The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced today that they have “officially” put GOP congressional candidate Jon Runyan on their radar in his bid to unseat freshman U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill).  This is a district that has not re-elected a Democratic Congressman since 1852; Republican Christopher Christie carried it by 21 percentage points when he ousted Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine last year.  So it makes you wonder if the NRCC is just a little behind the eight ball on this one, or do they know something the rest of us don’t by stopping short of putting Adler at the top of their target list.

For the record, the top five New Jersey opportunities the NRCC has failed to recognize:

Over the last fifty years, Linda Stender was one of just seven challengers – and one of only two Democrats – to come within two percentage points of unseat an incumbent Congressman when she held Michael Ferguson to a 49%-48% win in 2006. If she wins her second bid in 2008 for the seat Ferguson has decided to vacate, Stender would become the first member of the “I almost won” group to actually serve in Congress.