Thanks for Covering the NJ7 Race

by: junchoi

Thu Jul 28, 2011 at 07:18:04 PM EDT

I wanted to spend my first blog post at BlueJersey thanking you for the coverage of NJ7, not just this year but since you started this site.    You've been a vital voice in trying to turn this district over to the good side, and have been instrumental in my decision to run for the seat.

Things are going very wrong lately in America, as we can see with the "negotiations" over the debt ceiling limit.  And it's representatives like Leonard Lance who are the problem, unable to stand up to the GOP bosses who refuse to compromise to solve America's big challenges or to let Republicans think for themselves.  

Once upon a time, he was known as an independent thinker who was willing to buck his party in Trenton and challenged Governor Whitman who made the single worst fiscally irresponsible act in modern New Jersey history.  But the move down the Amtrak route to DC has done nothing but turn the Congressman into a paper tiger who is willing to risk the good faith and credit of America, and by extension your family's economic security, because he is unwilling to stand up to the extreme right leadership of the House Republicans. I'm excited to be part of the effort to change the representation we have in DC, and have been working hard to be the nominee.  

I announced that I was going to run on May 5th, and in less than two months had raised significantly more funds for the campaign than Lance did for  the entire second quarter.  But that's just the numbers from a single quarter.

What's most amazing is that after just two months, we are already almost equal with a sitting Congressman in cash on hand.  He's got $215,000 on hand (after subtracting debt), while we have $160,000.  Given that he's been in office and has raised half of that from PACs while we've raised almost nothing from PACs, that puts our campaign in a great position.

But it's about more than money, and more than getting distracted by the horse race of the campaign.  It's about the people of New Jersey who need quality jobs, who need access to a world class education and affordable healthcare, who need a safe and healthy environment, and the opportunity to live out the American Dream. I want to work with the Blue Jersey community to make this a reality.