Micco drops out of race against Pascrell

Vince Micco has changed his mind and will not seek the Republican nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 9th district against Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-Paterson) in 2024.

“I’m not running anymore,” he told the New Jersey Globe.  “I don’t have a whole lot to say about it.”

A U.S. Army veteran, Micco entered the race last December after Pascrell won re-election by a closer-than-expected ten percentage points after redistricting made the 9th slightly more Republican.

But Micco raised just $18,933 during the first six months of this year and didn’t see a path to beat Pascrell in a presidential election year when voter turnout is more favorable to Democrats.

“I met with two consultants and I came away sour from running from two separate assessments of my viability,” he said.

Billy Prempeh, a U.S. Air Force veteran who took on Pascrell in 2020 and 2022, appears to be running again.  He’s raised $2,653 this year and has $637 cash-on-hand.  He spent $1,346 paying off a fine levied by the Federal Election Commission.

Among the challenges to Prempeh’s political prospects is a tendency to burn through cash.  While raising over $310,914 for his 2022 race, he spent much of that money on travel and overhead and a relatively small percentage of his warchest on voter persuasion.

Micco is not ready to make an endorsement in the race.

“No comment on prospective candidates,” said Micco.

In a statement, Prempeh praised his would-be primary opponent.

“Vince Micco is an exceptional man and his military service speaks for him,” said.  “I really hope we can work together and tackle some of the biggest issues our constituents face here in NJ CD-9.”

The 52-year-old North Arlington resident served two tours of duty in Iraq and continues to be an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army Reserve.

This would have been Micco’s third bid for Congress: he challenged Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Englewood) in the old 9th district, in 2006 and 2008, receiving 28% and 31%, respectively, in a heavily-Democratic district that gave 59% of the vote to John Kerry in 2004 and 61% to Barack Obama in 2008.  After New Jersey lost a House seat in reapportionment after the 2010 census, Pascrell defeated Rothman in the Democratic primary.

Prempeh held Pascrell to 55% last year; in 2020, before congressional redistricting made the 9th more competitive as a way of shoring up seats held by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) and Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), Pascrell beat Prempeh by 34 points.

A former mayor of Paterson, this was Pascrell’s closest race since he unseated Rep. Bill Martini (R-Clifton) in 1996 with 51% of the vote.

Pascrell, who will be 87 years old in the next election, has announced his plan to seek his fifteenth term in Congress.  With the retirement of a California congresswoman, he would become the oldest member of the U.S. House of Representatives if he wins next year.