DeNeufville enters congressional race

Businessman Peter DeNeufville will seek the Republican nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 11th district.  Representatives of his campaign arrived in Trenton a few minutes ago to file petitions to get him on the ballot for the June primary.

DeNeufville was the chairman of Voltaix, a company that manufactured chemicals used in the making of semiconductors before the company was sold in 2013 to a Paris-based company, Air Liquide.  He also has a firm that makes early investments in technology companies.

He served as a U.S. Navy reserve officer and was on active duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  He served as a trustee of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Nancy Hatch Dupree Foundation for the Afghanistan Center at Kabul University, and as an adjunct fellow with the Center for New American Security.  He has a Ph.D. from the University of London.

DeNeufville served on Christie’s New Jersey Finance Committee and contributed $5,000 to Christie’s Leadership Matters for America PAC, $2,700 to Christie’s presidential campaign, $31,000 to the New Jersey Republican State Committee, $3,500 to Rep. Leonard Lance, and smaller contributions to George W. Bush and Mitt Romney.

A late minute entry by a wealthy candidate  further complicates the GOP primary for a seat the Republicans have held for the last 34 years.  Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen announced his retirement at the end of January, declining to go the distance in what has become an exceedingly competitive race.