Chris Myers

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.”

DENVER - Third Congressional District candidates state Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) and Medford Mayor Chris Myers are scheduled to debate on Wednesday, Sept. 10, in a contest sponsored by Veterans for Education, a student organization consisting of military veterans enrolled at Rutgers-Camden.

The free event will be held at Rancocas Valley Regional High School. Anthony Mazzarelli, an on-air personality at 1210 WPHT-AM, will moderate, according to a release issued by Rutgers-Camden.

One of the first - if not the first - elected official to support Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) for president, Adler is in Denver with the New Jersey delegation.

Republican congressional candidate Chris Myers today demanded that his opponent, State Sen. John Adler, remove a controversial appointee from the state parole board.

Adler is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

State Parole Board member Charles Jones drew scrutiny when he wrote a letter to Judge William J. Martini asking for leniency for Sharpe James, who he used to work for as an aide. Jones was appointed to the board in early 2006, although judiciary committee members at the time questioned whether he was qualified for the position.

Republican 3rd District congressional candidate Chris Myers fired the latest salvo in a war of words with the progressive blog Blue Jersey today, accusing them of engaging in a coordinated effort with rival Democrat John Adler’s campaign to discredit Myers’s military service.

Myers held a press conference in Medford to denounce a Blue Jersey post that questioned whether he should continue to cite himself as a “combat veteran.”

“John Adler’s refusal to publicly and forcefully condemn these liberal bloggers and their vicious, dishonest attacks on me and other veterans is a disgrace,” said Myers in a statement. “John Adler could put an end to these outrageous attacks against me and the veteran’s community if he wanted to; instead chooses to sit by silently in the hopes of scoring cheap political points at my expense. He should be ashamed.”

Acting Mayor/Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic): Politicker photo 

PASSAIC - To be in Trenton, or not to be in Trenton, that is the question for Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic), who became the acting mayor of Passaic in May when a federal judge found Mayor Sammy Rivera guilty of corruption.

Initially, Schaer, who received the chief executive’s job by virtue of his position as council president, figured he would serve long enough to hand off to whoever wins a Nov. 4th special election.

But about three weeks into his service as acting mayor - with no stunning personality on the city’s horizon line, by his reckoning - Schaer began mulling the idea of pursuing his own mayoral run. 

"We can’t afford to have a mayor who’s not going to build on some of the positive things we’re doing," said Schaer, who implemented local ethics reforms, imposed a 37% cut to the mayoral salary (from $117,000 to $72,000), and a municipal hiring freeze.

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."

Medford Mayor Chris Myers challenged his Democratic congressional opponent, State Sen. John Adler, to a debate over new affordable housing mandates today.

Myers has spent a good chunk of his campaign railing against a recently passed bill that bans regional community agreements, where suburban towns would offload their affordable housing requirements on other towns by paying them fees.

Adler backed the reforms in the legislature.

In a tale of two mid-summer campaigns that are up and apparentlyState Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) operational 24/7 in the 3rd Congressional District, state Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) continues to make Medford Mayor Chris Myers answer for what Adler sees as the blunders of a bad president.

Today it was Bush’s decision to veto the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 that Adler derided - and Myers also said he opposed.

Making a statement while simultaneously keeping his cash-strapped opponent busy with policy, Adler issued a press release, calling Bush’s veto proof that the Republican president is Medford Mayor Chris Myersout of touch with middle class Americans and seniors who depend on Medicare for health care coverage.

"Republicans in Washington have demonstrated time and again that they don't understand the squeeze that families are feeling due to skyrocketing gas, food, and health care costs," Adler said.

"First Republicans in Congress denied children health care coverage by vetoing SCHIP and then they stood with big oil over the interests of our middle class," added the Democrat. "

As today marks the filing deadline for FEC reports, PolitickerNJ.com has reported totals as the numbers have become available. Below are links to our complete coverage, broken down by races.

Medford Mayor Chris Myers: Politicker photo

If the latest scrap between riled 3rd Congressional District candidates is to be believed, there are actors out there who aren’t angels in the world of campaign fundraising.

In arguably the most acrimonious congressional battle of the summer, state Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) and Medford Mayor Chris Myers this week each accused the other of stirring scandal-tainted cash into the mix of their respective campaigns.

First, Myers called on Adler to return a $4,000 contribution from GOP target of the week: U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY).