Rodney Frelinghuysen

The national political environment didn't seem to affect Republican Christopher Smith, who won re-election to a fourteenth term in Congress by a 66%-33% margin over labor leader Carol Gay -- about the same as his 66%-32% win over Mary Brennan in 2002.

Gay outspent Brennan and won several labor endorsements, but it was hard for her to tie Smith to the national GOP leadership -- they dumped him as Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee after the 2002 election because he was viewed as too politically independent.

Smith was the only Republican Congressman from New Jersey whose margins didn't suffer this year: Rodney Frelinghuysen dropped eleven points, from 73% in 2002 to 62% in 2006; Frank LoBiondo and James Saxton each took a seven point hit from their '02 numbers.

Interestingly (at least for extreme junkies), the bare-bones campaign of Joseph Sinagra against Congressman Rush Holt in the 12th district received 35% of the vote -- just 2% less than former Secretary of State Buster Soaries won four years ago after spending $1 million and in a better year for Republicans.

"My opponent ... lacks ability to raise funds, because he doesn't have a record." -- GOP Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen, explaining why Democrat Tom Wyka can't compete with his $900,000 warchest. (Daily Record, 10/31/06)

Two Democrats are competing for the chance to challenge six-term Republican Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen in 2006, according to Daily Record columnist Fred Snowflack: Chatham Township Committeeman William "Jack" Hartford, 55, and Tom Wyka, a 39-year-old Information Technology consultant from Parsippany who has been an active opponent of the war in Iraq. Frelinghuysen was re-elected in 2004 by a 68%-31% margin over Mount Olive Councilman James Buell.

Few Washington insiders believe New Jersey Congressman Christopher Smith has much of a chance to win the chairmanship of the House International Relations Committee if the GOP hold control of Congress in the 2006 election. Last year, the House Republican leadership deposed Smith as Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee for not being conservative enough for their needs. Smith faces three other House members in the contest to replace Henry Hyde as head of the powerful foreign relations panel.

Despite their seniority, New Jersey Republicans have had little success in securing positions of influence in the Congress. In addition to Smith, Marge Roukema was passed over for the chairmanship of the House Financial Services Committee in 2001, Jim Saxton lost a bid to head the House Natural Resources Committee in 2003, and Rodney Frelinghuysen lost his Appropriations Subcommittee Chairmanship in 2005. Still, New Jersey Republicans are split over the contest to succeed Tom DeLay as House Minority Leader. One Capitol Hill staffer suggested that New Jersey Republicans might be better off trading a united block of six votes in exchange for assurances that leadership won't pass over New Jerseyans in future battles for key committee chairmanships.

Frelinghuysen: Commemorative Stamp Honoring John Basilone to be Unveiled Tomorrow