NJ12 
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Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 11:34:09 PM EDT
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promoted by Rosi
On August 1, while John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and their colleagues were threatening to shut down the government, Rush Holt gave a speech describing the budget debate as:
at its heart, a debate between two visions for America. One side envisions rebuilding our country, investing in jobs and education and infrastructure, and rising from the Great Recession as a stronger and more resilient Nation. The other side accepts a pessimistic vision of a weakened America with a shrunken government-a Nation hampered by deep cuts to the safety net and hobbled by a refusal to invest in our future.
I couldn't agree more. And, like the Honorable Representative from the 12th District, I hold with the former.
Here's the full text, after the jump, of his August 1, 2011 speech. It will be in the Congressional Record as soon as it is updated - assuming, of course, that funds will be budgeted for updating and maintaining the Congressional Record.
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Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 08:42:07 AM EST
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Late yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to speak with Rep. Rush Holt about the then-upcoming vote in the House to repeal the Health Care bill passed and signed into law last year. In addition to thanking the Congressman on behalf of Blue Jersey, we discussed a few things about the vote to repeal, and also noted that it was a good day for New Jersey Democratic Congressmen - Rep. Pallone took a high profile role in denouncing the political theater that the House Republicans were performing and Rep. Andrews not only spoke out as well but also had a very entertaining discussion with a Republican Congressman on Tuesday night's Hardball.
Rep. Holt's floor speech from yesterday afternoon can be seen here, and below the fold is a flavor for what we discussed during a roughly 20 minute discussion (I tried to get exact quotes but since I couldn't type that fast, assume that below is roughly what was said but maybe not exact):
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Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 01:33:34 PM EDT
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I've been waiting for the new Monmouth University Poll of Congressional District NJ12 (PDF) and it's good news:
Congressman Rush Holt has slightly widened his lead in the race for New Jersey's 12th Congressional District, according to the Monmouth University Poll. The incumbent Democrat garners support from 51% of likely voters in the district, which is identical to his support level from two weeks ago. However, Republican Scott Sipprelle's support has slipped by 3 points to 43% in the current poll...
The Monmouth University Poll was conducted by telephone with 1042 likely voters from October 25 to 27, 2010. This sample has a margin of error of +/- 3.0 percent.
51% is enough to win but not enough to take anything for granted. Volunteer this week to help our best Representative.
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Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 10:03:53 AM EDT
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David Frum, the former Bush Speechwriter who was fired from the American Enterprise Institute for criticizing the Republican Party, offered a commentary on NPR's "Marletplace," on 10/27.
Click Here
Frum stated:
"I know, I know, I know! There's Christine O'Donnell, Rand Paul and Sharron Angle. Never mind Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Fox News. There's the crazy guy in Texas who says that revolution is "on the table." And anyway, what kind of fiscally conservative party campaigns on a pledge to protect Medicare exactly as it is? ... "Yet I will, nevertheless, be voting the straight Republican ticket on Nov. 2 ...
Unlike Frum, I am voting a straight Democratic ticket. I know that:
- Joe Miller handcuffed a reporter who asked a question he didn't like,
- Carl Paladino exercises his right to free speech and transmit racist jokes and pornographic e-mails,
- Christine O'Donnell doesn't understand that the phrase "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" establishes a separation of church and state,
- Sharron Angle believes in "Second Amendment remedies" to election results and
- Rand Paul appears to condone violence and intimidation -
and that's part of it.
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Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 01:17:29 AM EDT
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Cringe. Promoted by Rosi
Remember when Scott Sipprelle's allies were asking New Jersey, "What does Rush Holt have against Israel?" by running an ad full of bogus numbers?
Well, if Scott Sipprelle gets elected to Congress on Tuesday, the man he'll be voting for as Speaker of the House is John Boehner. The same John Boehner who is spending the weekend before election day campaigning alongside someone who belonged to a club where men dress up like Nazi SS officers.
Ohio Republican House candidate Rich Iott, centerThe Republican claims it's history, but the behavior is considered so horrendous that it is illegal in Germany.
So if Scott Sipprelle and his friends want to ask what Rush Holt has against the state of Israel, perhaps he ought to be asked what makes his friends think it's OK to pretend they're Nazis?
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Mon Oct 18, 2010 at 08:23:07 AM EDT
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The APP's endorsement of Rush Holt rightfully says a lot of good things about him, but I want to point to this as really summarizing the choice voters face in districts throughout the state and country:
Siprelle offers little more than current GOP/Tea Party talking points - or, rather, a single talking point: saying "No!" to every Democratic initiative over the last two years without offering much in the way of new ideas. He seems to long for a return to the policies that led the country into the Great Recession, including extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. And when he does come up with ideas, they are nonstarters.
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Wed Oct 13, 2010 at 11:25:25 AM EDT
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Monmouth University just released a new poll of the 12th Congressional District (NJ12) and they have Rush Holt on track to win re-election -- but it's a close race:
In the election for New Jersey's 12th Congressional District, Rush Holt faces his toughest challenge in a decade. The Monmouth University Poll finds the incumbent Democrat leading Republican Scott Sipprelle by 51% to 46% among likely voters in this district.
New Jersey's 12th District stretches across the geographical waist of the state. Holt leads by 63% to 33% in the western part of the district, which includes much of Mercer County and part of Hunterdon County. Sipprelle, on the other hand, holds a 58% to 38% advantage in the eastern, Monmouth County, portion of the district. However, in the central portion, comprised mainly of Middlesex County and part of one Somerset County town, it's a much closer race - 50% for Holt to 46% for Sipprelle.
"This is not unfamiliar territory for Holt, as his first two races were won by very narrow margins. However, redistricting in 2002 added more Democratic voters to the 12th and gave Holt comfortable wins. This year, though, he has to contend with the national anti-Democrat, anti-incumbent wave," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Holt is our best New Jersey Representative in my opinion so if you have an opportunity to volunteer for him this should motivate you.
The margin of error is 3.9% since there are 690 likely voters in the sample.
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Thu Oct 07, 2010 at 09:40:41 AM EDT
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Rush Holt attended last night's forum on the Rutgers campus in the wake of Tyler Clementi's suicide. The Trevor Project Lifeline and other help numbers are listed after the jump, if you know somebody who might like to have them. - promoted by Rosi
The fight for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals is the next front in America's struggle for civil rights.
The milestones of America's progress have marked fights for equal rights, liberty, and justice for all. The enduring struggle - to grant women the right to vote, to end Jim Crow, to provide opportunity and accessibility to individuals with disabilities - helps define who we are as a nation.
The tragedy of Tyler Clementi's death - like the suicides of three other teens in three other states whose deaths reportedly are linked to anti-gay bullying and abuse - is part of that struggle.
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Thu Sep 09, 2010 at 01:28:39 PM EDT
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promoted by Rosi
Scott Sipprelle just released a new radio ad, blasting Rush Holt for saying that government spending has made us a "richer country."
Not the best sound bite, I'll admit, but consider this from Jonathan Alter:
The economy was losing 740,000 jobs a month in January 2009, when Obama took office. If we stayed on the pace we were on, we would have had -- without exaggeration -- another Great Depression, with 20 percent unemployment by the end of 2009. Like it or not, the February 2009 stimulus spending/tax relief bill curtailed the gusher that was the Bush era job-hemorrhaging. And it might have been more effective had it been bigger. Do not forget that the stimulus was limited to $787 billion in the Democrats' (unsuccessful) effort to attract Republican votes in the House.
And while Sipprelle wants to heap more tax cuts on the wealthiest, keep in mind that the stimulus bill was the biggest middle class tax cut since Ronald Reagan was president.
Sipprelle's knock on Holt kind of reminds me of Republican's contention that, 'Government spending didn't end the Great Depression -- World War II did.' (Because those battleships were built by tax cuts for the wealthiest, right?)
But in any case, it's especially entertaining how Sipprelle's ad men are bilking him with unnecessary time. The name is "SIPPRELLE" for crying out loud. It's about average length, and not at all hard to pronounce. Unlike other names:
And Blago's is more believable because it's a kid! You have two grown ladies who don't know how to pronounce SIPPRELLE? Come on.
Scott, for a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative, you ought to know when to close your wallet.
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Fri Jul 30, 2010 at 12:53:57 PM EDT
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Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com has just introduced his new "Partisan Propensity Index" (PPI). If you've been following elections closely, you're probably already familiar with the Partisan Voting Index (PVI) from Cook, and similar statistics from Swing State Project. Cook's idea is to look at how each Congressional District voted for President compared to the nationwide average. So, for example, the NJ5 district (Garrett's) is rated R+7, meaning it voted 7 points more Republican than nationwide, while NJ13 (Sire's) is rated D+21. You can see why Democrats had such a hard time even with a good candidate against Garrett, and why Republicans didn't seriously contest NJ13 when Menendez left it. Unlike Congressional races, where often one candidate is hardly covered in the news and has hardly any campaign budget, the two party's Presidential candidates are well known. The PVI index is widely used to identify competitive districts.
Here's Silver's idea:
Are there any systematic differences in the ways that votes tend to fall for the Congress, as opposed to the Presidency? Are certain districts better or worse for Democrats, or Republicans, than PVI alone would suggest?
It turns out that there's one other factor which is fairly useful to look at, which is socioeconomic status. Relative to how they do for the Presidency, Democrats are somewhat more likely to win races for Congress in poorer districts, and somewhat more likely to lose them in wealthier ones. Another way to put this is that a split ticket of Republican for President, Democrat for Congress is more likely to occur in a poor district, whereas a split ticket of Democrat for President, Republican for Congress is more likely to occur in a wealthy one.
Click through for the statistical analysis he uses. Silver expresses his PPI index as the chance for Democrats to win an open seat in an average election cycle, based solely on two factors: the recent Presidential Vote and the percentage of the population with incomes under $25,000/yr. Here are the results for New Jersey:
| District | Name | PVI | PPI |
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| NJ11 | Frelinhguysen | R+7 | 2.5% |
| NJ5 | Garrett | R+7 | 3.2% |
| NJ4 | Smith | R+6 | 10.9% |
| NJ7 | Lance | R+3 | 13.9% |
| NJ3 | Adler | R+1 | 27.9% |
| NJ12 | Holt | D+5 | 62.9% |
| NJ2 | LoBiondo | D+1 | 66.0% |
| NJ6 | Pallone | D+8 | 85.2% |
| NJ9 | Rothman | D+9 | 88.8% |
| NJ8 | Pascrell | D+10 | 96.6% |
| NJ1 | Andrews | D+12 | 97.0% |
| NJ13 | Sires | D+21 | 99.95% |
| NJ10 | Payne | D+33 | 99.998% |
The main lesson, if you take this ratings seriously, is that New Jersey's wealth makes the battleground Congressional districts lean Republican compared to how they vote at the Presidential level. In many states, the R+3 and even the R+7 districts have a great chance of going Democratic at the Congressional level, but here NJ5 and NJ7 are actually quite unfavorable, and should vote for the House like R+14 districts in the rest of the country. When we evaluate how our candidates did, it's worth keeping this effect in mind.
Frank LoBiondo's district is the poorest in New Jersey, and by this measure is slightly better for Democrats than Holt's district, but we are stuck with the echo of 1994. In case it's not obvious, being an incumbent matters, scandals matter, and cycles can be more or less Republican than the average cycle, and you should always remember that the most likely outcome doesn't always happen. All of our 2010 races have incumbents so the percentages definitely do not apply. Also, this is the last election in the current districts.
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Tue Jun 08, 2010 at 11:36:24 PM EDT
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As I was watching Scott Sipprelle giving his victory speech, I could not help but notice how elitist he was when he, in illustrating the economic hardships of the state, stigmatized food service workers.
Now, food service is an unpleasant job, and I wouldn't do it, and the suggestion I would do it would be triggering for reasons I won't disclose here. However, these people show up everyday, work in loud, noisy conditions with sometimes ungrateful customers, and have to deal with low pay and not having healthcare (one of the reasons I am an uncompromising advocate of single payer) and being in an at-will workplace.
More after the jump!
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Mon Mar 22, 2010 at 01:50:56 PM EDT
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The Honorable Governor Chris Christie says, "we must share the pain." He wants to cut $850 Million from the state education budget. He needs to do this to support a tax cut of $900 Million to people who make over $400,000 per year.
What pain is he asking the poor suffering masses who make over $400,000 per year to share? The pain of sunburn from a few extra days at the beach on the French Riveria? A few more days jetlagged? An additional hangover?
But Christie's priorities don't surprise me. He is a Republican. His economic policies are the same failed economic policies of Hoover, Reagan, and George W. Bush. We need to listen to Keynes, Daly, Stiglitz, and Krugman.
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Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 08:34:58 AM EDT
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I am asking you to take Election Day off from work and come to Somerset County to make this election as painful as possible for the Republican bosses. We can win this county for Barack Obama and put some serious dents in the Republican hold here.
Just last month Somerset's registration advantage moved from the GOP to the Democrats, we have awesome candidates for Freeholder in Doug Singleterry and Cecilia Xie Birge, have four different Congressional races (Pallone, Holt, Wyka and Stender), and candidates running in just about every town. This is an opportunity we haven't seen in a long time, and we need your help to make it happen.
We will be working out of Bridgewater (Martinsville), Hillsborough, Montgomery and maybe one other town but our goal is to reach every single district in the county at least once. We need you to give us a few hours to make this happen.
This is an amazing opportunity to put NJ7 in the Democrats' pocket, elect Democratic Freeholders in Somerset for the first time since 1979, take some of the wind out of Rodney Frelinghuysen, and win control of at least four towns.
We need challengers at the polls, van drivers for our volunteers, people to go door-to-door to our voters reminding them to get to the polls, and others to staff the staging areas. Anyone 16 years or older can volunteer on election day and make a real difference.
If you can give us one, two, three, four or eight hours on election day, please give me a call at (908) 561-6387 or e-mail me at nathanrudy@gmail.com .
If you can't come to Somerset, please be sure to volunteer in your home town or county. The more workers we have the more votes we'll get!
Let's win on November 4 up and down the ticket.
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Mon Oct 15, 2007 at 05:59:18 PM EDT
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Cash on Hand from the FEC quarterly filings:
| Rob Andrews (NJ1) | $2,429,899 |
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| Rush Holt (NJ12) | $623,200 |
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| Frank Pallone (NJ6) | $3,105,223 |
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| Bill Pascrell (NJ8) | $1,031,440 |
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| Don Payne (NJ10) | $751,399 |
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| Steve Rothman (NJ9) | $1,838,631 |
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| Albio Sires (NJ13) | $132,605 |
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Your politics 101 quiz: Which of these Congressmen is thinking of running for the U.S. Senate?
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Wed Nov 15, 2006 at 05:29:40 PM EST
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Representative Rush Holt held a press conference today to address irregularities with some electronic voting machines in last week's elections.As we stand here today, the results in at least one House race remain unknown because thousands of votes were lost by electronic voting machines. Until we require that these systems produce a voter-verified paper audit trail, voters will continue to doubt the outcomes of elections involving these machines, because the results will be unauditable.
The inaccuracy of electronic touch-screen voting machines poses a direct threat to the integrity of our electoral system and to our nation’s democracy. Once again this broken system has been exposed in Florida’s 13th Congressional district where over 18,000 votes went uncounted. Without the means to fully guarantee that every vote is counted as fairly and accurately as possible, the authenticity of our recorded vote will always be uncertain and open to electoral and legal challenges. Rep. Holt's bill, "The Voter Confidence and Accessibility Act" (H.R. 550) has gained two co-sponsors since last week's elections, making a total of 221 co-sponsors. (Though the House site puts the number at 222).
Some of the bill's specifics are after the jump.
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Mon May 22, 2006 at 10:35:10 AM EDT
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(Congressman Holt is answering more of the questions posted earlier. - promoted by jmelli)
Today I announce my campaign for reelection as the Congressional Representative for the people of the 12th Dictrict of New Jersey.
I am announcing on the web and through this blog intentionally to make the point that in my campaign and in my work as Member of Congress I seek input from citizens and I seek to build community.
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Fri May 19, 2006 at 09:52:54 AM EDT
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( - promoted by jmelli)
A different kind of Congressman kicks off a different kind of campaign...This Monday, May 22, at 10:00 a.m., Congressman Rush Holt will hold his Campaign Kick-Off. This year, in addition to doing an event on Monday morning at Rider University, we’ll be broadcasting the event in real time via RushHolt.com. If you can’t join us in person, we hope you’ll view it on the web with fellow supporters at selected meet-ups throughout the district. Also, join Rush at 10:30 a.m. right here on BlueJersey for live blogging. He’ll take questions about the direction of the country, issues before Congress, and anything else on your mind. I really, or virtually, hope you can join us! Click here to see event flyer!
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Mon Apr 10, 2006 at 07:08:10 PM EDT
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This is the most recent listing of candidates that have filed petitions for federal office. The first candidate listed in each category is the incumbent. The number after their names indicates the number of petition signatures submitted, and I also included the slogans of some of the candidates running without the party endorsement.
US Senate:
Bob Menendez (D) 8029
James D. Kelly Jr (D) 1300
Thomas H. Kean Jr. (R) 4202
John P. Ginty (R) 1742
House Districts
1: Rob Andrews (D)
2: Frank LoBiondo (R) 804
Viola Thomas-Hughes (D) 298
Henry David Marcus (D) 207 "Change the Course!"
3: Jim Saxton (R) 949
Richard Sexton (D) 293
4: Chris Smith (R) 675
Gary Schiavone (D) 310
5: Scott Garrett (R) 513
Michael Cino (R) 300
Paul Aronsohn (D) 495
Camille M. Abate (D) 427 "A New Spine For Congress"
6: Frank Pallone Jr (D) 310
Leigh-Ann Bellew (R) 278
7: Mike Ferguson (R) 896
Linda Stender (D) 532
8: Bill Pascrell (D) 4301
Jose Sandivol (R) 407
9: Steve Rothman (D) 1020
Vincent Micco (R) 321
10: Donald Payne (D) 1244
Deshon Porter (D) 211
11: Rodney Frelinghuysen (R) 699
Tom Wyka (D) 332
12: Rush Holt (D) 1216
Joseph Sinagra (R) 225
13: Special election for unexpired term
Albio Sires (D) 530
James Geron (D) 268
13: For full term
Albio Sires (D) 3229
Joseph Vas (D) 594
John Guarini (R) 255
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Mon Apr 10, 2006 at 01:42:35 PM EDT
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 Update 3 (A big one, so I'm posting it up top): There WILL be two Democratic challengers to Frank LoBiondo in NJ-2. Fairfield Township councilwoman Viola Thomas-Hughes and Henry David Marcus will compete in the primary. This now means that every Republican House member in New Jersey will face a challenger in November.
According to the Division of Elections, Gary Schiavone has filed to challenge Chris Smith in the 4th Congressional district. With about two hours left until the filing deadline, no Democrat has filed in the 2nd yet to challenge LoBiondo.
The GOP has failed to file challenges to Rob Andrews (NJ-1) and Donald Payne (NJ-10).
Update 1: Donald Payne (NJ-10) will have a challenger in the primary, and Michael Cino has just filed to challenge Garrett in the primary. Assemblywoman Oadline Truitt (D) from the 28th legislative district will face a primary challenge.
Update 2: (via politicsnj)
Joe Vas filed petitions to run for the full 2-year term in the 13th district, but not for the Special Election.
John Ginty filed petitions to seek the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate today. Ginty filed with 1,742 signatures.
James Kelly, a resident of a group home for the mentally disabled , filed as a U.S. Senate candidate in the primary against Bob Menendez.
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