It didn't take long for ex-NFL bad boy Jon Runyan to bring up Shelley Adler's residency. In a statement issued today, Runyan's spokesman said, "After the Carl Lewis fiasco and the public backlash towards him, you would think candidates would be more wary of seeking elected office in a district that they don't actually live in,"
Ignoring the fact that the backlash against Lewis came not from the electorate (who were denied a vote for Senate) but from the Republican Party, a party whose middle name is "voter suppression", the Lewis case and the Adler candidacy are two different things.
Lewis' case is governed by the New Jersey Constitution and the ultimate judicial decision was that the dual-state long-time New Jersey resident did not meet the somewhat ambiguous residency requirement. Adler's case is different. The US Constitution only requires that a candidate be a resident of the state from which she is elected. Shelley Adler has been a resident of New Jersey, and of the third district, far longer than meshugina Michigander Jon Runyan has. Bottom line: Adler is a New Jerseyan, Runyan is a carpetbagger.
Neither Shelley Adler nor Steve Rothman is required to move into their newly configured congressional districts, but both have indicated that they will do so. In the case of the third district, Runyan should run on his record, not some artificial boundary line that has no bearing on the race. If he does, Shelley Adler will be our next congresswoman.
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:
I have lived in Northwestern New Jersey in CD5 for over 30 years, but for the last 9+ years I have had the misfortune of having Scott Garrett as my Representative in Congress. Assemblywoman Connie Wagner would be my choice to unseat him. Having served in the Assembly since 2008, representing the 38th District, she has proven to be a champion of progressive ideals and values. I also think that Connie will be able to raise a significant amount of money in order to compete against Garrett and the Tea Party money.
Dr. Tom Sacks-Wilner lives in Medford, CD3. For several years I have been a donor to Tom's fundraising/bundling group. He is a person who raises money readily and efficiently. With an expansive donor base that he has fashioned, he can easily raise at least $6 million from now to November 6. His ability to fundraise will provide the mandatory funds needed to define Jon Runyan. He has been politically active behind the scenes, especially in progressive causes.
In light of the Republican-favorable redistricting, Connie and Tom would each have a mountain to climb to defeat their respective opponent; however the challenge is certainly not insurmountable. I believe both would make their races interesting, should they choose to run.
If you're one of those political junkie types who can't get enough of the redistricting debate, you simply must tune into this weekend's edition of Power&Politics on News12. The show airs Saturdays AND Sundays at 10am and 3pm.
Several segments discuss the state's new Congressional boundaries, and I get a chance to weigh in as well, debating my (mostly) friendly rival, Chris Russell from South Jersey. Monmouth U. Poll-meister Patrick Murray, Montclair State political scientist Brigid Harrison, GOP lobbyist Tom Wilson and PolitickerNJ's Alan Steinberg guest star as well.
Conventional wisdom says that one way to defeat Congressman Jon Runyan this year is to fight fire with fire. That is, instead of the Democrats standing up a run-of-the-mill politician against Runyan, they should nominate a celebrity. The thinking is that there's really no one in the Burlington/Ocean county political establishment that has the name recognition, fundraising ability, and gravitas to compete with the ex-NFL "bad boy" and his bottomless source of campaign funds from the corporatists.
There is a celebrity athlete in Runyan's congressional district - one who has dabbled in politics before., and can be orders of magnitude better than Runyan. Olympian Carl Lewis ran for state senate last year, only to be denied the opportunity to serve because a judge ruled that the long-time New Jerseyan did not strictly fit the residency requirements.
Photo of Lewis' announcement of his senate run - April, 2011
(Left to right: Orange, NJ Mayor Eldrige Hawkins, Carl Lewis, Christopher Walker - Executive Director of the Carl Lewis Foundation, New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney)
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.
UPDATE 11:14, motion by Democrats to table map 'till next month fails.
UPDATE 11:06 (Rosi Efthim): I just put up close-ups of the new districts in 3 sections - north, central, south. It's close-up enough that you should be able to look, find your town, and see which district you're now in - Find Your Town - the New Congressional Redistricting Map.
Update 11am, Jeannine Frisby LaRue cites "serious problems" with the map. Specifically the slicing and dicing in NJ-3 and Bergen County. Go girl!
Update 10:57, DuHaime and Roberts playing ping pong. Is the former Speaker planting the seeds for a lawsuit?
UPDATE 10:47 (Rosi Efthim) Here's the map:
UPDATE 10:34 - The status is still listed as Pending, but when things get underway, you can listen LIVE to the session here, from Committee Room 11 at the Statehouse. (keep refreshing) - Rosi Efthim
10:33 Cherry Hill moved to nj-1 is the pre-map chatter. Oy.
10:26 and waiting for the new maps to be revealed.
(pics to follow....)
NJ-3's new Cherry Hill-free configuration. Click to enlarge.
North Jersey map below. Click to enlarge in detail.
I went to Trenton this morning to observe a couple of Senate committee hearings and to tweet what was going on. First was the Senate Education Committee which addressed a number of issues, none of which were the front-page items like tenure, vouchers, and charter schools. Senator Ruiz chaired the short meeting which addressed things like including cheerleaders in school injury safety programs, school disaster preparedness plans, and pension contributions for instructors in institutions of higher learning. All important, and there was not much contention in the meeting. The highlight was hearing the chants of the Catholic school students outside expressing their support for taxpayer-funded vouchers.
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.
UPDATE: We know a little more now about how this video was compiled. Senator Lautenberg with his staff took the initiative, in recognition of National Bullying Prevention Month, which is October. To accommodate busy schedules, blocks of time over two weeks were reserved at the Capitol Visitor Center Recording Studio, with invitations to members of NJ's congressional delegation to record. There are a few faces missing - it would be even better with Reps. Andrews, Garrett, Frelinghuysen, Pallone and Smith. And we must point out that Lance & LoBiondo voted NO on DADT repeal, as Runyan might have but he wasn't sworn in yet. But the effort, and especially Senator Lautenberg's initiative, are much appreciated.
BTW - I'm told this is the first-ever It Gets Better video that includes elected Republicans.
The New Jersey suicide of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi and other other young gay people prompted the It Gets Better Project, a labor of love from columnist Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller. The project took off like wildfire; over the last year celebrities, sports teams, and ordinary people have turned their webcams on themselves to give encouragement to teens and kids of a welcoming future for themselves. And those videos, some of them simple and low-tech, made by ordinary people, are bouncing all over the internet.
Last month, an upstate New York 14-year-old named Jamey Rodemeyer killed himself outside his house. A smart kid, with supportive parents, and friends who cared about him. A kid whose NY state senator had led other Republicans to reverse course and help pass marriage equality in New York State, in part after Jamey's hero Lady Gaga had asked her Buffalo audience to ask him to. Jamey's last message was a thank you to Lady Gaga for her message of self-worth to gay kids. And Jamey had himself just months earlier made an 'It Gets Better' video to give confidence to other kids. Jamey himself died last month, after a particularly rough bout of online bullying.
Proof if ever there was any that there's work still to be done. This is the 'It Gets Better' video that's going to the press later today, with our thanks to Senator Frank Lautenberg's office for the advance heads-up:
Congressman Jon Runyan is sending out robocalls, probably targeted at seniors like me, touting the fact that Social Security payments will rise starting in January. It certainly takes a lot of chutzpah on Runyan's part, who would privatize our Social Security system to line the pockets of his Wall Street benefactors in a heartbeat. Congressman - you can take credit for tax cuts to millionaires, but don't insult me by telling me about a system which you want to fundamentally destroy.
For such a big guy he's got an awfully teensy (warchest)
The Jon Runyan Campaign just filed its latest FEC report. Considering he's a vulnerable 1st-term incumbent in an outrageously expensive media market, his numbers are almost laughable.
Total Raised: $234,908
Raised from PACs: $172,400*
These contributions made up 73 percent of total receipts.
(*with only $62,508 from individuals.)
Cash on Hand: $378,843
Debt: $254,145
With numbers like that, the climate might be right for a sleeper democrat with some fundraising prowess.
NJ-3 District Congressman wants to know "Who Came to the US From China?"
Congressman Jon Runyan (NJ-3) is launching an investigation of President Obama for refusing to "reveal who came from China" for a state visit.
"The only thing I heard from the White House was a question, 'Who came from China?'. This administration needs to be more open with the American people regarding foreign affairs," said Runyan. "This is outrageous."
Last week, the Obama administration issued an update of the presidential schedule from last winter to Speaker of the House John Boehner, and he passed the information onto Runyan in a phone conversation. Here is the transcript, obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act:
Runyan: Who came from China?
Speaker Boehner: Hu from China.
Runyan: That's what I want to find out.
Speaker Boehner: That's what I said: Hu came from China.
Rep. Runyan: Are you the Speaker?
Speaker Boehner: Yes.
Rep. Runyan: And you don't know this Chinaman's name?
Recently, I received some campaign literature in the mail. I thought it was a bit early -- after all, the election is still two months away. Usually, when I receive this type of material, I toss it right into the recycle bin, treating material from Democrats and Republicans equally.
But then I looked more closely. I saw the face of Jon Runyan on the material. "Interesting," I thought. I knew Runyan's re-election campaign was still a year away. "I wonder who he's endorsing," I said to myself. So I looked at the ad again.
Much to my surprise, it was a campaign ad for Runyan himself. But even more amazing was the fact that he used his congressional franking privilege to pay for and mail the campaign ad.
A few days ago Chris Christie took a shot at Eric Cantor and, by implication, the rest of the TNuts is Congress intent on holdimg hurricane victims hostage to cuts in the federal budget. Now there is a report that freshman 3rd district congressman Jon Runyan is taking shots at the Mother Superior of Tea Partiers, Michelle Bachmann, for her batshit crazy antics in Congress. He compares her to none other than Terrell Owens, not so much for their talent but for the way they can break up a team and cause disruptions, either in the locker room or congressional cloakroom as the case may be.
Runyan certainly is in a position to know both of them personally. He was Owen's teammate on the Eagles NFC championship team in 2004, and he has gotten to know Bachmann as a member of Congress.
I do wonder that these reports of a growing backlash among mainstream Republicans against the tea parties is as much a reaction to recent polls which show growing disenchantment with the tea party movement, as it is a desire to reassert moderate views within the GOP. Somehow I doubt that Runyan and Christie woulkd be as critical of TNuts if polls showed Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin as the two most popular Republican politicians in New Jersey.
One other note. I was flabbergasted when Jon Runyan first ran for Congress, and consdiered him a totally unqualified candidate in an empty helmet on top of an empty uniform. But sometimes even an unintelligent Republican can display more common sense and reason than a batshit crazy TNut than Michelle Bachmann or even, closer to home, the odious Scott Garrett. The latter may score higher than Runyan on IQ tests, but which would you rather have in Congress?
Today, Jon Runyan is appearing before a bunch of his constituents, assumedly to discuss his policies and to take questions from those who he represents. But I can't be there. Why? Because the meeting is taking place within the facility of a local defense contractor and is not open to the public.
In a representative government, our legislators are supposed to support all the people, not just those who voted for them or plied them with cash contributions. It's easy for Runyan to appear before a friendly audience, but he is shirking his responsibilities by refusing to listen to his constituents and answer the difficult questions.
In response to a question about public meetings, one of Runyan's aides sent this e-mail to a constituent:
In a meeting with editors of the Wall Street Journal, Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor, speaking about the GOP's intentions on Medicare, said Americans must "come to grips with the fact that promises have been made that frankly are not going to be kept for many."
Looks like the only promises that will be kept are the ones made to the mega-rich. Kinda makes you wonder if the "moderate" members of NJ's Congressional delegation (Runyan, Lance, LoBo) happen to agree or not.
Trying to reason with a Tea Partiers is like trying to get a Congressional Republican to compromise. It's easier to teach pigs to fly.
MoveOn.org sponsored rallies today all across the country to bring attention to the irrevocable harm that the Republican Tea Party is imposing on mostly complacent Americans. One such event was held over the lunch hour today at the Mount Laurel office of ex-NFL offensive linesman and Tea Party darling, Congressman Jon Runyan.
I arrived at Runyan's office at around 11:30, and there were about five people already gathered in the parking lot. One was a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the rest were members of the West Jersey Tea Party. (I've heard of North Jersey, South Jersey, and Central Jersey, but where the heck is West Jersey? But I digress.)
In case anyone is still thinks the Republicans like Jon Runyan who voted to abolish Medicare actually care about the deficit, this should wake you up. The CBO analysis of the 'bipartisan' budget deal is out:
A few weeks after they cut the deal, we have an answer. It turns out the six-month spending bill Congress passed in March increased discretionary outlays through the remainder of the fiscal year by a bit over $3 billion. In other words, total direct spending will be higher by the end of September than if Congress had just set spending on autopilot for the remainder of the fiscal year back in April.
Yes, the Republicans threatened to shut down the government for their budget cuts and ended up increasing spending. (The culprit is defense spending.) I'll confess the House Republicans are creating political disasters even faster than I expected. Just don't give up your future so these clowns can give it to someone else.
I went to Trenton this morning to observe a couple of Senate committee hearings and to tweet what was going on. First was the Senate Education Committee which addressed a number of issues, none of which were the front-page items like tenure, vouchers, and charter schools. Senator Ruiz chaired the short meeting which addressed things like including cheerleaders in school injury safety programs, school disaster preparedness plans, and pension contributions for instructors in institutions of higher learning. All important, and there was not much contention in the meeting. The highlight was hearing the chants of the Catholic school students outside expressing their support for taxpayer-funded vouchers.
