Russo still mulling primary challenge vs. Garrett

[NewJerseyDem]

I'm divided on this. I would prefer to see Russo in the House but he would be unbeatable in the general election while we might have a chance against Garrett who is way too conservative for this district.

http://www.politicsnj.com/

December 2 - With no statewide races on the ballot and most of New Jersey's 13 congressmen resting comfortably in incumbent-friendly districts, 2004 is shaping up as a relatively quiet election year in the Garden State.

But it might be worth keeping an eye on the 5th Congressional District, where freshman Congressman E. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage) could end up facing an old foe in a Republican primary next June.

Assemblyman David Russo (R-Ridgewood), who finished second in the four-way GOP primary in the 5th District last year, said today he still would like to serve in Congress and will decide "probably by February" whether to challenge Garrett.

"I still have an interest and I'm going to see how it works out and I'll see how it progresses in the next few months," Russo said. "But is still there. I would really like to have done it two years ago, but we'll see what happens."

Garrett won the '02 GOP primary with 45 percent of the vote, easily outpacing Russo, who finished with 26 percent. State Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest), who, like Russo, is from Bergen County, won 25 percent of the vote.

[ramapo]

1. Love to see it

I'm embarrassed that Garrett is my Representative. He did vote against the Medicare bill though...probably for the wrong reasons.

[NewJerseyDem]

2. I'm sure it was for the wrong reasons

He probably had a problem with the fact that Medicare will still exist in some form.

Some senior group was running ads about how he supported the first prescription drugs plan. So, I thought that he would support this one for his reelection campaign. He has been running other ads as well so I guess he is nervous. He is just so conservative. This district just barely voted for Bush yet it has one of the most right wing members of Congress. Roukema was much better.

[ramapo]

3. Yes we have a master at disguise

Russo is certainly more in the Roukema mold, perhaps even a bit more liberal.

Garrett did an excellent job disguising his true positions during the campaign. His direct-mail literature really infuriated me. Having a weak opponent didn't help matters. I initially thought Sumers had a chance but it's good to run somebody that actually bothers to vote once in awhile.

Since the chances of electing a Democrat are slim to none, I'd be happy to vote to Russo. Hmmm...maybe I should change my registration so I could vote for him in the primary. Well he has to run first.

[jiacinto]

4. NJ-5 is a safe Republican seat

If it were just upper Bergen County then it could be winnable, but the rural areas make it out of reach for most Democrats.

[NewJerseyDem]

5. It only gave 52% to Bush

And Garrett is more right wing than Bush even is. Garrett is one of the most conservative few republicans in the House and is the most right wing congressman this state has had in a long time. I admit that this district would make sense for a republican but he is very extreme. The problem is that I doubt that we will have a candidate that can show how extreme Garrett is. I guess that I would hope that Russo would win. If he unites with the moderates in Bergen County than he can possibly win but Bush will be on the ballot and will help out Garrett. PoliticsNJ.com has made an interesting note of how the Bergen County organization might deny Garrett the party line in the primary and Bush might run off the line as well to help Garrett.

Anyway, I see this district changing in the future. Bergen County is just in the middle of its move to the Democratic party. It elected for the first time a Democratic county executive and I expect that it will continue to turn away from the republicans. However, there aren't any good candidates because almost all of the state legislators from around there are republicans.