Dennis Shulman, a Rabbi and psychologist who has never run for public office before, said today that he would challenge three-term Rep. Scott Garrett next year.

Shulman joins attorney Camille Abate as Democratic candidates seeking the fifth district nomination. Abate won 40% in the 2006 primary against the organization candidate, Paul Stuart Aronsohn.

“I have spent the past two months talking to people throughout the district, and I have decided to fully commit myself to spending the next year running for Congress,” Shulman said in a statement released today. “The trajectory of my life compels this decision. Now, it is time to apply my experiences serving individuals and my congregants to serving my district and my country.”

“I am running for Congress as a concerned citizen seeking to become a citizen legislator. Too often the relationship between Congressmen and lobbyists is closer than the relationship between Congressmen and constituents,” said Shulman. “I feel that we have an opportunity to reach across party lines and bring about common sense change, and that in this district and in this nation, we can and must do better. We need to apply common sense solutions to issues like Iraq, energy independence, and the incompetence and corruption of our government.”

Shulman, who is blind, suggested that has “overcome challenges before, and I expect to do so again.”