The Wall Street Journal - N.J. Republican Congressman Scott Garrett Is in Competitive Race With Newcomer

News Article

By Kate King

New Jersey Democrats have met only defeat in their recent efforts to capture the state's Fifth Congressional District seat, but their campaign this year has gotten a boost from a controversy surrounding Republican incumbent Scott Garrett.

Mr. Garrett, 57 years old, has represented the district in New Jersey's northwestern corner since 2003. His Democratic challenger in the November race, former Microsoft executive Josh Gottheimer, is portraying Mr. Garrett as ultraconservative and out of touch.

"The truth is he's fighting for the Tea Party," said Mr. Gottheimer, 41. "It's clear that he doesn't belong here."

Mr. Garrett, a Wantage resident and married father of two, is a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, an alliance of hard-line conservatives that last year led the drive to oust former House Speaker John Boehner. Mr. Garrett is also chairman of a House Financial Services subcommittee, a powerful post that has netted him contributions from Wall Street.

But over the past year, Mr. Garrett lost important donors following media reports that he refused to pay dues to the National Republican Congressional Committee because it was recruiting gay candidates.

In an interview last week with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Garrett said his comments were mischaracterized and that his opposition was specific to gay marriage.

"I agree with the Republican platform and the Republican platform supports traditional marriage and so I will be supporting those who support traditional marriage," he said.

Mr. Gottheimer cited Mr. Garrett's past affiliation with Veritas Christian Academy, a Christian high school in Sussex County that lists homosexual activity and obtaining an abortion as punishable by automatic suspension in its parent-student handbook.

"Scott Garrett has a long and sad history of sexism and bigotry that are totally inconsistent with Jersey values," Mr. Gottheimer said.

Mr. Garrett had limited involvement with the school as a trustee in 2006 and 2007, according to his spokeswoman.

"Scott Garrett is a Christian, as are many voters in the Fifth District, and if Josh Gottheimer does not think they are entitled to religious freedom, he is most unqualified to protect the Constitution as an elected representative," a spokeswoman for Mr. Garrett said in an email.

Mr. Gottheimer, who lives in Wyckoff with his wife and two young children, has never held elective office. He was a speechwriter for former President Bill Clinton and says he is positioning himself as a "fiscally conservative, socially progressive" candidate in the style of Mr. Garrett's Republican predecessor, Marge Roukema.

But the district's record in electing a moderate doesn't necessarily mean Mr. Garrett is vulnerable, said former Republican New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean. "This isn't the first time that people have written that this is a race that Democrats should win, and Scott Garrett always seems to come out on top," he said.

Nathan Gonzales, editor of the Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter, said Democrats' main challenges are that Mr. Gottheimer lacks name recognition and that the Fifth Congressional District falls within an expensive media market.

Mr. Gottheimer, who is receiving support from the House Democrats' "Red to Blue" fundraising initiative, has raised $2.9 million to Mr. Garrett's $1.4 million this election cycle, according to federal election records.

The criticism over what Mr. Garrett allegedly said about gay candidates "has helped Democrats bring national attention to the race, it's helped Gottheimer raise money," Mr. Gonzales said.

At the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Wednesday, New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democrat, boycotted a delegate breakfast sponsored by the New Jersey utility Public Service Electric & Gas because of its contributions to Mr. Garrett, who Mr. Sweeney said has "bigoted, anti-LGBT views." The utility gave Mr. Garrett $2,500 in March 2015, according to federal election records.

A spokeswoman for the utility said it had "deep respect" for Mr. Sweeney but wouldn't discuss its political contributions in the race.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Garrett said Mr. Sweeney was threatening a New Jersey business and "spreading lies" about Mr. Garrett.

Douglas Steinhardt, who is chairman of the Warren County Republican Committee, said he hadn't heard of any backlash to Mr. Garrett's comments from Republican and unaffiliated voters in his corner of the district. "People are less worried about social issues and more about their financial well-being," he said.

But Allen Rapaport, a police commissioner and Republican councilman in the Bergen County borough of Norwood, said he considered Mr. Garrett's social and fiscal views too extreme.

Mr. Rapaport said he soured on Mr. Garrett in part because the congressman refused to write a letter on behalf of the Paramus Fire Department, which was applying for a federal grant to pay for a new truck.

Mr. Garrett said he is opposed to such federal programs, which he said are funded by siphoning money from taxpayers and sending it to other parts of the country. "We don't get our fair share back," he said. "Every town should be able to hold on to their own money."

Source