Jim Saxton

Retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton (R-Mount Holly) never had a hard time defeating Democrats in the third congressional district. In fact, no Democrat has held the seat in 124 years. But Saxton isn’t on the ballot this year, leading Democrats to believe that voting trends over the 24 years of Saxton’s tenure no longer apply.

“You have to start with this premise: Jim Saxton won this district by 20 points in every election over the last several years. The district itself went Bush over Kerry 52-48% – that’s district-wide,” said Burlington County Democratic Chairman Rick Perr.

The Bush/Kerry numbers, Perr said, are more representative of the district’s true voting trends than the large margins that Saxton, who had become a known quantity and beloved incumbent, used to win by.

“That is the DNA of the district,” he said. “That’s where they vote when they deal with national issues aside from for some personality. So you erase a 20 point Saxton win.”

With 48 days to go before the race between Democratic state Sen. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) and Republican Medford Mayor Christopher Myers is decided, the great unknown is Perr’s county.

Republican Christopher Myers has a 33%-29% lead over Democrat John Adler in the race for Jim Saxton’s third district House seat, according to a poll paid for by the Myers campaign and the National Republican Congressional Committee.  The survey, conducted by McLaughlin Associates, a GOP polling firm, shows Myers leading 36%-21% in the Ocean County portion of the district, which also includes parts of Burlington County and Cherry Hill in Camden County.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- By law, retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton can’t tell the National Republican Congressional Committee what to do with the $400,000 he just donated to them.

But Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson has a good idea of where the money should go: to the cash strapped Chris Myers, who’s running as Saxton’s choice to fill his 3rd Congressional District seat. Myers is running against Democratic State Sen. John Adler, who as of the last filing period had about 10 times Myers’s cash-on-hand.

So far, the NRCC hasn’t made any public commitments to the district. When asked if he would be disappointed if the NRCC didn’t commit any resources to the 3rd District, Wilson was candid.

“If they don’t, I’ll be more than disappointed. I’ll be sickened, and I’ll be pissed,” he said. “I can tell them to. They don’t have to listen to me. Once the money is in their treasury it’s theirs to do what they will with, but hopefully his colleagues will be respectful of his commitment to the caucus and make sure that his seat stays in Republican hands.”

Retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton is giving $400,000 of his roughly $1 million war chest to the cash strapped National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), by far the largest donation he’s ever made to the organization.

If the NRCC chooses, they can pour some or all of that money into ad buys in the 3rd Congressional District, where Saxton’s heir apparent, Medford Mayor Chris Myers, is outfunded by opponent John Adler by a margin of 10-1. As of the last FEC report, Myers had $155,000 on hand to Adler’s nearly $1.5 million.

The problem is that Saxton can’t even suggest to NRCC officials where they should send the money.

“He can’t do that. There are absolutely no strings attached by law,” said Saxton Communications Director Jeff Sagnip, who used to work part-time for the Myers campaign as well. “There’s no guarantee that they could send it here.”

Politicker.com Managing Editor James Pindell has launched The Pindell Report, ranks and analyzes all U.S. Senate races and governors races, the top 59 U.S. House races, and 19 presidential swing states – with updates the moment news breaks. The report heavily leans on the basis of two dozen reporters in fifteen key states where Politicker.com currently has locally devoted political news websites. In New Jersey, Pindell says the U.S. Senate race is Likely Democratic, as is the race for Republican Jim Saxton’s open House seat in District 3. Pindell says the contest to replace Republican Mike Ferguson in District 7 is Leans Democratic.

State Sen. John Adler (D-Camden), who’s running for Congress in the Adler in Mount Laurel today3rd District, this morning officially received the endorsement of the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey (PFANJ) at a press conference at Mount Laurel Fire Headquarters.

"I am honored that the firefighters of New Jersey have decided to support my candidacy and stand with me in my campaign to bring common sense solutions and real change to Washington," Adler said in a release.

"Every day the brave men and women who comprise the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey risk their lives to keep us out of harms way," the candidate added. "In Congress, I will fight to make sure that all firefighters have access to affordable health care and the prescription drug coverage that they so rightly deserve."

One of the reasons Burlington County Republicans picked Christopher Myers, the relatively obscure Mayor of Medford, to succeed Jim Saxton in Congress was his ability to raise money.  When the Lockheed-Martin Vice President entered the race, the buzz among GOP insiders was that he had the ability to compete with State Sen. John Adler in the fundraising department.  Adler has raised $1.9 million in a district where Democrats haven’t won since 1882, and Myers, after a tough primary, has just a little more than $150K on hand.

One of the legendary scams in Bergen County politics came in 1984, when Republicans were considering candidates to take on newly-elected Democratic Congressman Robert Torricelli. Torricelli had won the seat two years earlier, when he ousted three-term GOP incumbent Harold Hollenbeck by a 53%-46% margin. The political climate in 1982 (and congressional redistricting in the 9th) favored Democrats and Torricelli leveraged the national contacts he made working for Vice President Walter Mondale and running Jimmy Carter's 1980 re-election campaign in Illinois to help him raise $266,000 -- about $70,000 more than Hollenbeck had.

With only $155,000 on hand, Medford Mayor Christopher Myers, is facing the most well-funded open seat challenger in the country: State Sen. John Adler, who has amassed a $1.9 war chest. 

But a potentially huge pool of cash looms on the horizon for Myers.  According to the latest Federal Election Commission filings, Jim Saxton, the retiring 12-term Republican incumbent, has a war chest of a little over $1 million.

Will Saxton help Myers, his protégé and close friend, level the playing field in a district the GOP has held since 1884?

Dennis Shulman, a blind Rabbi and psychologist challenging Rep. Scott Garrett in the fifth district, has raised $585,000 and has $258,000 remaining in his warchest – more  than $100K more than Christopher Myers, the GOP congressional candidate in the third district.  Myers, who faces Democrat John Adler for the seat of retiring Rep. Jim Saxton,has raised $626,549 and has $155,406 cash on hand.  Shulman and Myers each won contested primaries.

State Sen. John Adler (D-Camden): Politicker photo 

Democrats digested the 3rd District fund-raising totals with glee today as second quarter campaign coffers show state Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) with a $1.9 million to $155,406 advantage over Medford Mayor Chris Myers, the Republican nominee to succeed U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton (R-3).

Myers shook off the news this week by trying to turn Adler’s positive report into a negative.

"He’s going to need every penny to defend his terrible record," Myers told PolitickerNJ.com.

Temporary fund-raising totals aside, the Medford mayor believes Adler’s Trenton establishment background should sink him with property tax-bedeviled voters as the Democrat attempts his climb toward Washington.