New Jersey's 7th congressional district election, 2008

New Jersey's 7th congressional district election, 2008
November 4, 2008 (2008-11-04)

 
Nominee Leonard Lance Linda Stender Michael Hsing
Party Republican Democratic Independent
Popular vote 142,092 116,171 15,826
Percentage 50.8% 41.6% 5.7%
U.S. Representative before election

Mike Ferguson
Republican

 Elected U.S. Representative

Leonard Lance
Republican

Congressman Leonard Lance defeated state Assembly Woman Linda Stender in a long fought race for the highly competitive seat. Leonard Lance announced his plans to continue to "fight for the republican party I have come to know" and stating that he has suggested an update to the Republican Party.

The incumbent, Republican Representative Mike Ferguson, announced on November 19, 2007, that he would not seek reelection, citing family obligations.[1]

The district was considered to lean Republican, but the 2008 election was expected to be highly competitive, considering the closeness of the 2006 election when Ferguson, the incumbent Republican, narrowly defeated Stender, the Democratic challenger. Ultimately, Lance received 50.8% of the vote and was elected to serve in Congress.

Democratic primary

Linda Stender, New Jersey Assemblywoman, and the 2006 Congressional nominee, was unopposed in the Democratic primary. She was narrowly defeated by Ferguson in the 2006 election.

Republican primary

Seven candidates appeared on the Republican primary ballot:[2]

Three other candidates who had sought support in Republican conventions in the district, but failed to win any organizational support, declined to file petitions to run in the Republican primary: Warren Mayor Victor Sordillo, Bridgewater Councilman Michael Hsing, and former Hillsborough Deputy Mayor Chris Venis.[2] Hsing, however, later filed to run in the general election as an independent.

During the convention process, Lance won the "organization line" in Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, which together account for about 70 percent of the Republican primary voters in the district.[3] Hatfield won the line in Union County and Whitman won in Middlesex County. The portion of the district in Middlesex has by far the fewest number of registered Republican voters of any of the four counties in the district.[4]


Independent candidates

Campaign

The 7th District is one of two open congressional seats in New Jersey for the 2008 elections, the other being the 3rd district, being vacated by retiring Republican Jim Saxton.

Fundraising

As of July, Stender had a huge lead over Lance in terms of both funds raised and cash on hand.[5][6] In fact, Lance was trailing independent Michael Hsing in terms of cash on hand. In spite of Stender's financial advantage, Lance still polled fairly evenly with her throughout the race.

Polling

In mid-September a poll showed Stender leading Lance 36 to 33 percent with Hsing at 9 percent. There was some speculation that Hsing, a Republican councilman in Bridgewater, might act as a spoiler by taking Republican votes away from Lance.[7][8] The Democratic Party directly tried to take advantage of Hsing's conservatism by sending out direct mail attacking Lance's conservative credentials in order to divert Republican voters to Hsing.[9] However, an internal poll conducted by Stender's campaign in late October showed that Lance was leading in the race by four points.[10] On October 31, The Pindell Report changed its rating of the race from "Leans Democratic" to "Leans Republican."[11]

Debates

Lance and Stender debated each other twice during the campaign. In September, they met in Scotch Plains for a debate hosted at the Jewish Community Campus of Central New Jersey. It was moderated by Westfield rabbi Douglas Segal. The candidates met in October in Edison for a second debate, which was televised on News 12 New Jersey and moderated by Walt Kane.

Endorsements

On October 21, The Newark Star-Ledger editorial board endorsed Lance in the 2008 election. On October 25, The New York Times followed suit. Eight other newspapers also endorsed Lance over Stender. Stender's bid was not endorsed by a single newspaper during the campaign.

Both major-party candidates have campaigned with prominent politicians of their party in the months before the election. Lance campaigned with then-U.S. President George W. Bush and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Stender campaigned with former U.S. president Bill Clinton and U.S. House of Representatives majority leader Steny Hoyer.

Results

2008 New Jersey 7th District General Election
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Leonard Lance 142,092 50.8% +1.4
Democratic Linda Stender 116,255 41.6% -6.4
Independent Michael Hsing 15,826 5.7% N/A
Independent Dean Greco 3,008 1.1% N/A
Independent Thomas Abrams 2,408 .9% -.7
Majority 25,837 9.2% +7.7
Turnout 279,589
Republican hold Swing -3.9%

See also

Major party candidates

Independent candidates

Unsuccessful primary candidates

References

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