MacArthur took particular umbrage to the fact that a Lonegan supporter did some opposition research by visiting the facebook page of MacArthur’s 16 year-old daughter and blogged anonymously about it.
Moreover, I am appalled that you are promoting an anonymous internet blog by a person or organization who has clearly spent a considerable amount of time spying on my 16-year old daughter’s Facebook page in search of an issue to use against her father in a political campaign.
Frankly, Steve, it’s creepy.
What salacious dirt did Lonegan’s blogger dig up on MacArthur’s daughter on facebook? She lists herself as a student at Randolph High School which is 90 miles away from the 3rd district.
You would think a social worker would be sensitive enough or smart enough to go get a cup of coffee and come back and shoot the photos when the your girl was not in the picture.
