Per PolitickerNJ, the widow of former congressman John Adler is set to announce she plans to take from Jon Runyan the NJ-3 congressional seat that Runyan took from John Adler. It would be good to see another Adler sweep to victory in the 3rd District, like John Adler was swept in back in 2008. It's good symmetry.
It's useful to remember that though former Eagle Jon Runyan may have won in 2010, he got the chance to challenge Adler in his first re-election as an incumbent (Shelley Adler gets that chance now with Runyan) when he may never again be as vulnerable. Plus, the district had been Republican before Adler came in on the Obama wave, and perhaps most memorably, the Adler campaign floated a fake Tea Party candidate they tried for a long time to deny. That was apparently too disreputable even for New Jersey politics. (Adler, you'll remember, died of complications of a staph infection just weeks later). Note: in an earlier version of this post I posted the wrong numbers for Runyan's victory. Hat tip ken bank for the correction.
This is a good time to take Runyan out, though Adler will haYve to move into the District to do it. Her hometown Cherry Hill was redistricted out of NJ-3 this time around. And it's useful to remember, whatever the unpleasant history of the late Congressman Adler's last campaign, as a man and as a candidate, he way outclassed Runyan. Shelley Adler, like her late husband, is an attorney. Whatever his fame on the field, Runyan was spectacularly unqualified for office when he ran (and won). It's impossible not to wish Adler well (or for that matter, any Democrat that takes Runyan on in a viable campaign). After all, Runyan's still this guy:
This past week, we've seen a lot about the impact of congressional redistricting and the positioning of candidates in North Jersey for the upcoming election. Congressman Steve Rothman has declared that he will move and challenge his colleague Bill Pascrell in a primary rather than face incumbent Republican extremist Scott Garrett. Whether or not Rothman's decision is a good one, it hurts me to see two Democrats spending a million dollars to knock each other off when the money could be better spent in an all-out effort to oust Garrett, one of the worst members of Congress.
It also bothers me that the Fourth Estate has virtually ignored the important race in the Third District. Another member of the "worst congressman's club" is former NFL bad boy and current congressman Jon Runyan. Runyan's voting record is as bad as Garrett's, and over time if Runyan builds up seniority in the House, his impact will be just as deleterious.
Imagine that you are invited to a wedding reception at a snooty Five-Star restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. You know the chef is one of the best in the world, internationally famous, and you are looking forward to sharing a top-notch meal with your friends.
Imagine, also, that you are a vegetarian on a low-carb diet. You arrive at the reception and find that your dinner choices are filet mignon or pasta. What do you do?
Clearly, you can't order the meat. You're hungry, so you can't choose to skip the dinner. You reluctantly get the pasta, which tastes so good that you overindulge on carbs that evening. You opted for the lesser of two evils and had a satisfactory but not satisfying dinner.
TPM is out with a story today that almost creates more questions than it answers, due to a heavily redacted FBI file, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The players are US Attorney, now governor, Chris Christie and the John Adler, before his election to Congress while he was still a NJ state senator. Given what we know about Christie, what comes to light today appears to suggest more about him, and the way he used his federal office for politically-motivated witch hunts - which were often successful - than it does the late John Adler.
The documents detail an investigation approved by U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, following information from a cooperating witness who approached the FBI's Philadelphia division in June, 2007 with a story that Senator Adler's support - for a 2005 law placing inspection contracts under "local public contract law" -was corrupt.
The case was later closed for lack of evidence, and was not an issue in Adler's successful run for congress the following year. You can read the details of what was investigated in TPM's post. There appears, at least with documents so heavily redacted, to be nothing to the cooperating witness' suspicions about Adler, nothing actionable. There's no evidence Adler even knew there was an investigation. An Adler confidante suggested to TPM that the cooperating witness may have "had a bone to pick with Adler.'
John could stand on the edge of a great divide and look for where a bridge needed to be built. - John Adler's brother-in-law, from his eulogy
There was a standing ovation for John Adler today at his funeral. It was called by his brother-in-law who's in show business on the West Coast. In his business, he said, when people do very well, we give them a standing ovation. In the vast sanctuary of Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill, everyone stood.
Of course, many were already standing. Temple Emanuel was jammed, probably straining the Cherry Hill fire marshal's restrictions, and the sanctuary was standing-room-only, as were several overflow rooms inside, and the crowd spilled outside into the parking lot.
"First time I saw John, he was dancing with a refrigerator," began the story told by Adler's law school roommate and best man at his wedding. A lot of the stories told reflected both deep affection for him, and warm appreciation for his merry view of life. The service had its moments of both laughter and tears. And it was well attended both by those whose politics he shared, and by well-respected Republicans with whom he differed. All there to pay tribute to the man that was "just John" to wife Shelley and their four boys.
The rabbi gave the blessing in Hebrew for those " who serve in public office", calling him a "mensch". He gave that term's definition as nothing more than a man much loved and respected by all. He told a story about John listening to the youngest member of a contingent lobbying for his support of Israel, listening intently. That John took the time to listen so closely made a real difference to that young woman.
In the spirit of Adler's sense of humor, his brother-in-law apologized for blowing his nose into his yarmulke, as he cried. He told the story of playing John in Trivial Pursuit, that it was like going up against Google itself.
In fact, I found out today, John auditioned for Jeopardy and was accepted. But he was bumped for knowing someone who worked as an attorney at ABC. He didn't even know the man well, it was somebody he went to law school with, but he could not lie. "John was the greatest Jeopardy champion who never appeared on the show," said his wife's brother, laughing.
Today, John Adler was remembered as a man never took himself too seriously, who loved "really stupid" movies. His son talked about how he loved what he called Italian-American sociological study, which is how he referred to Jersey Shore.
The Adler family asks that if individuals wish to make a donation in John Adler's name, they would appreciate contributions to Cooper University Hospital and University of Pennsylvania Hospital. Both tried to save his life. John Adler was just 51. Rest in Peace.
Today John Adler's family, friends and community will come together to say "so long.' (Details below the fold.) Congressman Adler's untimely passing left many in shock and many many more in grief.
So if you have an Adler-themed anecdote to share -- and I know many of us do -- why not do it here? A happy memory, a favorite quote, whatever.
Consider it a "favorite Adler memory" Open-Thread.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat"
- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
John Herbert Adler was man of the arena; sometimes right, sometimes wrong, but always valiant and daring. He never feared a fight and constantly hurled himself into the brutality of the public eye to serve the causes he believed in and the people he represented.
I, like I imagine many who had worked on John's 2008 congressional campaign, was shocked and deeply saddened to learn yesterday of his untimely death. Only 51 years old, he leaves behind a wonderful young family and a seemingly limitless potential born of study, ability, and conviction - a tragedy on every level.
Politics, of which John was an active and thorough participant, has a great many limitations. Chief among those limitations is its treatment of time; a constant obsession with the future, a mild dwelling on the present and a perpetual disregard for the past. The arena has little interest in what came before and a manic devotion to "what's next." So before John's passing is swept from view in order to make way for whatever is next I would like to submit a word or two for John Adler...
Hi, Blue Jersey. I would never otherwise post something generic here, respecting that it violates blog etiquette. But I hope you'll indulge me under the tragic circumstances of John Adler's passing. I just wrote the below to Garden State Equality members. I hope it shows how much he meant to the LGBT community and our legions of supporters, and provide an additional glimpse into a man we loved very much.
Dear Garden State Equality members:
Throughout the years, we've shared the joys and heartbreaks of activism - thankfully way more joys. Now I must share with you a heartbreak. This is brutal.
Congressman John Adler, who as Chairman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee partnered with Garden State Equality to author or coauthor many of the 212 LGBT civil rights laws enacted since our organization's founding in 2004, died today. He was 51. He had been in the hospital for the last month after contracting a staph infection. He leaves behind his wife Shelley, whom he met at Harvard Law School, and their four sons, Jeffrey, Alex, Andrew, and Oliver.
John Adler had a towering intellect, a heart without boundaries, a grace matched only by his wit, and a steely resolve to win equality for all who have faced discrimination. As Chairman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee until his election to the U.S. Congress in 2008, John was one of the most important champions of LGBT civil rights who has ever held public office in New Jersey, often teaming up with our Loretta Weinberg, who of course continues in the Senate today.
It is impossible to overstate John's importance as an all-time hero to our movement for equality. Basically all LGBT civil rights bills in New Jersey go through the Senate Judiciary Committee. As Chairman of that Committee, John was not only the gatekeeper of our future, but also the successful guarantor. With every ounce of enormous integrity, passion and wise strategy, John fought for us as if we were his own brothers and sisters. He used his enormous power to face down anyone who stood in the way of our progress.
We're just getting word that former NJ-3 congressman, John Adler, has died. Adler was hospitalized a few weeks ago and received emergency heart surgery at University of Pennsylvania Hospital after contracting staph bacterial endocarditis. The hospital has not confirmed the death. Sen. Paul Sarlo is the source for reports of Adler's passing.
Adler's father died when Adler was a teenager. It was a defining story of his campaigns. The Adlers lost the family dry cleaning business and had to depend on Social Security survivor benefits to survive. Adler was among just a handful of Democrats who voted against the overhaul of America's health care system last year, angering progressives and many Democrats. Adler lost his seat to GOP former football player Jon Runyan, despite a public debate the Harvard-educated Adler won easily over an embarrassed and poorly-informed now-congressman Runyan.
More details as we get them.
UPDATE: NJ Senate Budget hearing was interrupted at 3:45pm when the news reached the State House, where Adler served in the NJ Senate for 17 years 1992-2009.
UPDATE: Adler's death is confirmed by Assemblyman and NJ Democratic State Committee Chair John Wisniewski. I've posted his statement in comments.
This was snapped by a Republican and posted at the Camden GOP's website, in the 'Chairman's Blog' for Chair Richard A. DeMichele, Jr. Now that Jon Runyan is sworn in (you can read their live-blog of that here), they also plan to post a picture of his new office.
You can imagine how fresh and scrubbed NJ-3 feels for Republicans now, with Adler gone - which prognosticators on both sides saw coming ages ago for different reasons. I don't predict an easy first term for Jon Runyan.
One of the things new Congressman Jon Runyan constantly harped on during his campaign against one-term Democrat John Adler was that Runyan was not a "career politician." To me, a career politician is one who puts his own well-being ahead of those of his constituents, one whose top priority is re-election rather than service.
By this definition, Runyan crossed the line from your average NFL offensive tackle to career politician even before he was sworn in. He recently held a fundraiser where the price of admission was up to $50.000. Now, I wasn't there, so I can't say for certain, but I'll bet the folks who attended were wealthy corporatists, bankers, oil interests, and insurance executives from across the country.
I'd also bet that there were no schoolteachers, firefighters, or any representatives of New Jersey's thousand of unemployed citizens at the event.
During the campaign, Jon Runyan promised to serve the people of his district. With hundreds of thousands of dollars coming into his campaign coffers from outside the district, this promise rings hollow.
It's time for the traditional Deciminyan predictions for the upcoming year. Last year, we were three for three. This year, we'll do it a bit differently - go out on a limb in some cases - and include some tongue-in-cheek forecasts as well as some serious ones. I'll leave it to the reader to determine which are which.
Democrat John Adler is my congressman. At least he will be for another month. This Harvard-educated lawyer with a career full of legislative experience was defeated by an ex-football player who raises donkeys for a living.
Chris Christie's spin machine has been at it again since Election Day, doing everything it can to try and claim some kind of mandate for or validation of the Governor's politics and governing philosophy. In trying to do so, he's tied himself in rhetorical knots. Amazingly, the press has given him a free pass on this one.
Here's what New Jersey's Chief Executive Spinner had to say after Election Day (video courtesy of NJN):
I really felt like we needed to bring some balance back to the congressional delegation, and I saw [the 3rd Congressional District race] as the best opportunity for us to do it...That's why the Runyan/Adler race was to me the most important.
So the 3rd Congressional District was the most important race to him, where the candidate he endorsed and campaigned for won. Quite an interesting statement, especially considering he sang a very different tune only the day before Election Day:
"Brought in by the Jersey anthem "Born to Run" but his accent now distinctly twanged from his tumbleweed campaign tour of the country, Christie repeatedly staked his name on hometown Hamiltonian Goodwin.
"I said from the beginning that the most important race was Tom Goodwin in the 14th District," said the governor. "He's been the hardest working candidate in New Jersey this year, and that's why he's going to win."
Christie's "guy," of course, lost in LD14, so he clearly needed to change his "most important race" to suit his political agenda. The question I have is, where's the media on this? They've been almost eager to find validation of the Governor's politics, but you'd have to think even this brazen attempt to change facts would be subject to some basic reporting.
Barry Bendar was John Adler's Democratic primary opponent last spring, taking 25% of the vote (on a $3,000 budget.) A former Lacey Twp municipal chair, he also chaired Helen Dela Cruz and Sean Sharkey's successful race for Township committee. We spoke the day after the election.
Right off, Barry Bendar expressed disappointment with John Adler's loss in the congressional election. He pointed out that Adler worked hard and was very accessible to the Ocean County constituency unlike Adler's predecessor Jim Saxton who Bendar pointed out was not very visible to county voters. Bendar is afraid that as a congressman, Jon Runyan will be an embarrassment to the Third District. He cited ex-New York Giant and broadcaster Harry Carson, who posits that being an NFL player can have an effect on one's brain, and cited three separate conversations that he had with Runyan as being "difficult".
On the campaign, Bendar wishes that Adler had concentrated more on issues like Runyan's flip flop on Social Security instead of personal attacks on Runyan's tax situation with donkeys. His advice to Jon Runyan is to remember that his New Jersey constituents should be his first priority and dealings in Washington are number two. He hopes (but is not counting on) that the new Congress will tackle campaign finance reform as one if its top priorities.
As far as his own political future is concerned, Bendar stated that he is not interested in running for higher office at this time. His goal is to leverage his recent successful GOTV effort and work toward helping elect more Democrats to local office. Bendar positions himself as a fiscal conservative who is more of a liberal on social issues. I hope we will see more of Barry and Democrats like him to help move New Jersey forward.
Justin Murphy, Republican and Barry Bendar, Democrat at a candidates' debate in Willingboro prior to the primaries. Jon Runyan and John Adler were invited but did not attend. Murphy and Bendar each supported their party's candidate in the general election.
While I'm all the way up in Northern New Jersey, I did take somewhat of an ongoing interest in John Adler's race as I thought he was "different" from other New Jersey Democrats in the way he portrayed himself over the past two years. Sure, there are many reasons that can be thought of as to why John Adler lost to Jon Runyan - whether it was the campaign "missteps" or the issue surrounding the recruitment of a third party candidate or a "wave" that he got caught in, but when you look at the results - a 6,000 vote loss - there is one thing that stands out to me; something that is a narrative in and of itself:
If you betray yourself and your values, you will lose in the end.
Adler could and should have easily held this seat. Runyan was a far inferior candidate and didn't run a great campaign at all. He took very few positions, offered little detail or specifics and fumbled badly (pun intended) in debates and in his comments.
While we celebrate having avoided the Republican deluge in other states, let's not forget that the NJ landscape is now more slippery than before. The unexpected can happen: "No Way" can become "Yes Way." We better get our ass in gear for 2011 and 2012.
Let's pretend this is the News Roundup. Better yet, make it an Open Thread ...
The picture below is cold reality, but I am not going to waste my time mourning. New Jersey battled back. Good candidates fell all over the country Tuesday. In New Jersey, we held on by our teeth.
The big loss was John Adler, in a series of self-inflicted wounds. We knew months ago when Adler tried to play both sides on health care reform, that he'd sacrificed his base. We knew when Jane Roh's Courier Post account of the mechanics of Peter DeStefano's sham Tea Party candidacy that the Adler campaign had been pulled down the rabbit hole by the Camden County Democratic Committee. We can't be stung by that loss anymore, we grieved it a long time ago. But what fresh hell Jon Runyan will be, we'll leave to the light of day, or at least until tonight's Glenlivet wears off.
We held on to two key House progressives in the NJ delegation that we might have lost (Pallone in NJ-6 and Holt in NJ-12). These were the real nail-biters of the night. Anna Little was New Jersey's only Tea Party candidate running a viable challenger race. With Frank Pallone's win, she is not the only loser. The Tea Party itself is delegitimized in NJ, juiceless unless they regroup and figure out how to appeal to the citizenry without promising to ruin the environment, erase government and create false enemies to be terrified of. Twelve years ago, the last time the congressional races topped the ticket, Rush Holt won, an unlikely candidate without the flash and sizzle of most smooth-talkers, he was wonky and earnest. This year, the congressional topping the ticket again, science teacher Ed Potosnak ran in adjacent NJ-7, wonky and earnest. He lost - it was always an uphill race. But like Holt (who also lost his first time out), Potosnak should run again. Potosnak never dumbed down his progressivism.
Chris Christie did not have a good night. And that's damn gratifying. GOP candidates Little, Scott Sipprelle, and Tom Goodwin caved. GOP candidate Felix Garcia lost the Passaic Sheriff's race. I'll leave Bergen County to the Bergen scholars on this blog but it's worth noting that Christie would have a hard time claiming GOP's Kathe Donovan's win as County Executive for himself, given that Bergen Grassroots DFA crossed the aisle to back her, too. The state's most heavily-watched legislative special election - overshadowed by Adler drama - was Tom Goodwin's attempt to hold his thin incumbency (appointed in March, to Bill Baroni's vacant seat) against Linda Greenstein. This was a referendum on Christie's short months in office, and it didn't break his way. LD-14 has both conservatives and a band of resentful public workers. From the beginning, Goodwin hitched his star to Christie; Greenstein was the alternative, the promise of a stronger Democratic Senate. Let her help bring that now.
For the record, there will either not be a News Roundup in the morning, or it will come late. Late. Like a lot of you, I've been up for 24 hours; like more of you, I'm soaked in scotch.
Barry Bendar was John Adler's Democratic primary opponent last spring, taking 25% of the vote (on a $3,000 budget.) A former Lacey Twp municipal chair, he also chaired Helen Dela Cruz and Sean Sharkey's successful race for Township committee. We spoke the day after the election.
