NJ midterm elections 2018: Who’s running and where they stand on the issues

If a Democratic wave breaks in November’s midterm congressional elections, don’t expect to see Republicans losing by double-digit margins. More likely, it will the result of  Democrats winning by narrow margins in dozens of districts that are usually reliably Republican.

That could happen, but may not, in New Jersey’s 3rd, 7th and 11th districts, where Republican Reps. Tom MacArthur and Leonard Lance are battling for survival, and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen is retiring, respectively.

Outside groups have been spending money in all three, and the Democratic candidates all have past government experience and have raised surprising amounts of money for first-time office seekers.

New Jersey is divided into 12 districts, and the House delegation has a 7-5 Democratic majority. National Republican leaders have already written off one GOP-held seat in the 2nd District, where Rep. Frank LoBiondo is retiring. Democrats also hold out hope for a wave big enough to wash Rep. Chris Smith out of the 4th District seat he has held since Ronald Reagan was president, but that remains a longshot, according to handicappers.

The races in the 3rd, 7th and 11th are New Jersey’s most tightly contested House races, with handicappers calling them tossups or giving Democrats a slight edge. House Speaker Paul Ryan included the three battleground districts among the 25 he is visiting in 12 states during the campaign’s final weeks. Polls indicate who wins will depend on how undecided voters break in the final weeks, and who actually turns out to vote.

NJ House races: Everything you need to know to vote in the NJ House races

The Lance and Frelinghuysen districts are dominated by the kinds of suburbs that in special elections over the past two years have broken heavily toward Democrats. MacArthur’s district includes Shore towns and communities surrounding the state’s largest military base.

Nationally, Democrats need to win 23 Republican-held seats to take control of the House. Campaign handicapper Nathan Gonzales at Inside Elections says 78 Republican-held seats are in play nationally, including 15 in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania alone. 

Here’s a look at the three Garden State battlegrounds.

11th District

Parts of Essex, Morris, Passaic and Sussex counties. Largest towns: Wayne, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Livingston, Nutley, West Orange.

Mikie Sherrill

Age: 46

Hometown: Montclair

Family: Married, four children 

Education: BS, United States Naval Academy; MS, global history, London School of Economics and Political Science; JD, Georgetown University Law Center

Experience: Former assistant U.S. attorney; former outreach and reentry coordinator, U.S. Attorney’s Office; former attorney, Kirkland and Ellis; former lieutenant, U.S. Navy.

Financials: Through 9/30, $7 million raised, $4.5 million spent, $2.7 million on hand.

Top platform

“We need to work in a bipartisan manner to get good legislation passed in Congress. A tax plan that doesn’t attack New Jersey. Quality and affordable health care for everyone in this country. … Infrastructure spending so we can grow our economy now and well into the future.” – NJTV debate, Oct. 10

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Where she stands

Guns: Background checks for all sales. Ban assault weapons, bump stocks and large-capacity magazines. No purchases by people on no-fly list or with domestic abuse restraining orders. – campaign website

Health care: Preserve Affordable Care Act provisions preventing discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions, mandating essential health benefits and allowing parents to keep children up to age 26 on their policies. Allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices with drug companies. Find “a fiscally responsible way to allow certain individuals older than 55 the option of buying into Medicare.” – campaign website

Abortion: “A woman’s health decisions should be between her and her doctor. The federal government should have no say on when, how, or with whom women decide to start or grow a family.” — campaign website

Jay Webber

Hometown: Morris Plains

Age: 46

Family: Married, seven children

Education: BA, international relations, Johns Hopkins University; JD, Harvard Law School

Experience: Six-term incumbent, NJ State Assembly; attorney, Webber McGill; former chairman, New Jersey Republican State Committee 

Financials: Through 9/30, $1.2 million raised, $1.1 million spent, $140,000 on hand.

Top platform

Running to fight for the principles of former President Ronald Reagan: Smaller government, border security and liberty. – campaign ad

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Where he stands

Abortion: Endorsed by New Jersey Right to Life. “Federal funding for Planned Parenthood should be repurposed to federally qualified health centers …  The federal government should not subsidize such a controversial group.” – campaign website

End Sanctuary Cities: “Instructing local police officers to ignore federal law and refuse cooperation in capturing criminal aliens is a radical step that … allows for criminal illegal aliens to walk freely within our neighborhoods and put our families and law enforcement at risk.” – campaign website

Veterans: “We must strengthen the Veterans Administration to bring it into the 21st century and make sure that it actually is caring for and serving veterans who have earned it..” – campaign website

7th District

All of Hunterdon County and parts of Essex, Morris, Somerset, Union and Warren counties. Largest towns: Bridgewater, Hillsborough, Union, Westfield.

Leonard Lance

Age: 66

Hometown: Clinton Township

Family: Married, one son.

Education: BA, American studies, Lehigh University; JD, Vanderbilt University School of Law; MPA, Princeton University

Experience: Five-term incumbent, U.S. House; former state Senate minority leader and Assembly member

Financials: Through 9/30, $2.1 million raised, $1.3 million spent, $1 million on hand

Top platform

“I think the voters in the district are highly intelligent. It’s a well-educated district, relatively affluent district, and I’m a moderate conservative and I believe the best government is from the center out. I’m a member of what’s known as the Problem Solvers Caucus and I think in the new House there will be greater influence of those in the middle.” – Bloomberg news interview published Aug. 13

Where he stands

Trump initiatives: “I have voted against … the health care legislation which did pass the House … and then I also voted against the tax bill for two principal reasons. No. 1, I think we should continue to have the ability to deduct state and local taxes in their entirety. And also, I’m concerned about the federal debt.” – April interview with NorthJersey.com & USA Today Network New Jersey

Immigration: “We should be welcoming to immigrants from across the globe. … For those who came to this country as infants or toddlers or children with parents who came here illegally, I think the DACA population should have the opportunity for citizenship. Regarding their parents, I don’t favor citizenship. I favor legalization. … For the DREAM Act to be successful it has to include greater border security.  … I think we should respect what ICE does and I am an opponent of sanctuary cities.” – Gateway Chamber of Commerce debate, Sept. 24

Social Security: “I believe strongly in preserving Medicare, and Medicaid and Social Security … I have stated repeatedly over the course of my tenure in Congress that what we’re going to have to do in this country is raise the retirement age for Social Security for those young people in their teens and younger and perhaps into their early 20s. … Not for anybody approaching retirement age, not for anybody in their 30s or 40s or 50s or 60s.” – Gateway Chamber of Commerce debate, Sept. 24

Tom Malinowski

Age: 53

Hometown: Rocky Hill

Family: Divorced, one child.

Education: BA, University of California-Berkeley; master of philosophy and politics, Oxford University (Rhodes scholar)

Experience: Former assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor; former Washington director, Human Rights Watch

Financials: Through 9/30, $5.4 million raised, $3.7 million spent, $909,000 on hand

Top platform

“I came here as a legal immigrant escaping a communist country with my mother when I was 6 years old. And the wonderful thing I learned about America even as a small child was that I could be from somewhere else, I could have a different culture, I could have a mother who spoke with a funny accent … and yet I could be accepted very quickly as 100 percent American so long as I embraced the rules and traditions and ideals of this country. And that’s not only a good thing, it’s our greatest comparative advantage in the world.” – Gateway Chamber of Commerce debate, Sept. 24

Where he stands

Taxes: Says he will work to repeal 2017 tax overhaul and replace it with “fiscally responsible” reform that preserves deduction for state and local taxes. Would take further steps to ensure corporations cannot shield income from taxation through foreign subsidiaries. – campaign website

Divided society: “If our only answer to the anxiety that middle class people in districts like this or all across the country are feeling about what has happened to the economy over the last 10 years, over the last 40 years … is just corporate tax cuts and deregulation, not only are we not going to solve the problems that arise on Wall Street and in our economy, we are going to be deepening the resentment, very legitimate resentment, of what’s happening in our economy that is driving both sides of the political spectrum to the extremes.” – Gateway Chamber of Commerce debate, Sept. 24

Social Security/Medicare: “Social Security and Medicare, these are things we pay into. They are owed to us. This is not a social program. And they are not responsible for the fiscal crisis we are facing as a country today. ” – Gateway Chamber of Commerce debate, Sept. 24

3rd District

Parts of Ocean and Burlington Counties. Largest towns: Toms River, Brick, Evesham, Mount Laurel, Berkeley. 

Andy Kim

Age: 36

Hometown: Bordentown

Family: Married, two children

Education: BA, political science, University of Chicago; Master’s and doctorate, international relations, Oxford University (Rhodes scholar)

Experience: Former Iraq director, National Security Council & Defense Department; former foreign affairs officer, State Department; former conflict management specialist, U.S. Agency for International Development

Financials: Through 9/30, $4.4 million raised, $3.3 million spent, $1.1 million on hand

Top platform

“Millions of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck are one accident or sickness away from disaster.  My father suffered from polio as a child and my mother is a nurse who has served New Jersey residents for decades. They raised me to believe that staying healthy is essential to achieving the American Dream, and that no one in the richest, most powerful country in the world should die or go bankrupt because they can’t afford to go to a doctor. Our current system has expanded coverage to millions of Americans, but it still falls far short and costs keep rising. We need a better way forward.”– campaign website

Where he stands

Accessibility: “People in this district, they want someone that listens to them, someone that’s going to be there, and be accessible. … I want to make sure that we have a public town hall meeting in the district every single month. … I want to be the most accountable, accessible and transparent member of Congress that there is.” – NJTV interview, June 1

Health care: Let Medicare negotiate discounts with drug makers and make prices of prescriptions transparent. Wants everyone to have access to care, but says he is not calling for making Medicare available to people of every age. Maintain protections for people with pre-existing conditions. – campaign website

Reform proposals: Refused contributions from corporate political action committees. Wants to overturn Supreme Court decision that led to unlimited corporate spending through super PACs. Would ban contributions from lobbyists and industry groups to members of committees who regulate them. Promises not to work as lobbyist after Congress. – Sept. 24 news release

Tom MacArthur

Age: 58

Hometown: Toms River

Family: Married, two children

Education: B.A., history, Hofstra University

Experience: Former Randolph Township mayor; worked as insurance executive.

Financials: Through 9/30, $3.7 million raised, $2.8 million spent, $918,000 on hand.

Top platform

“I said when I ran for office the first time that I was going to go with a lifetime of business experience … and I was going to bring a practical, real-world sense of things to Washington. That’s what I’ve done. I’ve made myself relevant, which is not always easy when you’re a junior member of Congress, but I have found ways to get things done that matter to South Jersey and matter to our country.” – NJTV interview, June 1

Where he stands

Taxes: Supported tax overhaul because it increased the standard deduction, lowered rates and raised the child tax credit, resulting in 81 percent of New Jersey residents getting a tax cut and state businesses paying $9 billion less to federal government. Said much-maligned $10,000 cap on the deduction for state and local taxes will affect few in his district, and that he fought to get that $10,000 when House, Senate and White House officials wanted to eliminate the deduction entirely. – editorial board with Asbury Park Press

Health care: Said he worked with members on both sides to try to fix a broken health care system. Amendment to the Affordable Care Act repeal he sponsored prohibited states from denying anyone insurance because of a pre-existing condition, and created a $138 billion fund for high risk pools to help defray costs for sick people who might otherwise find insurance unaffordable. – editorial board with Asbury Park Press

Guns: Supports stiffer penalties for violent crimes committed with guns, called for universal criminal and mental health background checks for all gun purchases. Says law-abiding citizens have a constitutional right to protect themselves and their families and to hunt, collect guns and shoot competitively and recreationally. – campaign website

 

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