Great news in southern New Jersey, or South Jersey as we call it here. In the two major State Senate races, both Democratic challengers won against their Republican opponents. Jeff Van Drew won in District 1-- dominated by conservative Cape May county -- and Jim Whelan won in District 2 -- you may have heard of Atlantic City. Steve Sweeney and his Assembly running mates all easily won re-election in the District 3.
Jeff Van Drew is a star who is expected to eventually run for Congress. 30% of registered voters in District 1 are Republican, and only 16% are Democrats. Jim Whelan is no sluch either, overcoming a 26-21 disadvatange. Together these three districts form most of New Jersey Congressional District Two, represented by Republican Frank LoBiondo.
Follow me across the flip to see why you should care.
Why is this important? Look at the National Atlas map of
and then compare to the state senate votes:
Frank LoBiondo took the district in an open race as part of the great Republican wave of 1994. His big victory totals lately were run up against unfunded sacrificial lambs. Naturally he decided to set aside his term limits pledge . Although not as odious as your typical Republican (he voted for SCHIP), LoBiondo was a key "moderate" Republican who supported the Clinton Impeachment with words that can only seem laughable today:
In a second ominous development for the White House, Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-New Jersey) issued a written statement saying he would support impeachment.
"I cannot in good conscience allow the nation's chief law enforcement officer to violate the law without consequences," said LoBiondo, who Democrats had considered a potential defector from the Republican ranks.
He also actively contributed to the Deepwater disaster which wasted over 20 billion dollars and crippled the Coast Guard.
Whether it is next year (as I hope) or in 2010, we must get one of our State Senators to challenge LoBiondo. Once we defeat him, this will be a safe Democratic seat for years to come.