| Yesterday, Rep. Steve Rothman made it official, that congressional redistricting will lead him to challenge not Tea Party darling Scott Garrett into whose district his home has been drawn, but Bill Pascrell, a fellow Dem elected to Congress the same year he was 15 years ago.
You can imagine the rending of garments at DCCC. And the state party. But given the imperative towards re-election hard-wired in House members, whose 2-year election cycle keeps them in perpetual re-elect, and the fact that much of the new district Pascrell now lives in is Rothman stomping ground, Rothman's move has some logic. He was mayor of Englewood 2 terms, and that's where he'll relocate back into district. He already reps nearly 55% of the people (61% of registered Dems) in the new 9th, he says. (hat/tip Daily Kos Elections for this chart, which shows Rothman 53.95%, Pascrell 42.90%).
Rothman v. Pascrell was immediate national news, a race between colleagues on the same side of most issues, sharing a party, supporting the same president in a presidential year. How awful will this race be? How personal their complaints against one another? How much will it divide the rest of us?
Mabe we have some clues in Rothman's first endorse list of 61 people; legislators, the Hudson & Bergen Dem Chairs, mayors, and municipal chairs, a Bergen-heavy list. Prominent are incoming Senate Majority Leader (and Blue Jerseyan) Loretta Weinberg, longtime Rothman ally, and both Assemblywoman Connie Wagner and Assemblyman-elect Tim Eustace, the two names with the most buzz as potential challengers to Scott Garrett in the contest Rothman passed on.
Pascrell, for his part has solid support from Passaic Chair John Currie, and gave no evidence of worry. Pascrell described himself as:
"a fighter who is ready for whatever may come. I will be as relentless in the election as I have been for my constituents. I do not know the meaning of the word quit.
Rothman's full endorsement list, after the jump. If Pascrell is developing a similar list, Blue Jersey would very much like to see it. |
| Endorsing Steve Rothman for Congress (source)
Chairman Lou Stellato - Bergen
Chairman Mark Smith - Hudson
Vice Chairwoman Kay Nest - Bergen
NJ Senator Robert Gordon
NJ Senator Nicholas Sacco
NJ Senator Paul Sarlo
NJ Senator Loretta Weinberg
Assemblyman-Elect Tim Eustace
Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle
Assemblyman Gordon Johnson
Assemblyman Vincent Prieto
Assemblywoman Joan Voss
Assemblywoman Connie Wagner
Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise
Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari
Bergen County Clerk John Hogan
Mayors
Mayor Gerald Calabrese Sr., Cliffside Park
Mayor James Delaney, Edgewater
Mayor Frank Huttle III, Englewood
Mayor Joseph Parisi, Englewood Cliffs
Mayor Vincent Bellucci, Fairview
Mayor Mark Sokolich, Fort Lee
Mayor Al Santos, Kearny
Mayor-Elect John DeSimone, Leonia
Mayor Mauro Raguseo, Little Ferry
Mayor Richard DiLascio, Lyndhurst
Mayor Dennis Vaccaro, Moonachie
Mayor Pete Massa, North Arlington
Mayor James Rotundo, Palisades Park
Mayor Walter Eckel, South Hackensack
Mayor Mohamed Hameeduddin, Teaneck
Mayor Peter Rustin, Tenafly
Mayor Walter Wargacki, Wallington
Mayor Paul Sarlo, Woodridge
Mayor Michael Gonnelli, Secaucus
Municipal Chairs
Lorraine Joewono, Carlstadt
Gerald Calabrese Jr., Cliffside Park
Andrew "Chuck" Vaccaro, Cresskill
Richard DeLauro, East Rutherford
Anne Marie O'Connor, Edgewater
Estelle Rondello, Elmwood Park
Teresa Thomas, Englewood
Pat Drimones, Englewood Cliffs
Paul Juliano, Fairview
Kay Nest, Fort Lee
Bryan Walensky, Garfield
Alice Vega, Hasbrouck Heights
Al Santos, Kearny
Robert Leap, Leonia
Mauro Raguseo, Little Ferry
Lou Stellato, Lyndhurst
Fred Dressel, Moonachie
Nick Antonicello Sr., North Arlington
Mike Pollotta, Palisades Park
Philip Peredo, Saddle Brook
James Anzevino, South Hackensack
Laura Zucker, Teaneck
Shama Haider, Tenafly
Liz Calabrese, Wallington
Bob Riccardella, Woodridge
Nicholas Goldsack, Secaucus |
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