Kennedy pushes turnout in Atlantic, Cumberland in bid to unseat Van Drew

With just days left before polls close, House challenger Amy Kennedy has turned her focus to boosting turnout.

The former teacher is running to oust Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), whose December defection to the Republican party will test the power of a personal brand that won him decades of elections as a Democrat in solidly red Cape May County.

Fueled by concern over the continuing spread of COVID-19, the state in late-August codified an executive order directing a mail-in ballot be sent to every active registered voter in the state and, among other things, commanded the installation of at least 10 secure ballot drop boxes in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties.

With mail deliveries still delayed for days or even weeks, Kennedy’s campaign is pushing voters to take their ballots to a drop box through mini rallies centered around those same repositories.

“In the last days of the campaign, we are focused on making sure that as many people as possible know how to vote and can make their voice heard,” Kennedy campaign manager Roesch said. “Our ‘Vote with Amy’ events are just one of the creative ways we are trying to do that.”

The reception so far has been good, Roesch said, and the campaign is hoping the events will help boost turnout enough to overcome President Donald Trump’s public embrace of the former Democrat.

Though the campaign has deemphasized efforts to get voters to return ballots through the post, they haven’t dropped that strategy completely. The Democratic camp is also pointing voters to their county election boards, where they can hand-deliver ballots.

Kennedy’s campaign plans to hold another mini rally each day until election, including ones in Pleasantville, Vineland and Galloway over the weekend.

It’s not clear what Van Drew has lined up in the runup to November 3. His campaign manager, Ron Filan, did not respond to calls and voicemail messages made at 12:17 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 8:32 p.m.

The incumbent’s Facebook page, which has found new life after a largely dormant September, shows photos from recent small business visits and signs of door-to-door canvassing the weekend before last, but there’s little indication of what comes next.

Kennedy’s campaign is still canvassing, Roesch said, though the pandemic has left those efforts relatively muted.

The challenger has had television ads on the air since August and will keep them running through election day.

Though he’s been outspent on television, Van Drew will stay on the airwaves until November 2 thanks to a buy made in concert with the National Republican Congressional Committee, according to Federal Communication Commission filings.

The NRCC and the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC with ties to GOP leadership in the House, have hammered Kennedy with ads seeking to tie her to former Vice President Joe Biden and violence at protests over police killings of black Americans.

The House Majority PAC, the Democratic counterpart to CLF, in September put $800,000 behind a televised attack naming self-interest as the incumbent’s sole motivation.

Van Drew’s defection has largely defined the race.

Faced with a choice between eroding support among the district’s Democrats by opposing impeachment proceedings against Trump or alienating moderate Republicans who delivered him a decades-long career in state, county and local office, he chose the former.

His no vote, one of only three cast by Democrats, was a political boon for Trump, who accepted Van Drew with open arms, a January rally in Wildwood and a speech at the Republican National Convention.

Kennedy, with prominent Democrats like Gov. Phil Murphy and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) at her wings, derided Van Drew as a political opportunist, while the congressman scorned her as a far-left liberal.

He’s continued launch those attacks on Facebook. Each of his three active ads buys reference “radical Democrat Amy Kennedy” or the “radical left,” and he’s outspent his opponent there in the last week.

Between Oct. 21 and Oct. 27, Van Drew’s bought $19,992 in Facebook ads to Kennedy’s $7,253. His total spend on the platform is close to twice hers, $305,083 to $166,883, though it’s not clear how much large a portion was bought before his party switch.

The advantage on Facebook isn’t altogether surprising. Despite outraising Van Drew more than two-to-one in early October, the Kennedy burned through much of her cash reserves, leaving her with just $102,831 in reserves on Oct. 15 to Van Drew’s $742,778.

The challenger’s active spots don’t mention the congressman by name, though one tells voters she’ll work for them, “not a political party or the president.”

The Democratic State Committee has sent out more than a dozen mailers backing Kennedy, who, according to a Monmouth University poll released in early October, narrowly leads Van Drew.

The challenger’s campaign says they see that borne out on the ground.

“Amy is hearing what she has heard from people across South Jersey during the entire campaign. People want new leadership,” Roesch said. “They want a representative in Congress who is going to fight for South Jersey every day to improve access to affordable healthcare and rebuild the economy.”