Smith has no choice but to back Ocean candidate
By Wally EdgeCongressman Christopher Smith will endorse Jack Kelly for Congress in the neighboring third district GOP primary, a move that insiders say is bugging his old friend, Jim Saxton. Smith and Saxton have been allies since 1980, when Smith ousted a 13-term Democratic incumbent in a district that included Saxton’s hometown. Saxton, an Assemblyman at the time, went to the State Senate in 1981, and after redistricting and the death of longtime GOP Congressman Edwin Forsythe, to Congress in 1984. Saxton is backing Christopher Myers, the Deputy Mayor of Medford and a Vice President at Lockheed Martin.
Smith normally doesn’t get involved in primaries -- the last time he took an active role was in 2000, when he backed Michael Pappas against Dick Zimmer in a GOP fight between two ex-Congressmen – but this time he really has no choice. These days a big part of Smith’s safe Republican district is in Ocean County, and the veteran Congressman -- who doesn’t have strong relationships with local Republican organizations anymore – can’t afford to upset Kelly’s chief backer, Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore.
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