A 36-year-old U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran is considering a bid for the Republican nomination for Congress against Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) in New Jersey’s 5th district.
Nick DeGregorio, an equity derivatives sales trader at Bank of America, was deployed four times during his nine years as an active duty Marine and served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I’m exploring a run for Congress in 2022 because America is at a difficult crossroads and it’s time to decide where we want to go,” DeGregorio said.
He is being advised by Republican political consultant Chris Russell, one of the state’s premier political strategists. But Russell’s work for DeGregorio ought not signal any support from his other client, GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli.
Investment banker Frank Pallotta, who won 45.6% of the vote against Gottheimer in 2020, is planning to run again. Sussex-Wantage Regional Board of Education President Nick D’Agostino entered the race in February.
DeGregorio is a graduate of Bucknell University and received a dual MBA/MS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 2018.
In 2018, DeGregorio worked on Bob Hugin’s campaign for U.S. Senate as the veterans coordinator. Hugin is about to become Republican State Chairman.
“Things have changed here at home while I was away at war—and not for the better,” DeGregorio stated. “My wife Emily and I came back to give our two children, Siena and Luca, the tight-knit community upbringing we were lucky enough to have when we were kids here in northern New Jersey. We are starting to realize firsthand how impossible that has become.”
As a potential congressional candidate, DeGregorio cites out control taxes and public school classrooms “now devolving into testing grounds for radical political ideology.”
“Behind it all are the career politicians and insiders, who are too busy serving themselves in Washington to care about the mess they have created for the rest of us here at home,” DeGregorio said. “This is not what I fought for. We are at a crossroads. Words are not enough. Now is the time for action.”
DeGregorio, like other potential House candidates, face redistricting uncertainties six months before a final map will be adopted. It’s not clear whether the new map will favor Gottheimer or make him more vulnerable.
Gottheimer, the Human Fundraising Machine, has amassed a ginormous $9.2 million campaign warchest.
The 5th district was represented by Republicans from 1980 until Gottheimer ousted seven-term Rep. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage) in 2016. The district voted for Donald Trump in 2016, but gave Joe Biden a five-point, 52%-47%, win last year.