Pallotta concedes victory to Gottheimer

Former investment banker Frank Pallotta conceded victory to Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) in the race for the state’s fifth-district congressional seat Monday.

“Good luck and Godspeed, Congressman Gottheimer,” Pallotta said in an email to supporters. “May the Lord guide you and all our political leaders — regardless of party — to do the right thing for our great country.”

Gottheimer’s victory was clear on election day, when initial tallies showed him leading Pallotta by 17%, that number buoyed by the incumbent’s 52,396-vote lead in Bergen County.

Those margins shrunk in the days following the close of polls, as more Republican-leaning mail-in ballots reached election officials, but the contraction only brought Gottheimer’s lead down to 7.6%, 225,043-193,167.

The delay, Pallotta said, was not borne out of a belief that late-arriving mail-in and provisional ballots could swing the race in his favor.

“While it was clear the final results of the 2020 District 5 Congressional race would not change, the reason I waited to address you was that I was adamant in my belief that every voice should be heard before you heard mine,” he said. “It would be disrespectful to the many thousands who voted late, or waited in line to vote provisionally, for me to speak before their votes were even counted. When you lose sight of your voters, you lose purpose.”

The challenger ran as an ardent defender of Donald Trump, playing to the Republican base in the western portions of the district, focusing much of his efforts on COVID-19 mandates that lacked popularity there.

He kept to that tenor in his concession, suggesting wrongly that President Donald Trump may have won re-election — President-elect Joe Biden won that race — and contending New Jersey’s voters were wronged by the state’s mostly mail election.

“The rights of all New Jersey voters were infringed upon in 2020. Fair-minded people of all political persuasions can agree that our state was ill-prepared for the mandatory Vote-by-Mail election that was forced upon us,” he said. “In fact, during the primary, five percent of the ballots in one of the four counties in our district, were lost — and the length of time needed to process and tabulate the vote did not encourage confidence.”

The challenger added the process should be improved in future elections. There’s a chance Pallotta will take part in those.

“Ultimately, a true leader transcends both politics and party. They fight for what is right and push all else aside,” he said. “I plan to stay involved and to fight for the District I’ve called home for more than 30 years.”

But Pallotta didn’t pitch his supporters on a future candidacy Monday. All he had for them was thanks.

“More than 193,000 residents in our district have entrusted me with their votes, their voices, and their hearts — which is more than any other previous Congressional candidate has ever received in this District,” he said. “I will never take for granted the trust you have placed in me, and will continue to speak out against injustice, support our veterans and the underserved, and work with our business owners who are facing the fight of their lives.”