After a tight Republican primary, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) now has an opponent. It’s a familiar one and the one he wanted: Frank Pallotta.
That sets up a rematch of the 2022 campaign, which Gottheimer won by seven percentage points.
Gottheimer called Pallotta a “far-right extremist who is out of touch with New Jersey values.”
During the Republican primary, Gottheimer sent out mailers to Republican households attacking Pallotta for being too similar to Donald Trump.
“I think I was making it pretty clear that one candidate is an extremist,” Gottheimer told the New Jersey Globe. “I think I’ve made it clear with my record I’m focused on bipartisan problem solving.”
With help from Gottheimer and a dark money super PAC with ties to House Democrats, Pallotta defeated Nick De Gregorio by 1,475 votes after winning large pluralities in Sussex (58%) and Passaic County (61%), while holding De Gregorio to 51% in Bergen, where he had the organization line.
Gottheimer, who ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary, has positioned himself as a leader of centrist Democrats in the House often clashing with the left flank of the party.
He enters the race with two advantages: he’s a Human Fundraising Machine, with cash-on-hand was at $13.4 million as of May 18; and redistricting changed New Jersey’s 5th district from +5 for Biden to +13.
But Pallotta, a former investment banker who spent over $1.4 million of his own money two years ago, could have the advantage of the political winds. Joe Biden has approval ratings in the low 40s and the historical precedent of the president’s party losing seats in the mid-term elections.
