Dear Congressman Smith:
Congratulations on winning yet another term in Congress. I say that as a strong and active supporter of your opponent, Josh Welle. Of course I wish that Josh had won, but I was always realistic about his chances. I knew when I went out to knock on doors for Josh that there was a lot of support for you: When I spoke to the Veteran who told me he wouldn’t support anyone else but you; the postal worker who said “Chris Smith is the best”; and the woman who, upon learning that Josh is a Democrat, told me “I’ll never vote for a Democrat”, and closed the door. Of course I also spoke with many people who were looking for a change in New Jersey’s Fourth District, who did not feel you were addressing their needs. And we had hoped that Josh’s being a Veteran would endear him to that segment of the voters, who traditionally have supported you. But ultimately Josh’s support just was not sufficient to win.
Given the amount of support you have, and the extent to which the District has been gerrymandered to favor a Republican win, it is therefore not surprising that you did win, again. On the other hand as you obviously realize, one thing is notable about this recent election: with 55.8% of the vote this is the first time since your first reelection campaign in 1982 that you have come in with anything less than 60%. Often you were in the high 60’s. This is especially significant given the 2011 redistricting that made the District even more Republican than it had been before. Evidently Josh appealed to a large number of your constituents who wanted a change in New Jersey’s Fourth District.
Josh was listening to those people. You should be listening too.
People will have different views on what they would like you to do but here, in no particular order, is my list of issues that I want to see you address:
- Town Halls. Yes, we know you find them a waste of time, but you are working for us, even those of us who voted for someone else. We have a right to ask you questions, without having them filtered through your office staff. Chris Christie at least got this much right when he reprimanded his Republican colleagues for not holding town halls: “You asked for the job. Go do it.”
- Women’s Health. Your views on abortion are well known, and while I personally strongly disagree with those views, I believe them to be principled. But allowing states to defund Planned Parenthood (House Roll Call 99) is just short sighted. Yes, Planned Parenthood supports a woman’s right to have an abortion, but they also support women’s health issues in general, including a wider range of birth control options. It’s not just about abortions. With more birth control options, abortions would be less of an issue in the first place, because the situations where they become a need would be less likely to arise. You need to align yourself with the facts of life in the modern world.
- LGBTQ Rights. No matter what you have said, these are human rights. More generally, why is it any of your business? Why do you care what consenting adults, who are doing no harm to you, do in their private lives? I get it that there are religious objections to these lifestyles. I get that. But my question is the same: why is it any of your business?
- Transportation. The day before Election Day, Josh Welle was meeting commuters at the Hamilton Rail Station. Have you been to the Hamilton Rail Station recently? You should go. If you did that you’d meet lots of people who are sick and tired of a deteriorating rail service, with its equipment malfunctions, crew shortages, signal problems, Portal Bridge problems and a potentially dangerous pair of trans-Hudson tunnels. I know: I am one of those commuters. What are you planning to do for the thousands of your constituents who have to put up with this sorry excuse for a commuter service?
- Environment. I know you have been a strong supporter of the environment in the past, and I was glad to hear you reaffirm your belief in Climate Change during your debate with Josh Welle on the USA Today Network. So, why have you thus far resisted requests to join a large number of your colleagues of both parties in endorsing the Citizen’s Climate Lobby’s Carbon Fee and Dividend Proposal and joining its Climate Solutions Caucus? If you have a better suggestion, why are you not pushing that better suggestion?
So what about it? Will we get to see more of you here in the District? Can we have hope you’ll engage on issues such as the ones I raise above?
As you also realize, after the 2018 Elections, New Jersey’s Fourth District is now the only one of the state’s twelve districts to have a Republican representative. That reflects something very real about the way things are going. Josh Welle’s performance in the Election also reflects something very real, and while you still won, you should be viewing that as a message to which we hope you will listen.
Sincerely,
Richard Sproat
Constituent in New Jersey’s Fourth District