2008 United States House of Representatives elections in New Jersey
November 4, 2008 (2008-11-04)
All 13 New Jersey seats to the United States House of Representatives
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Democratic Republican
Last election 7 6
Seats won 8 5
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 1
Popular vote 1,911,827 1,461,820
Percentage 55.61% 42.52%
Swing Decrease 0.91% Increase 0.25%
Results:
      Democratic hold       Democratic gain
      Republican hold

    The 2008 congressional elections in New Jersey were held on November 4, 2008 to determine who would represent the state of New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives. New Jersey has thirteen seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected serve din the 111th Congress from January 4, 2009 until January 3, 2011. The election coincided with the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

    The statewide party primary elections were held June 3, 2008.

    District 3 was the only seat which changed party (from open Republican to Democratic), although CQ Politics had forecasted districts 3, 5 and 7 to be at some risk for the incumbent party. This is the last time that any district saw one party run uncontested, in this case, the 10th.

    Overview

    United States House of Representatives elections in New Jersey, 2008[1]
    Party Votes Percentage Seats +/–
    Democratic 1,911,827 55.61% 8 Increase 1
    Republican 1,461,820 42.52% 5 Decrease 1
    Green 12,554 0.37% 0 Steady
    Libertarian 1,600 0.05% 0 Steady
    Constitution 1,551 0.05% 0 Steady
    Independents 48,628 1.41% 0 Steady
    Totals 3,437,980 100.00% 13 —

    District 1

    This district contains all or parts of Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties.

    Candidates

    • Rob Andrews (Democratic), incumbent U.S. Representative since 1990
    • Dale Glading (Republican), founder of Saints Prison Ministry

    Election

    Incumbent Democrat Rob Andrews, in a surprise move on April 2, 2008, announced that he would be challenging incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg in the Democratic primary in June.[2] His House seat, which is reliably Democratic (CPVI: D+14), thus became an open seat. The filing deadline for primary candidates was April 7, leaving only a few days for candidates to declare.

    Andrews' wife, Camille Andrews, won the Democratic primary for his seat in the House, while Andrews himself was beaten by Lautenberg in the Senate primary. After this defeat, Rob Andrews decided to run for re-election to his House seat; Camille withdrew her candidacy on September 3, and Rob Andrews announced that on September 4 that he would take her place as the Democratic candidate. He maintained that his wife had not been merely a placeholder candidate and said that he had only decided to run for re-election a week before he announced it; according to Andrews, his change of heart was a result of personal reflection.[3]

    Results

    New Jersey's 1st congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic Rob Andrews (incumbent) 206,453 72.40
    Republican Dale Glading 74,001 25.95
    Independents 4,703 1.65

    District 2

    This district lies in the southern part of the state, containing all or portions of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May: Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.

    Candidates

    • Dave Kurkowski (Democratic), City Councilman from Cape May
    • Frank LoBiondo (Republican), incumbent U.S. Representative since 1995

    Results

    New Jersey's 2nd congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Republican Frank LoBiondo (incumbent) 167,701 59.06
    Democratic David Kurkowski 110,990 39.09
    Independents 5,274 1.86

    Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

    District 3

    This district contains all or portions of Burlington, Camden and Ocean counties.

    Candidates

    Election

    Incumbent Republican Jim Saxton announced that he would retire at the end of his term.[4] A mid-September internal poll by McLaughlin & Associates showed Myers defeating Adler by a margin of 33% to 29%, with a plurality of voters - 37% - undecided.[5] The poll attributed Myers' lead to a general dissatisfaction among voters towards Adler's negative ads and negative mailers from various political committees supporting the Democrat. It also indicated that Adler's low approval ratings were partially due to the perception that he is a "career politician" and the fact that he is an Ivy League-educated lawyer. Adler's association with unpopular Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine also hurt him, while Myers was helped from his endorsement by incumbent Rep. Jim Saxton, who held a 53 percent favorable rating.[6] However, later polls indicated that the race was too close to call.

    Results

    New Jersey's 3rd congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic John Adler 166,390 52.08
    Republican Chris Myers 153,122 47.92

    Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

    District 4

    This district lies in the central part of the state, including all or portions of Burlington County, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties.

    Candidates

    • Chris Smith (Republican), incumbent U.S. Representative (1981)
    • Josh Zeitz (Democratic), author, teacher, and historian

    Results

    New Jersey's 4th congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Republican Chris Smith (incumbent) 202,972 66.21
    Democratic Josh Zeitz 100,036 32.63
    Green Steven Welzer 3,543 1.16

    District 5

    This district contains most of the Northern New Jersey Skylands Region of Sussex and Warren counties and stretches along the New York border into Northern Passaic and Bergen Counties, including the townships of Paramus and Ridgewood.

    Candidates

    • Scott Garrett (Republican), incumbent U.S. Representative since 2003
    • Dennis Shulman (Democratic), psychologist, public speaker, and rabbi

    Election

    Republican incumbent Scott Garrett had been elected by safe margins in the past but in 2006 he only won by 10 points against Paul Aronsohn, the smallest margin of his career. Garrett was the only incumbent in the state thought to possibly be at risk.

    Results

    New Jersey's 5th congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Republican Scott Garrett (incumbent) 172,653 55.87
    Democratic Dennis Shulman 131,033 42.40
    Green Ed Fanning 5,321 1.72

    Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

    District 6

    This district lies in the east-central part of the state, including all or portions of Middlesex, Monmouth, Somerset and Union counties.

    Candidates

    • Robert McLeod (Republican), municipal judge
    • Frank Pallone (Democratic), incumbent U.S. representative since 1988

    Results

    New Jersey's 6th congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic Frank Pallone (incumbent) 164,077 66.95
    Republican Robert McLeod 77,469 31.61
    Regular Independent Herb Tarbous 3,531 1.44

    District 7

    The incumbent, Republican Representative Mike Ferguson, announced on November 19, 2007, that he would not seek re-election, citing family obligations.[7]

    Candidates

    Eliminated in Republican primary

    Election

    The district was considered to lean Republican, but the 2008 election was expected to be highly competitive, considering the closeness of the previous election.

    Lance and Stender debated each other twice during the campaign. In September, they met in Scotch Plains for a debate hosted at the Jewish Community Campus of Central New Jersey. The candidates met in October in Edison for a second debate, which was televised on News 12 New Jersey.

    Both major-party candidates campaigned with prominent politicians of their party in the months before the election. Lance campaigned with then U.S. President George W. Bush and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Stender campaigned with former U.S. president Bill Clinton and U.S. House of Representatives majority leader Steny Hoyer.

    New Jersey's 7th congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Republican Leonard Lance 148,461 50.22
    Democratic Linda Stender 124,818 42.22
    Independents 22,349 7.56

    District 8

    This district lies in the north-east part of the state, including all or portions of Essex and Passaic counties.

    Candidates

    • Roland Straten (Republican), engineer and U.S. Navy veteran
    • Bill Pascrell Jr. (Democratic), incumbent U.S. Representative since 1997

    Results

    New Jersey's 8th congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic Bill Pascrell (incumbent) 159,279 71.11
    Republican Roland Straten 63,107 28.17
    Libertarian Derek DeMarco 1,600 0.71

    Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

    District 9

    This district lies in the north-east part of the state, including all or portions of Bergen and Hudson and Passaic counties.

    Candidates

    • Vincent Micco (Republican), U.S. Army veteran
    • Steve Rothman (Democratic), incumbent U.S. Representative since 1997

    Results

    New Jersey's 9th congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic Steve Rothman (incumbent) 151,182 67.53
    Republican Vincent Micco 69,503 31.04
    Independent/Progressive Michael Perrone Jr. 3,200 1.43

    Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

    District 10

    This district lies in the north-east part of the state, including all or portions of Essex, Hudson and Union counties. Republicans again failed to nominate a candidate to oppose Payne, but the Socialist Workers Party nominated Michael Taber, an editor.

    Candidates

    Results

    New Jersey's 10th congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic Donald M. Payne (incumbent) 169,945 98.92
    Socialist Workers Party Michael Taber 1,848 1.08

    Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

    District 11

    This district lies in the north-central part of the state, including all or portions of Essex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset and Sussex counties.

    Candidates

    • Rodney Frelinghuysen (Republican), incumbent U.S. Representative since 1995
    • Tom Wyka (Democratic), information technology manager and 2006 Democratic nominee for New Jersey's 11th Congressional district

    Results

    New Jersey's 11th congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen (incumbent) 189,696 61.84
    Democratic Tom Wyka 113,510 37.01
    For The People Chandler Tedholm 3,526 1.15

    District 12

    This district lies in the central part of the state, including all or portions of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset counties.

    Candidates

    Results

    New Jersey's 12th congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic Rush Holt Jr. (incumbent) 193,732 63.12
    Republican Alan Bateman 108,400 35.32
    Common Sense Ideas David Corsi 4,802 1.56

    Campaign Contributions from OpenSecrets.org

    District 13

    This district lies in the north-east part of the state, including all or portions of Essex, Hudson, Middlesex and Union counties.

    Candidates

    • Albio Sires (Democratic), incumbent U.S. Representative since 2006
    • Joseph Turula, former Pompton Lakes councilman and lawyer

    Results

    New Jersey's 13th congressional district election, 2008
    Party Candidate Votes %
    Democratic Albio Sires (incumbent) 206,453 75.36
    Republican Joseph Turula 34,375 21.74
    Independents 4,636 2.90

    Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

    References

    1. ↑ 2008 Election Statistics
    2. ↑ David W. Chen, Lautenberg to face Primary Challenge The New York Times, April 2, 2008
    3. ↑ "Wife bows out, so Rep. Andrews can run", UPI, September 4, 2008.
    4. ↑ philly.com
    5. ↑ "Poll: Myers, Adler in close race for 3rd District seat (phillyBurbs.com) | Burlington County Times". Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2008.
    6. ↑ Campaign | The Hill
    7. ↑ Chebium, Raju. "Ferguson won't seek reelection to Congress" Archived 2008-02-29 at archive.today, Home News Tribune, November 19, 2007. Accessed November 19, 2007. "Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-Warren Township, said today he won’t seek reelection next year to a fifth term… The next elections are in November 2008; Stender is again a Democratic candidate for the 7th district seat Ferguson currently occupies."
    Preceded by
    2006 elections    		 United States House of Representatives elections in New Jersey
    2008    		 Succeeded by
    2010 elections
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