The Republican tidal wave that swept through the country left New Jersey relatively unscathed today, knocking out one Democratic incumbent, but leaving two others still standing after unexpectedly tough re-election challenges...
With the win, six of the state’s 13 congressional seats will now be held by the GOP, with the other seven to remain with the Democrats. Neither of the U.S. Senate seats were up for election...
In the 6th District, which winds through parts of Middlesex, Monmouth, Somerset and Union counties. Frank Pallone, the 22-year Democratic incumbent who has never faced a serious election challenge, found himself in a place he had never been before, as he was forced to deal with surging tea party-backed Republican Anna Little — the feisty Highlands mayor who waged an upstart grass-roots campaign. Pallone won, 54 to 44 percent.
During October, Little had gain appeared to be gaining traction thanks in large part to "Anna’s Army" of followers that knocked on 100,000 doors during the campaign. But Pallone repeatedly painted Little as "definitely outside the mainstream for New Jersey," hitting on what he called her "extreme tea party positions."
In a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Monday, New Jersey voters said taxes, the economy and unemployment were primarily on the minds as they headed to the polls, and believed Republican policies were more likely to fix the economy. Overall, they indicated they were less favorable toward Democratic measures such as government stimulus spending. Most of those concerned about taxes said they would likely vote Republican.
Pallone, she said, was able to pull out a victory despite the political climate and the national concerns he was identified with. And Holt’s victory, she said, was a testament to incumbency in a district where voters have always been very independent minded.
[The reality is his district, like the 8th District, are so gerrymandered that a major earthquake would be only thing that could straighten the boundary lines of these districts.]
...In the 8th District, long-time Democratic incumbent Bill Pascrell Jr. once again coasted to victory over Republican rival Roland Straten, a community activist and retired businessman from Montclair, who had hoped that support from the North New Jersey Tea Party Group would have made the difference.
...Donald M. Payne in the 10th District... Is a socialist from Newark who is in the safest unchanging, unthinking district in the State.
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