First it was Carl Lewis in LD8. Then Gabriela Mosquera in LD4.
Now the Machine is ready to run Shelley Adler, wife of the late John Adler, for his Third Congressional District seat presently occupied by Rep. Jon Runyan. The catch? Mrs. Adler doesn’t live in the redrawn Third Congressional District.
Congressman Ruyan issued a responsive statement earlier this afternoon:
“I welcome Mrs. Adler into the race,” said Rep. Runyan. “If she is ultimately the Democratic nominee, I look forward to a spirited campaign on the issues that matter to the residents of Burlington and Ocean counties.”
“I intend to run on my record of standing up to President Obama’s failed big-government agenda, fighting to restore fiscal responsibility and implement pro-growth economic policies that create jobs and opportunity for all Americans, preserving and strengthening Medicare for current and future generations, and strongly supporting our veterans, active military and the operations at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.”
Runyan consultant Chris Russell pointed to Mrs. Adler’s decision to run despite not living in the newly-configured 3rd Congressional District.
“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,” added Russell.
Of course, the major difference between Adler’s run and the Lewis/Mosquera cases is the all-important residency issue. Lewis and Mosquera were running for state office to fill seats that they weren’t eligible to occupy; under federal law, a candidate can run for a congressional district from anywhere in the state where said district lies.
That doesn’t make the Machine’s decision to run Mrs. Adler any less inappropriate. Or cynical! How dumb do they think Ocean and Burlington residents are? It’s a naked appeal to emotion over substance. And it won’t work.
CD3 should be represented by someone who lives there and represents the values and aspirations of its citizens.
Mrs. Adler doesn’t fit either category.
After those insults to our intelligence + the Toricelli/Lautenberg switcheroo, nothing surprises me anymore.
Maybe they should get Bernie Platt to run. It'd give him something to do, and still spend part of the Winter in Florida.
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